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Tax calculator · MD salary
Salary or dividend? Your net optimum in seconds.
How much of your GmbH profit should flow as managing-director salary, how much as dividend? The calculator weighs progressive income tax against CIT + trade tax + withholding tax – and automatically finds the salary that leaves the most after tax.
- Income-tax tariff § 32a EStG
- CIT + trade tax + WHT
- Social-security status
- Automatic optimum search
Your inputs
Your total net with this split
€170,876
+€16,650 · 10.8% more net than with a 100 % dividend – the salary uses your progressive brackets and saves corporate tax.
Salary route
€120,000 gross salary – business expense of the GmbH, taxed progressively at your level (§ 32a EStG).
- Taxes & contributions
- €41,660
- Effective rate
- 34.7%
Net from salary
€78,340
Dividend route
€180,000 remaining profit – first CIT + SolZ + trade tax inside the GmbH, then 26.375 % withholding tax.
- Taxes & contributions
- €87,464
- Effective rate
- 48.6%
Net from dividend
€92,536
Calculated optimum
Optimal salary ≈ €300,000 → total net €177,881.
Important: the calculated optimum must survive an arm's-length test. A managing-director salary the tax office deems excessive is treated as a hidden profit distribution (vGA) – with back taxes and interest.
That's the model. Now let's calculate your real number.
30-minute intro call: we review salary adequacy, social-security status, bonus components, pension commitments and the trade-tax effect for your exact setup – and tell you honestly which split actually pays off for you. Free.
Simplified model with typical assumptions: progressive income tax under § 32a EStG (parameters of assessment period 2025), solidarity surcharge of 5.5 % on income tax simplified above ~€90,000 taxable income, CIT 15.825 %, trade tax by multiplier, withholding tax 26.375 %. If subject to social security: flat 20 % total burden (employee + employer) up to a contribution ceiling of roughly €90,600. Not included: salary-adequacy test (vGA risk), church tax, income-related expenses and special deductions, joint filing, other income, bonuses, pension commitments, option for the partial-income method. The calculation does not replace individual advice.
How salary optimisation works
Two routes to your money – one optimum in between.
- 01
Salary: business expense with progression
Every euro of MD salary reduces the GmbH's profit and saves roughly 30 % in corporate taxes there (CIT 15.825 % + trade tax depending on the multiplier). In return you pay progressive income tax privately: in the lower tariff zones your marginal rate is well below 30 % – there, the salary is almost always the cheaper route.
- 02
Dividend: two stages, flat rate
What stays in the GmbH is taxed in two stages: first CIT + SolZ + trade tax at company level, then 26.375 % withholding tax on the distribution to you. Depending on the multiplier, around 48–52 % ends up with the tax office in total – but the rate is constant, no matter how large the amount.
- 03
The optimum sits at the crossover
As long as your personal marginal rate (incl. SolZ) is below the combined dividend burden, more salary pays off. Beyond the crossover it flips – every additional salary euro becomes more expensive than the dividend. The calculator scans all salary levels in €5,000 steps and shows the maximum. The practical ceiling: salary adequacy (keyword vGA).
Why our calculators are serious.
Tax rates 2026
CIT + SolZ, withholding tax, trade-tax multipliers and the income-tax tariff under § 32a EStG (tariff parameters of assessment period 2025) – reviewed May 2026.
Practical assumptions, no window dressing
We calculate with the same simplifications we use in the initial call – and openly flag the limit: the calculated optimum only holds as long as the salary is adequate (vGA risk).
Transparent methodology
Every input is explained, every assumption documented – including the optimum search in €5,000 steps. You can mirror the result against your Excel or your current advisor.
FAQ
Common questions about MD salary and dividends.
01Why not simply pay everything out as salary?
Two reasons. First, progression: from ~€68,500 taxable income you pay a 42 % marginal rate plus solidarity surcharge – depending on the multiplier that is close to or above the combined dividend burden, so the advantage melts away. Second, adequacy: an MD salary that fails the arm's-length test is treated by the tax office as a hidden profit distribution (vGA) – the excessive part is added back to the GmbH's profit and taxed retroactively.
02What is an adequate MD salary – and what happens with a vGA?
Adequate is what an external managing director would earn in a comparable industry, company size and profit situation. The tax administration relies on salary structure surveys and on the principle that an appropriate profit must remain in the GmbH after the salary (rule of thumb: the half-split principle). If the salary is deemed excessive, it constitutes a hidden profit distribution: the excessive part retroactively increases the GmbH's profit (CIT + trade-tax back payments plus interest) and is requalified as investment income at your level.
03When am I exempt from social security as a shareholder-managing director?
What matters is whether you control the company: anyone holding 50 % or more of the shares – or a comprehensive blocking minority that can prevent unwelcome instructions – is generally not in dependent employment and therefore exempt. Minority shareholders without a blocking minority and external managing directors are subject to social security. Binding certainty comes from the status determination procedure with the German pension insurance.
04What role does the trade-tax multiplier play?
A bigger one than many think. The multiplier determines the GmbH's tax saving per salary euro and, at the same time, the burden on the dividend route. In Munich (490 %) the dividend costs over 51 % in total, in Grünwald (240 %) considerably less – and the optimal salary shifts accordingly. Move the slider and watch the optimum migrate.
05What does the calculator show – and what not?
The calculator models the standard case: progressive income tax under § 32a EStG on the salary (incl. simplified SolZ), CIT + SolZ + trade tax and withholding tax on the dividend route, optionally a flat social-security burden. Not modelled: church tax, joint filing, other income, bonuses and pension commitments, the option for the partial-income method – and above all the salary-adequacy test. It does not replace individual advice, but it gives you an honest ballpark.
30 minutes. A clear plan for your taxes.
In the free intro call we listen to your setup, name the levers with the biggest impact and send a written proposal within 48 hours. You decide after that.
030 555 721 370