Pension Tax Calculator

Since 2005, German statutory pensions have been taxed on payout. That means part of your pension is taxable, and how large that part is depends on the year your pension started. Anyone who retired in 2005 or earlier pays tax on 50 percent. The share rises for every later cohort. Since the Growth Opportunities Act it only grows by half a percentage point a year from 2023: 83.5 percent for a 2025 start, 84 percent for a 2026 start, and only in 2058 does it reach 100 percent. The calculator knows the whole table from § 22 EStG.

The most important thing many people do not know: the tax-free part of your pension is fixed in euros in the year after your pension starts and then stays the same forever. Every later pension increase is therefore fully taxable. That is exactly how pensioners who never dealt with the tax office end up above the basic allowance every year. The calculator estimates your fixed allowance from today's pension and the actual pension increases since your start. If the amount is already in your tax assessment, simply enter it.

From the taxable pension, the 102 euro expense allowance, your health and care insurance contributions and the special expenses allowance are deducted. Only what remains meets the income tax tariff with the basic allowance of 12,096 euros for 2025 and 12,348 euros for 2026, double for married couples with income splitting. The calculator uses the same tariff calculation as our income tax calculator.

Hardly anyone lives on the statutory pension alone. So the tool also includes company pensions and civil-service pensions with the pension allowance, company pensions from direct insurance or a Pensionskasse, rental income, self-employed profit, a mini-job and interest above the saver's allowance. Anyone who turned 64 before the tax year gets the old-age relief amount on wages and other income. For interest, the calculator shows whether the Günstigerprüfung pays off because your personal tax rate is below the bank's 25 percent.

New since 1 January 2026 is the Aktivrente under § 3 no. 21 EStG: anyone who keeps working in a regular job after reaching the standard retirement age gets up to 2,000 euros of wages a month tax-free, starting with the month after the retirement age. It does not apply to mini-jobs, civil servants or the self-employed. Health, care and pension contributions still apply to the full wage, and there is no progression clause. The calculator deducts the Aktivrente month by month and shows what remains taxable.

At the end you get a clear answer: do you have to file or not, and why. If neither of you receives wages or a pension with wage tax withheld, the basic allowance decides (§ 25 EStG, § 56 EStDV). If wage tax is already withheld, the rules of § 46 EStG apply, such as the 410 euro limit for other income. The calculator also names the deadline, the routes to filing via ELSTER with Anlage R, the simplified pensioner return some states offer and wage tax help associations. Everything is a guide value for understanding and preparing your own return. It does not replace tax advice or your tax office's assessment.