These are the wages of the workers in Germany and the tax they receive from the State

Figures don't lie to you, but they need “read” properly: So you should know, for example, that if you ask Germany what your salary is, the answer you get is that it's for gross wages, not net, what you really get in your accounts. Of course, if they answer you because the Germans consider it highly inappropriate to ask what their salary is.

According to statistics in 2018, the average monthly income in Germany is 2,950 euros. Net income, so what really gets is smaller. 33% smaller, totaling approximately 1.945 euros. After that 1,000-euro gap, taxes and social security contributions are erased.

The amount of taxes to be paid depends on the employer's tax rating in Germany. There are 1-6 rankings in Germany. The classification of certain factors depends on whether you are married or single, whether you have children or you live alone, whether you are a parent who only raise children, whether you are the family's primary feeder, whether you have certain tax statements.

What exactly does this mean?

Case number one: Consider a married man, the father of two children, who is the principal wage earner in the family. It earns 2,948 euros a month. His monthly salary thus belongs to average income in Germany. It holds 167 euros in pay tax, 215 euros (7.5%) for health insurance, 274 euros (9.3%) for retirement, 36 euros (1.25%) for security in cases of unemployment, and 45 euros (1.5%) for physical disability insurance. In the end, it actually receives a monthly salary of 2,209 euros.

Case No. 2: A single person, without children, receives the same monthly salary - 2,948 euros a gross month. But it has a higher tax rate, and it has to pay another 22 euros in tax solidarity (from this father to child is released). In the end, this person has a lower monthly salary, following the removal of taxes and contributions, has 1,944 euros a month. If such a person is also a member of the Catholic or Protestant Church, that is reduced by another 40 euros.

Better - Paid vocations and Worse

The average income mentioned earlier is a statistical value, which does little to pay at certain branches. In some professions, employees earn a lot, others earn so little that they can hardly afford the month. First place among the best-paid professions... without staff responsibility... is taken by the mayors. On average, 120,000 euros a year are paid. Even specialized doctors are well paid - an average of 90,000 euros a year. Among the many paid in Germany are employees in the financial and economic sector, fund managers and various managers in the firm.

The worst paid is the work of gastronom assistants, about 2,000 euros a month. Few of them are paid to patients, waiters, among the worst-paid professions are also employees of Call Center, dentist assistants, and senior care staff. Nurses also have a relatively low monthly salary (between 2,000 and 2,400 gross euros).

Minimum legal wage

Germany is part of countries that have the minimum wage defined by law. It is scheduled for 9,19 euros (current in November 2019). Luxembourg is the country with its lowest wage, 11,97 euros per hour. Belgium, Ireland, the Netherlands, and France are countries in the EU that have the minimum wage higher than Germany. The lowest wage is Bulgaria (1,72 euros), Latvia (2,54 euros), Romania (2,68 euros), Hungary (2,69 euros), and Croatia (2,92 euros). This too is a minimum wage.

If you are not employed by contract and tax duties, but on the basis of the hotel - self - employed - you must take care of taxes and social insurance contributions. Here it is advisable to receive advice from the tax consultant because the tax declaration is one of the most difficult things to prepare in Germany.

There's one more thing to know: With tax authorities in Germany, it's no joke. Tax law in Germany is very complicated, and only a specialist consultant can help lower taxes.

Higher than average, lower than Switzerland's salary

So are wages high in Germany? Given the prospects of many European countries, they are sometimes twice or higher than in some European countries. In Albania, for example, the average gross salary for a paid employee is approximately 400 euros (Instat, 52.645 le le, statistics for the second quarter 2019), while in Kosovo in 2017 the average salary marked 527 euros (ASK). In Croatia, the average salary marks 870 euros, near 6436 Kuna.

So the statistics show, that wages in Germany are higher than the European average, but lower than Switzerland, Luxembourg or Denmark. The numbers don't tell you everything, though. They must be seen in broader context. It should also be known, for example, that in 2017, the average monthly expenses of a common German family total 2.517 euros a month, with an average of 900 euros spent on apartment rent and side costs, lights, water, municipal services. If you have such additional information, you may find that you can better understand what your income is like in Germany and what is behind tax payments. / DW