Social security values, contribution rates and benefits in kind for payroll software
Social security thresholds, contribution rates, benefits in kind and garnishment limits with valid-from dates, ahead of each change.
Ceilings, rates and benefit-in-kind values change at the turn of the year, garnishment exemptions on July 1. If you enter them by hand, you risk incorrect payroll.
The values are available with their valid-from date as soon as the weekly check has added them after official publication. Your software learns about it via webhook.
Two change dates a year
On January 1, the contribution ceilings (Beitragsbemessungsgrenzen), the compulsory insurance threshold (Versicherungspflichtgrenze) and the benefit-in-kind values (Sachbezugswerte) change, often along with the average additional contribution (Zusatzbeitrag) and factor F for midi-jobs (Midijobs). The garnishment exemptions (Pfändungsfreigrenzen) follow on July 1.
The ordinances usually only appear in November or December. If you enter the values by hand, you work under time pressure. The status page shows which changes are coming next.
What payroll gets from it
- Contribution ceilings and compulsory insurance threshold for each year, as monthly and annual values.
- Contribution rates with employer and employee shares, long-term care insurance by number of children, insolvency benefit levy (Insolvenzgeldumlage).
- Benefit-in-kind values for meals and accommodation, the minimum wage with the mini-job (Minijob) limit, the midi-job transition zone (Übergangsbereich) with its formula.
- Garnishment exemptions with the exempt amount and the garnishable amount for any net wage.
By date, not by year
Every request takes a date. You calculate corrections for months of the previous year with the values that applied then, and new payroll runs with the new ones. You get the history since 2015 in one call, as JSON or as CSV for your own templates, see Effective dates and validity.
Not included: wage tax (Lohnsteuer), the U1 and U2 levies (Umlagen) and the additional contribution of each individual health insurance fund.
Matching datasets
Social security reference values
Contribution ceilings, compulsory insurance threshold and reference value per year, West and East.
Social security contribution rates
Health, pension, unemployment and long-term care insurance with employer and employee share.
Meal and accommodation values
Official values for free meals and accommodation per month, day and meal.
Minimum wage and mini-job limit
Statutory minimum wage (Mindestlohn) and mini-job earnings limit (Geringfügigkeitsgrenze) for any date since 2015.
Midi-job transition zone
Lower and upper limit of the transition zone and factor F for any date.
Wage garnishment exemptions
Earned income protected from garnishment, by number of dependents entitled to support.
Mini-job levies: flat-rate charges for employers
Flat-rate contributions, flat-rate tax and levies that employers pay for mini-jobs, in businesses and in private households.
Tax-free amounts and employee expense allowances
Tax-free limit for benefits in kind (€50 limit), company events and other allowances, plus the employee lump sum, home office and commuter allowance since 2015.
Domestic travel expenses
Meal allowances (Verpflegungsmehraufwand), overnight stays and mileage allowance for business trips in Germany since 2015.
Tax-free premiums for Sunday, holiday and night work
Tax-free premium rates under § 3b EStG and the base pay limits for tax and social security.
Company car tax: 1% rule and EV calculator
Taxable benefit under the 1% rule, for electric and hybrid cars with a quarter or half of the list price.
Income tax: basic allowance and bracket thresholds
Basic tax-free allowance, bracket thresholds, child allowance and solidarity surcharge exemption limit per year since 2015.
Apprentice minimum pay
Statutory minimum pay for apprentices (Mindestausbildungsvergütung) per training year, by start of training since 2020.
Care minimum wage
Minimum wages in long-term care (Pflegemindestlohn) by qualification, plus extra vacation, since 2015.
Artists' social security levy
Rate of the artists' social security levy (Künstlersozialabgabe) per calendar year since 2015.
Disability compensatory levy
Amount per unfilled mandatory position by employment rate, with a calculator for the yearly levy.
Use cases
Automate year-end changes in payroll
Pick up new ceilings and rates automatically before they apply.
Use caseCalculate a prorated salary by working days when someone joins or leaves
When someone joins or leaves mid-month, count the working days by state and prorate the salary.
Use caseCheck the mini-job limit: hours and hourly wage against the limit
A warning before more hours or a higher hourly wage push a mini-job (Minijob) over the limit.
Frequently asked questions
Does the API include my health insurance fund's additional contribution?
No. It includes the average additional contribution rate under § 242a of Social Code Book V (SGB V). For payroll, the rate of the fund in question applies.
When are next year's values available?
After the ordinance is officially published, usually in November or December. The weekly check adds them, and a webhook reports them the next morning.
Does the API calculate wage tax?
No. Wage tax (Lohnsteuer) according to the official flowchart of the Federal Ministry of Finance (Programmablaufplan) is not included.
Try it for free
500 queries a month, all datasets, all access methods.