What is actually left of your revenue?
Employees see their net pay on a payslip. The self-employed see an account balance that still owes income tax, health insurance and retirement provision — only later. Enter your revenue and your business expenses and see what genuinely ends up being yours.
Drag the slider to see what a weaker year does. The burden does not fall by the same proportion.
Left for you
After expenses, tax, social contributions and retirement provision.
Share of revenue kept
The part you genuinely have at your disposal at the end of the month.
Tax reserve
Set this aside every month — the tax office collects it later.
From revenue to what is left
Every line is a deduction you cannot negotiate. In order.
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All amounts excluding VAT.
What the tax office accepts from your expenses
You paid all of it. You may only deduct part of it.
| per month | per year |
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When revenue moves
Social contributions and the basic allowance do not scale linearly. Less revenue therefore does not mean proportionally less in your pocket.
| Scenario | Revenue per month | Left for you |
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How the net income calculator works
Deductible business expenses come off your revenue excluding VAT — that is your taxable profit. From it, income tax under the tariff of the selected country, trade tax after credit for trades, then social contributions and retirement provision. The contributions appear as separate lines: health and long-term care insurance apart, in Austria also pension insurance, self-employment provision and accident insurance. Whatever survives is yours.
One step is missing from most calculators: not every expense you pay reduces your profit. Business meals are 70 per cent deductible in Germany and 50 in Austria. Gifts above the threshold and fines are not deductible at all. For mixed-use items — car, phone, home office — only the business share counts. The rest has left your account but does not exist for tax purposes. That is why this calculator tracks two sums: what you pay, and what you may deduct.
VAT stays out of it: it is a pass-through item and was never your money, and under the small business scheme it does not apply at all. If you read your figures straight off your invoices, switch the amounts setting to “incl. VAT” — the calculator then takes it out for you instead of you dividing by 1.19.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the difference between revenue, profit and net income?
- Revenue is everything you invoice. Take off deductible business expenses and you get profit — the figure the tax office taxes. Only after income tax, social contributions and retirement provision does the money you can actually draw appear. For the self-employed, more than 50 per cent often sits between the first figure and the last.
- Why is health insurance so expensive for the self-employed?
- Because you carry the full contribution alone. Employees pay half and their employer covers the rest. In Germany the insurer’s additional contribution and long-term care insurance come on top of the health rate — together a good 21 per cent of profit, up to the contribution ceiling. There is also a minimum assessment base: even in a month without profit you pay around €285. That is why the calculator lists health and care insurance as their own lines instead of burying them in a single “social contributions” total.
- How much of my revenue should I set aside as a self-employed person?
- There is no flat figure, because income tax rises progressively while health insurance is capped. The calculator shows your tax reserve directly as a monthly amount, which beats any rule of thumb. If you need one anyway: 30 per cent of profit is a workable floor at middling incomes and too little above that.
- Are my business expenses not always fully deductible?
- As a rule they are — that is the normal case and it belongs in the first expense field. The exceptions are few: business meals reduce your profit by only 70 per cent in Germany and 50 in Austria. Gifts to business partners above the threshold, fines and penalties not at all. For a car, phone or home office only the business share counts. The form has a dedicated section for exactly these cases.
- Why does the non-deductible part cost me twice?
- Because the money hurts twice. It has left your account, and since it does not reduce your profit you also pay income tax and social contributions on it. A non-deductible euro therefore costs you considerably more than a euro. The calculator puts a number on that surcharge below the expense table.
- Can I enter my amounts including VAT?
- Yes — set “Amounts” at the top of the form to “incl. VAT”. You then enter revenue and business expenses exactly as they appear on your invoices and the calculator converts them back using the standard rate. Two things to know: it assumes the same rate on every amount, so if much of your work falls under the reduced rate you will be more accurate entering net figures. And health insurance and retirement provision stay untouched, because no VAT applies to insurance premiums.
- Does this work under the small business scheme?
- Yes — keep the amounts setting on “excl. VAT”. Under the scheme you do not charge VAT, so your invoice total already is the revenue the calculator expects. Since you cannot reclaim input VAT either, enter your expenses at the full amount you actually paid.
- Can I rely on the tax figures?
- They are a planning aid, not tax advice. The tariffs and contribution rates are as of January 2026, checked against the official sources. Your actual burden depends on factors this calculator does not know — allowances, loss carry-forwards, joint assessment, special expenses. The binding figure comes from your tax adviser.
Calculation basis as of January 2026. Germany: income tax tariff under § 32a EStG from assessment period 2026, statutory health insurance with a contribution ceiling of €5,812.50 and a minimum assessment base of €1,316.67 per month, trade tax credit under § 35 EStG, business meals 70 % deductible under § 4 (5) no. 2 EStG, retirement provision deductible up to €30,826 under § 10 (3) EStG. Austria: 2026 tax brackets, 2026 SVS contribution rates, business meals 50 % under § 20 (1) no. 3 EStG. Switzerland: AHV/IV/EO on a declining scale; the cantonal income tax varies so strongly that you enter it as an average rate yourself.
This calculator is a planning aid and not tax or legal advice. It knows nothing of joint assessment, loss carry-forwards or further special expenses, and the retirement provision ceiling it applies is the one for single filers. The Austrian and Swiss figures are approximations — for Austria the calculator deducts retirement provision without a ceiling. For binding numbers, ask your tax adviser.
These numbers continuously, not once
The calculator works with averages you have to estimate. In LaizyNote the same figures come out of your actual work: tracked hours turn into revenue, utilisation and project progress — without you typing anything.