Check a salary calculation step by step
A job offer usually states gross pay. Your bank transfer is net pay; the employer also pays taxes on top of gross pay. This guide connects those three amounts and shows which settings can explain a difference from a payslip.
Page updated: 13 October 2026
Start with the payment and your circumstances
Choose the year in which the money is paid, then enter the amount and whether it is gross, net or the employer’s total cost. Check your actual Pillar II contribution rate and the tax-free allowance applied by payroll. The defaults are an example, not a lookup of your personal tax status.
Worked example: €2,000 gross in 2026
The example below assumes a person below pensionable age, a 2% Pillar II contribution, both unemployment contributions and a €700 monthly allowance. Minimum social tax is switched off. Each tax line is rounded to cents. The employer’s social tax is added to gross pay; it is not deducted from your net salary.
| Step | Calculation | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | Starting amount | €2,000.00 |
| Employee unemployment insurance | 2,000 × 1.6% | €32.00 |
| Pillar II | 2,000 × 2% | €40.00 |
| Income-tax base | 2,000 − 32 − 40 − 700 | €1,228.00 |
| Income tax | 1,228 × 22% | €270.16 |
| Net pay | 2,000 − 32 − 40 − 270.16 | €1,657.84 |
| Employer social tax | 2,000 × 33% | €660.00 |
| Employer unemployment insurance | 2,000 × 0.8% | €16.00 |
| Employer cost | 2,000 + 660 + 16 | €2,676.00 |
An allowance is not an extra payment
The allowance reduces the income-tax base. With the same €2,000 gross salary and all other settings unchanged, using no allowance gives €1,503.84 net instead of €1,657.84. The €154 difference is 22% of €700. The 2026 allowance does not shrink at higher incomes, but payroll needs your application and only one payer may apply it at a time. Check overlapping payments when changing jobs.
Compare an offer or a pay rise
In the calculator, save the first result for comparison, then change the salary or tax settings. Read the net-pay difference alongside the employer-cost difference. For example, moving from €2,000 to €2,500 gross under the worked-example settings adds €375.96 net and €669 to employer cost per month. A €500 gross increase is therefore not a €500 increase in take-home pay. Benefits, commuting costs and working hours still matter when comparing offers.
Understand the time period
Hourly input is multiplied by your entered monthly hours. Annual input is an estimate using annual amounts and allowances; it is not a reconstruction of twelve payslips or a filed tax return. The comparison divides annual results by twelve to show a monthly equivalent. Bonuses, unpaid leave, uneven monthly income and line-by-line rounding can make actual payroll differ.
If your payslip differs
Compare gross pay first, then the pension rate, employee unemployment contribution and the allowance actually used. At pensionable age, enter only the allowance remaining after its use against your pension. Enable minimum social tax only when it applies to the employment situation. This tool does not determine residency, foreign social-security coverage, sick pay, holiday pay, benefits in kind, dividends or self-employment taxes.
Which figures are confirmed?
This worked example is for 2026 and was checked against MTA guidance on 13 October 2026. The calculator’s 2027 page separately labels its provisional minimum social-tax base and the date of that research. Do not treat a draft budget figure as enacted law. Report a discrepancy with the year, settings and expected result; omit personal identification codes and payslips containing personal data.