Methodology & Sources

Last verified: 9 July 2026

Freiberechner isn't a substitute for tax advice. It's a tool for getting a realistic, publicly verifiable first orientation — before the conversation with a tax advisor. Every constant below comes from an official source and is dated.

Who built this?

Freiberechner was built independently and isn't operated by a tax firm. The formulas and rates used come directly from the official sources linked below, not from our own tax advice. For a binding assessment of your individual situation, a Steuerberater (tax advisor) is the right place to go — not this tool.

Sources (as of 9 July 2026)

• §32a EStG — Income Tax Tariff 2026 (official Wage Tax Handbook) ↗

  Federal Ministry of Finance

• Social Insurance Reference Figures 2026 (Fact Sheet) ↗

  National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Funds

• Solidarity Surcharge Act 1995 (SolzG), §4 tapering zone ↗

  Federal Ministry of Justice

• Contribution Assessment Ceilings 2026 — Overview ↗

  The Federal Government

• Künstlersozialkasse — Contribution Calculation 2026 ↗

  Künstlersozialkasse (Artists' Social Insurance Fund)

• Voluntary Contributions to Statutory Pension Insurance 2026 ↗

  German Federal Pension Insurance

What this calculator doesn't cover

• The standard Sonderausgaben lump sum, extraordinary expenses, and individual allowances beyond the basic tax-free allowance
• Loss carry-forwards from prior years
• Private health insurance (PKV) — the calculation assumes voluntary statutory (GKV) insurance or KSK
• Trade tax (Gewerbesteuer), if your activity is subject to it (many freelance professions are exempt; the freelancer-vs-trade distinction is often genuinely contested case by case)
• VAT / the small-business exemption (Kleinunternehmerregelung) — only net revenue is considered here
• The exact tapering of the solidarity surcharge in edge cases very close to the exemption threshold
• Assumes self-employment as your main occupation — side-business self-employment alongside regular employment follows different GKV rules (no minimum assessment floor, since you're already insured via your job)
• Church tax and solidarity surcharge assessment bases aren't reduced by the Kinderfreibetrag (mainly affects higher incomes with several children)
• Kirchensteuer-Kappung — most German states cap church tax for high earners at a percentage of taxable income; not modeled
• Voluntary unemployment insurance for the self-employed (only available within narrow deadlines and prior-insurance requirements) — not included
• Ehegattensplitting uses the spouse's taxable income as entered, without modeling their own deductions in detail, and allocates household tax back proportionally — an approximation, not an exact joint assessment