For employees and employers

Christmas bonus 2026: how much do you keep?

A Christmas bonus, 13th month or other bonus is a non-recurring payment: income tax is calculated on the annual table, and contributions apply up to the pro-rata annual contribution ceiling.

Your details

Gross pay per month

Christmas bonus or one-off payment (gross)

Tax class

Child allowances (count)Only affects the solidarity surcharge and church tax, not income tax.

Liable to church tax (member of a church that levies it)

Federal state (place of work)Determines the church tax rate (8% in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, 9% elsewhere) and long-term care in Saxony.

Additional contribution of your health insurer

Empty = average additional contribution 2026 (2.9%). Your insurer publishes its own rate.

Children under 25

Childless and aged 23 or over (long-term care surcharge)

Christmas bonus netValues 2026

Result

Net from the bonus–

Taxes on the payment–

Social security on the payment–

Cost for the employer–

Item	Rate	Amount

Explanation

Assumptions: paid in December, employed all year at the monthly pay entered, expected annual pay = 12 × monthly pay. Income tax and solidarity surcharge on the payment come from the 2026 PAP (inputs SONSTB and JRE4). There is no statutory right to a Christmas bonus; it follows from a collective agreement, the employment contract or established company practice.

Note: an indication, not legal or tax advice

This calculation is based on the general statutory rules and the values published for 2026. It is not legal, tax or payroll advice. Collective agreements, employment contracts and works agreements may provide more favourable rules.

Sources and values used

Item	Value	Source
Income tax on non-recurring payments	annual table with and without the payment (section 39b(3) EStG)	EStG, § 39b Abs. 3 (sonstige Bezüge) (in German)
Contributions on one-off payments	up to the pro-rata annual ceiling (section 23a SGB IV)	SGB IV, § 23a (einmalig gezahltes Arbeitsentgelt) (in German)
Income tax and solidarity surcharge	official 2026 algorithm	BMF – Programmablaufplan 2026 für die maschinelle Lohnsteuerberechnung (XML-Pseudocode Lohnsteuer2026, Version 1.0, Stand 23.10.2025) (in German)
Church tax	8% (BY, BW) or 9% of income tax	EKD – Kirchensteuer: Hebesatz 8 % (Bayern, Baden-Württemberg) bzw. 9 % der Lohn- und Einkommensteuer (in German)
Contribution ceilings health/care and pension/unemployment (month)	€5,812.50 / €8,450	Sozialversicherungsrechengrößen-Verordnung 2026, §§ 1, 2, 4 (in German)
Further source		BMF – Schnittstelle des Lohn- und Einkommensteuerrechners (Prüfung: 234 Fälle, 2.808 Werte, 0 Abweichungen) (in German)

Sources checked on 15 October 2026.