what gets taken off your pay in Germany ...

[percival]

I just found an old payslip of mine, and thought I would do some calculations.

Tax: 21.5%
Solidarity tax: 1.2%
Church tax: 1.9% (obligatory for Roman Catholics and Prostestants in Germany; if you don't pay church tax, you're not in the church)
Health insurance: 7.1% (mandatory - everybody who earns a salary has to have health insurance)
Old age care insurance: 0.9% (obligatory)
Pension: 10.5% (obligatory state pension)
Unemployment insurance: 1.2% (obligatory)

Total deductions: roughly 44%

And I wasn't a particularly high earner ... Pension and health care contributions will also have crept up in the mean time; remember that this is from August 2000.

Comments

[perceval.livejournal.com]

No - they've just tightened rules for drawing social security. Now, if you've been out of work for a year or longer and want to draw benefits, and if you own a flat that's larger than 65 quare metres (single) or double that (couple), you need to sell up, move out, and find something smaller. You also need to use up your savings first.

Grotesque.