Tax comparison
🇱🇺Luxembourg vs 🇩🇪Germany
At €80,000 gross, the net annual salary is €53,320 in Luxembourg and €47,191 in Germany, a gap of €6,129 per year. Once each side is put at its own price level, the order reverses: about €44,000 of purchasing power in Luxembourg against €51,000 in Germany. EXPATRIATION.IO comparison, 2026 tax scales: adjust the gross salary and the household below.
Enter in EUR. Converted to local currency automatically.
Expat Package Report
This corridor, with your own two salaries
This page compares the tax schedules. The report compares your amounts: net at origin and at destination, aligned in euros, the gap quantified, the equivalent gross and the package questions to clarify before signing. PDF delivered by email, corridor pre-filled.
Get the report · 49 EURComparing taxes: Luxembourg and Germany
Luxembourg (country) and Germany (country) have distinct approaches to taxing employment income. On a gross salary of €80,000, the effective total deduction rate is 33.4% in Luxembourg compared to 41.0% in Germany. That translates to a difference of roughly €6,129 per year in favor of Luxembourg.
In Luxembourg, income tax amounts to €16,437 and social contributions add €10,244. In Germany, income tax is €17,549 and social contributions are €15,260.
The net annual take-home is €53,320 in Luxembourg and €47,191 in Germany. These figures assume a single filer with no children or special deductions. Actual results vary based on household composition, deductions, and specific tax credits available in each jurisdiction.
Equivalent gross and tipping point
At €80,000 gross in Luxembourg, about €93,700 gross is needed in Germany to reach the same net salary.
That figure answers the same net. For the gross that gives back the same purchasing power, restated at each side's price level, the two answers sit side by side.
Across the €30,000 to €250,000 gross range, Luxembourg leaves the higher net salary at every level tested.
These figures use the default profile. The Expat Package Report runs the same calculation on your own two salaries and household, and quantifies the gap in euros.
Detailed comparison at €80,000 gross
| Luxembourg | Germany | |
|---|---|---|
| Gross annual salary | €80,000 | €80,000 |
| Income tax (national or federal) | €16,437 | €17,549 |
| Social contributions | €10,244 | €15,260 |
| Total deductions | €26,680 | €32,809 |
| Net annual salary | €53,320 | €47,191 |
| Net monthly salary | €4,443 | €3,933 |
| Effective deduction rate | 33.4% | 41.0% |
Pay compared
On pay itself, the 2022 European Structure of Earnings Survey gives, on one definition for both sides, full-time gross annual earnings averaging €73,637 in Luxembourg and €55,648 in Germany. The medians, less sensitive to very high salaries, are €54,446 and €46,721. Scope: enterprises with 10 or more employees, public administration excluded. The survey is quadrennial and 2022 is its latest edition.
Breakdown of social contributions
Luxembourg
| Health insurance (2.80% + 0.25%) | €2,440 |
|---|---|
| Pension insurance | €6,800 |
| Long-term care (dépendance) | €1,004 |
| Total contributions | €10,244 |
Germany
| Health insurance (GKV) | €5,656 |
|---|---|
| Pension (Rentenversicherung) | €7,440 |
| Unemployment (Arbeitslosenversicherung) | €1,040 |
| Care insurance (Pflegeversicherung) | €1,125 |
| Total contributions | €15,260 |
Examples at several salary levels
| Gross (EUR) | Rate Luxembourg | Net Luxembourg | Rate Germany | Net Germany |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| €45,000 | 22.6% | €34,815 | 37.1% | €28,291 |
| €80,000 | 33.4% | €53,320 | 41.0% | €47,191 |
| €120,000 | 38.9% | €73,376 | 44.2% | €66,965 |
| €250,000 | 43.3% | €141,737 | 44.3% | €139,139 |
These figures assume a single filer with no children; the tool above lets you adjust the salary and the household configuration (married, 1 to 3 children).
Special tax regimes
The figures on this page apply the ordinary scale. Where one of the two sides opens a tax regime of its own for arrivals from abroad, it is computed alongside here, without changing the comparison above.
Luxembourg · Impatriate Regime (since 2025)
50% exemption of gross annual remuneration, capped at 400,000 EUR of remuneration (maximum exemption of 200,000 EUR per year), for the year of arrival plus eight years. Income tax only, social contributions unaffected. Replaced the former allowance-based regime on 1 January 2025; prior beneficiaries keep the old rules or can opt into the new regime. The comparison above applies the ordinary scale and does not assume this regime.
| Gross (EUR) | Net Luxembourg, ordinary scale | Net under the regime | Difference (signed) |
|---|---|---|---|
| €45,000 | €34,815 | €38,920 | +€4,105 |
| €80,000 | €53,320 | €67,471 | +€14,151 |
| €120,000 | €73,376 | €98,113 | +€24,737 |
| €250,000 | €141,737 | €196,355 | +€54,617 |
Who this regime is open to
Not a Luxembourg tax resident, not living within 150 km of the border and not subject to Luxembourg income tax on professional income in the previous 5 years. Minimum annual base salary of 75,000 EUR. Recruited from abroad or seconded within a group, with at least 75% of working time on the qualifying activity. Whether a given move qualifies is a question for a tax lawyer, not for this calculator.
Cost of living
Consolidated cost-of-living index (Paris = 100): Luxembourg City 120, Berlin 92. This is a rounded editorial benchmark, built from Numbeo readings and official statistics rather than published by them. On a gross salary of €80,000, the net amounts adjusted to this index correspond to a purchasing power on the order of €44,000 for Luxembourg City and €51,000 for Berlin, at Paris price levels.
To go further: the cost-of-living comparison and the city budget calculator.
Sources: Luxembourg: impotsdirects.public.lu, tax year 2026 · Germany: bmf.de, tax year 2026
This tool provides estimates based on public datasets. It is not the opinion of a tax lawyer. Consult a tax lawyer, a chartered accountant or a licensed financial professional before making relocation or employment decisions.