Mini-Job Calculator

The mini-job - officially marginal employment under Section 8 SGB IV - is the most popular form of side income in Germany: cleaning help, shop assistants, tutoring, gardening. Since 2026 the marginal earnings threshold is EUR 603 per month, that is EUR 7,236 per year. This limit is dynamically linked to the minimum wage, which in 2026 is EUR 13.90 per hour - if the minimum wage rises, the mini-job limit rises too.

For employers a mini-job is not contribution-free, quite the opposite. Flat-rate contributions apply: 13% for health insurance (Section 249b SGB V), 15% for pension insurance (Section 172 SGB VI), 2% uniform flat-rate tax (Section 40a EStG) plus the U1 and U2 levies and the insolvency levy. The calculator adds all of this up and shows you the actual total cost - the gross wage is only part of it.

In a private household it is cheaper. For household-related mini-jobs under Section 8a SGB IV, reduced flat rates of 5% each for health and pension insurance apply, plus the 2% flat-rate tax. Anyone registering a domestic helper therefore pays significantly less than a commercial employer - and can even deduct part of the cost for tax. The calculator handles both variants.

For employees the mini-job is fundamentally free of deductions on the net side - gross equals net, if you do nothing further. But there is compulsory pension insurance with opt-out: by default you pay a small personal share (the difference to the full contribution rate, so 3.6% in 2026) and in return collect full pension entitlements and earnings points. You can be exempted from it - the calculator shows both paths and what they mean for net pay and pension.

Anyone earning above EUR 603 lands in the transitional zone, the so-called midi-job (Section 20 para. 2 SGB IV), which reaches up to EUR 2,000 per month. There the employee contributions rise gradually instead of becoming fully due at once. The calculator compares mini-job and midi-job so you can see whether a few euros more gross is really worth it or whether you run into a contribution trap.

A minimum wage check is built in: from hourly wage and working time the tool checks whether the mini-job meets the statutory minimum wage and how many hours are possible at most at EUR 603. That way you plan the employment cleanly from the start and avoid trouble with the Minijob-Zentrale.

The mini-job calculator runs entirely in your browser, without signup and without data transfer. It is an orientation, not a payroll run and not tax advice - the binding accounting is handled by the Minijob-Zentrale or your payroll office.