Gewerbesteuer-Rechner

Trade tax hits anyone running a business in Germany - from sole traders and partnerships to the GmbH. It is calculated in three steps: the allowance is subtracted from the trade income, the result multiplied by the base rate of 3.5 percent (giving the assessment amount), and the municipality applies its multiplier on top. Because every municipality sets its own multiplier, the same firm can pay considerably more in Munich than in a low-multiplier town.

The allowance is the first big lever. Sole traders and partnerships get a 24,500-euro allowance on trade income - corporations like the GmbH, UG or AG get none. That is exactly why the legal-form comparison matters: the calculator shows what you would pay as a sole trader, a GbR or a GmbH so you see the burden in black and white instead of guessing.

The second big lever is the multiplier. The calculator ships a database of the multipliers of over 40 German cities (as of 2025) - from Berlin (410) through Stuttgart (420), Frankfurt (460) and Hamburg (470) to Munich (490) and above. You can pick your municipality or enter your own rate if yours is not listed. That way you see instantly how much location really matters.

For sole traders and partnerships comes the decisive offset: the credit of trade tax against income tax under Section 35 of the Income Tax Act. 4.0 times the assessment amount is credited against your income tax. In municipalities with a multiplier up to about 400 percent, this nearly fully neutralises the trade tax - above that a residual burden remains. The calculator shows this credit separately so you see the actual net burden, not just the gross total.

Add-backs under Section 8 GewStG and reductions under Section 9 GewStG can also be factored in. Part of interest, rents, leases and lease instalments is added back to profit, certain items like the property share are reduced. These corrections make the trade income differ from your commercial profit - the calculator makes that transparent instead of hiding it.

The end result is not just the trade tax in euros but also the effective rate on your income - the number you actually need when comparing locations, legal forms or investments. It all runs data-frugally; nothing is stored. It does not replace tax advice, but it makes trade tax comprehensible.