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💶 Brutto-Netto Calculator — Steuerklasse III (Tax Class 3)

Net pay from gross for 2026 in Steuerklasse III — the married higher-earner class. It uses the favourable splitting tariff and withholds the least wage tax, while the spouse is in Class V. Updated 2026 rates.

Class III — Married, higher earner (Splitting)
Other tax classes: SK 1 · SK 2 · SK 3 · SK 4 · SK 5 · SK 6 · All classes
Advanced options — private insurance (PKV), child allowances, age
⚠️ Guidance only. Wage tax, solidarity surcharge and church tax follow the official 2026 Programmablaufplan (PAP) and match the Federal Ministry of Finance calculator to the cent. Statutory (GKV) or private (PKV) health insurance, child allowances (Kinderfreibeträge) for Soli/church tax, and your age are set under Advanced options; for PKV the “Krankenversicherung” line shows your entered contribution, you can mark pension or unemployment insurance as exempt (e.g. civil servants/Beamte), and you can add a monthly Freibetrag. It does not model Versorgungsbezüge, mid-year changes or other special cases. For payroll-exact figures consult your employer or a Steuerberater.

How Steuerklasse III works in 2026

Steuerklasse III is chosen by the higher-earning spouse in a married couple or registered partnership, while the lower earner takes Steuerklasse V. Class III applies the splitting tariff — effectively double the basic allowance — so it withholds the least wage tax of any class and produces the highest monthly net for that salary.

When does III/V make sense?

The III/V combination works best when one spouse earns clearly more than the other (a rough rule of thumb is a 60/40 split or more uneven). The higher earner in Class III keeps more each month, while the lower earner in Class V bears a heavier monthly deduction. Compare it against IV/IV with our Steuerklassen-Kombination calculator.

Important: withholding only

Class III only changes how much is withheld during the year — it does not change your final tax. A married couple's actual liability is settled jointly in the annual tax return, so a large monthly III advantage can lead to a back-payment if the V spouse's income was higher than expected.

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Important Note: This tool is intended to provide estimates and should not be used as a substitute for professional advice. Information generated by these calculators may be incomplete and does not account for all individual circumstances. Always seek the counsel of a certified expert (such as a financial advisor, healthcare provider, or licensed engineer) before taking action based on these results.

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