Home / Global compare / Amsterdam vs Berlin
Same €80,000 gross. Amsterdam with the 30% ruling vs Berlin Klasse I (with kids). 2026 rules, verified engines.
| Amsterdam (ruling) | Amsterdam (no ruling) | Berlin | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Taxable | €56,000 | €80,000 | €80,000 |
| Income tax | €20,330 Box 1 | €29,532 Box 1 | €22,464 ESt |
| Credits / SV | −€6,442 credits | −€3,445 AK | €15,839 SV |
| Take-home / year | €66,112 | €53,913 | €41,697 |
| Take-home / month | €5,509 | €4,493 | €3,475 |
Two stories: with the ruling Amsterdam keeps €24,415 a year more than Berlin — the 30% tax-free slice plus Dutch credits beats Germany's ESt + SV combo clearly. Without the ruling the gap shrinks to €12,216, still Amsterdam. The ruling needs Belastingdienst approval (€48,013 threshold) and drops to 27% in 2027 — price offers both ways.
About €66,112 a year (€5,509/month) in 2026 — €56,000 taxable after the 30% facility.
About €41,697 a year (Klasse I, with kids) after €22,464 income tax and €15,839 social insurance.
| Netherlands | Germany | |
|---|---|---|
| Income tax | Box 1 progressive bands (35.75% / 37.56% / 49.50%) | Einkommensteuer via the §32a formula, progressive with a tax-free allowance |
| Credits | Heffingskortingen, subtracted from calculated tax and tapering with income | Allowances built into the tariff; child allowances via the family fund |
| Social security | Employee share deducted from wage; the employer-paid Zvw contribution is excluded here | Pension, unemployment, health and care insurance — about €15,839 on this salary, split with the employer |
| Special regimes | 30% ruling: 30% of gross paid tax-free with Belastingdienst approval (threshold €48,013), reduced to 27% for new cases from 2027 | Tax classes I–VI decide how much splitting relief applies; church tax 8–9% of income tax only for members |
Without the ruling, Berlin's lower tax bill and Amsterdam's credits land roughly in the same range. With it, Amsterdam pulls ahead by more than €24,000 a year — because 30% of gross is taken out of the tax base entirely, which cuts both the top-band rate and the income level the credits taper against. That is not a rounding difference; it is the whole verdict. It is also temporary: the ruling is granted for a fixed term, and the rate falls in 2027, so an offer built on it should be valued as a multi-year, not lifetime, advantage.
Both cities are calculated for a single employee with no dependants, standard tax treatment and no 30% ruling benefit. The Dutch side applies income tax, national insurance contributions and the general tax credit; the German side applies income tax, solidarity surcharge where owed, and statutory social insurance. Holiday allowance (vakantiegeld) and a thirteenth month are shown separately rather than folded into the monthly figure, since payment timing differs.
Rent assumptions use a one-bedroom apartment within a reasonable commute of the centre, and the comparison targets a similar standard of living in both cities rather than the cheapest possible option. Because housing pressure in both markets changes quickly, re-check current listings before making a decision on these numbers alone.
Figures on this page are planning estimates built from published IRS tables and state agency rates; they are not tax advice. How we build and check these estimates · Edited by: Nuh Taspinar · Last updated: 2026-11-09