Like others have said, your tax rate differs depending on situation you're in. Also, there are more things to take into account in Germany specifically. For example, many if not most companies (not sure if they still do, haven't been there in a while) will pay you "vacation money" and "x-mas money"/"13th salary" on top of this. I.e. in IIRC July you get an extra half month's salary and in November you get a "13th salary" i.e. an extra month's worth. These do count into all these tax implications (though some aren't taxed in the exact same way) but aren't included in the quoted salary numbers. They're listed as part of the contract usually.