Active Pension Calculator 2026
Still working in Germany after retirement age? Since January 2026 up to 24,000 € of your salary stays free of income tax. Find out what that is worth to you.
Auf Deutsch: Aktivrente-Rechner
What the Aktivrente is
Germany introduced the Aktivrente on 1 January 2026. The idea is narrow and easy to state: if you have reached the statutory retirement age and carry on working as an employee, the first 24,000 € you earn in a year is free of income tax. Everything above that is taxed as usual.
The rule lives in section 3 no. 21 of the Income Tax Act (Einkommensteuergesetz, EStG). It is an exemption on salary, not a new benefit and not a change to your pension. Your pension keeps being taxed exactly as before.
Two details decide most cases. The exemption starts in the month after you reach retirement age, not in that month itself. And it only applies to employment where your employer pays regular pension contributions. That second point is where people get caught out, so it is worth its own section.
Who qualifies, and who does not
Employees, yes. You need to have reached the statutory retirement age under section 35 or 235 of Social Code Book VI, and to work in a job subject to regular social-security contributions.
Self-employed, no. The exemption covers income from employment only. Freelancers, traders, and farmers are outside it. If you have both a business and a job, only the salary from the job counts.
Minijob, no. This one surprises people. A Minijob pays up to 603 € a month and is taxed at a flat rate, with only flat-rate pension contributions from the employer. The exemption requires regular contributions, so a Minijob does not qualify at all. A regular job does, and so does a Midijob, which begins at 603.01 € a month.
Part of the year only. The cap is reduced pro rata. Each calendar month without the conditions removes one twelfth. Reach retirement age in June and start work in July, and at most 12,000 € stays tax-free that year.
A worked example
Take someone on a gross pension of 1,800.00 € a month who takes a part-time job paying 2,000.00 € a month, single, no church tax, pension started in 2026 so 84 % of it is taxable.
Over a year the salary comes to 24,000.00 €, which is right at the cap, so 24,000.00 € of it is exempt. Income tax, solidarity surcharge and church tax together would have been 7,896.00 € for the year. With the exemption they come to 1,117.00 €.
That is 6,779.00 € a year, or 564.92 € a month, and it lifts the net income to 3,706.92 € a month.
These figures come from the same engine as the calculator above, so they cannot drift apart from it.
What it saves at different salaries
Gross pension 1,500.00 € a month, single, no church tax, 84 % of the pension taxable.
| Salary per month | Exempt per year | Saving per year | Saving per month |
|---|---|---|---|
| 500.00 € | 6,000.00 € | 1,392.00 € | 116.00 € |
| 1,000.00 € | 12,000.00 € | 2,961.00 € | 246.75 € |
| 1,500.00 € | 18,000.00 € | 4,655.00 € | 387.92 € |
| 2,000.00 € | 24,000.00 € | 6,474.00 € | 539.50 € |
| 2,500.00 € (above the cap) | 24,000.00 € | 7,025.00 € | 585.42 € |
What it does not do
Tax-free is not contribution-free. Health, long-term care and pension contributions are still due on the whole salary. That is not an oversight in the law but a condition of it, since the employer has to pay regular pension contributions for the exemption to apply.
It also does not touch your pension. The taxable share of a German state pension is fixed by the year it started and stays what it was.
And it does not raise your tax rate on anything else. German tax law has a mechanism where some tax-free income still pushes up the rate on the rest, called Progressionsvorbehalt. Section 32b EStG lists the cases it applies to, and Aktivrente salary is not one of them.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Aktivrente?
The Aktivrente (“active pension”) is a German income-tax exemption introduced on 1 January 2026. If you have reached the statutory retirement age and keep working as an employee, up to 24,000 € of your salary per year stays free of income tax. That is roughly 2,000 € a month. The legal basis is section 3 no. 21 of the German Income Tax Act (Einkommensteuergesetz, EStG).
Who qualifies?
Two conditions have to be met at the same time. You must have reached the statutory retirement age under section 35 or section 235 of Social Code Book VI (SGB VI), and you must work as an employee in a job that is subject to regular social-security contributions. The exemption starts in the month after you reach that age, not in the month itself.
Does it apply to self-employed work?
No. Section 3 no. 21 EStG covers income from employment only, as defined in section 19 (1) sentence 1 no. 1 EStG. Freelancers, traders and farmers fall outside it, whatever their income. If you run a business and also hold a regular job, only the salary from that job counts towards the exemption.
Does it apply to a Minijob?
No, and this catches people out. A Minijob (up to 603 € a month in 2026) is taxed at a flat rate, and the employer pays only flat-rate pension contributions. Section 3 no. 21 EStG requires regular contributions under sections 168, 172 or 172a SGB VI, so a Minijob does not qualify. A regular job does, including a Midijob, which starts at 603.01 € a month.
Is the salary also free of social-security contributions?
No. Tax-free is not contribution-free. Health, long-term care and pension contributions are still due on the full salary. That is not a loophole in the rule but a condition of it: the employer has to pay regular pension contributions for the exemption to apply at all.
Does the exempt salary push up the tax rate on my pension?
No. German tax law has a mechanism called Progressionsvorbehalt, where certain tax-free income still raises the rate applied to everything else. Section 32b EStG lists the cases it covers, and salary exempt under section 3 no. 21 EStG is not among them. Your pension is taxed exactly as it would have been.
Do I still pay tax on my state pension?
Yes. The German state pension stays partly taxable under section 22 no. 1 sentence 3 EStG. How much of it is taxable depends on the year your pension started: 84 % for pensions starting in 2026, less for earlier years, and 100 % from 2058 onwards. The Aktivrente exemption changes none of that, it only frees up the salary you earn on top.
What if I only work part of the year?
The exemption is reduced pro rata. For every calendar month in which the conditions are not met, the maximum drops by one twelfth (section 3 no. 21 sentence 3 EStG). If you reach retirement age in June and start working in July, at most 12,000 € stay tax-free that year. The calculator has a field for this.
How does this interact with the basic tax-free allowance?
They stack. The Aktivrente exemption is applied to your salary first. Whatever remains as taxable income then runs through the normal tax schedule of section 32a EStG, which includes the basic allowance (Grundfreibetrag). The calculator applies both in the right order.
Sources
The rules on this page come from the German statutes themselves, linked here in the official version. They are in German, which is the only legally binding language for them.
- Section 3 no. 21 EStG – the exemption itself, the 24,000 € cap and the pro rata rule
- Section 22 no. 1 sentence 3 EStG – how much of a state pension is taxable
- Section 32b EStG – the closed list of income that raises your tax rate
- Section 32a EStG – the income tax schedule, including the basic allowance
- Section 35 SGB VI – the statutory retirement age
Prepared and checked by Thomas Hakenes, software developer, not a tax adviser. This page is an estimate and general information, not tax advice within the meaning of section 2 of the German Tax Advisory Act (StBerG). Your Finanzamt decides your actual assessment. Last reviewed: July 2026.
German version with more detail: Aktivrente-Rechner
Building something with these numbers? The calculations behind this page are available as a REST API, documented in English.