€12,000 gross in tax class vi: net pay 2026

At €12,000 gross a month your employer withholds €4,092.83 wage tax in tax class vi, which is 34.1% of gross. Second and further jobs. Class VI applies to second jobs: no basic allowance and no lump sum (the €1,230 sits in the main job), so €620 more wage tax a month than class I.

Social contributions: pension insurance €785.85, unemployment insurance €109.85, health insurance €508.59, care insurance €139.50, €1,543.79 in total (12.9% of gross). Above €8,450 a month pension and unemployment insurance stop growing, and above €5,812.50 so do health and care insurance: contributions are capped, so their share of gross falls.

The solidarity surcharge is €225.10: it only starts when annual wage tax passes €20,350 (twice that in class III) and then phases in towards 5.5%. Church tax payers give a further €327.42 a month (8% in Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria) or €368.35 (9% elsewhere). At €144,000 gross a year you are above the insurance threshold of €77,400: you may leave statutory health insurance. The private premium depends on age, plan and health and is not worked out here.

Of the next €100 of gross about €56 reaches you: wage tax, surcharge and contributions take 44.3% together. Overall 48.8% of gross goes to tax and contributions, leaving €6,138.28 a month and €73,659 a year.

Wage tax is an advance on income tax and is credited when the annual return is assessed (the BMF's own calculator says so). The tax class therefore mostly shifts when the money leaves your pay, not necessarily how much you keep over the year. The €1,543.79 of social contributions a month builds your pension, unemployment benefit and health cover.