---
title: "Capital Gains Tax Calculator (Germany)"
description: "Calculate your German capital gains tax (Abgeltungsteuer) on stock gains, dividends, and ETF earnings. With church tax, solidarity surcharge, and saver's allowance. Instant result."
canonical: "https://investboard.de/en/rechner/abgeltungssteuer"
language: "en"
modified: "2026-08-02"
author: "Investboard"
---

# Capital Gains Tax Calculator (Germany)

Calculate Kapitalertragsteuer (capital gains tax), Solidaritätszuschlag (solidarity surcharge), and Kirchensteuer (church tax) on your capital earnings.

## How Is the Abgeltungsteuer (Flat-Rate Capital Gains Tax) Calculated?

The **Abgeltungsteuer** (§ 32d EStG) is Germany's flat-rate withholding tax on investment income. It consists of up to three components that together determine the effective tax burden.

### The Three Tax Components

**1. Kapitalertragsteuer (Capital Gains Tax, KAP): 25%**

The base rate is 25% on taxable investment income after deducting the Sparerpauschbetrag (saver's lump sum). Your bank withholds this tax automatically and remits it to the Finanzamt (tax office).

**2. Solidaritätszuschlag (Solidarity Surcharge, SolZ): 5.5% on the KAP**

The Solidaritätszuschlag is not levied on the investment income itself but on the capital gains tax.

### Solidarity Surcharge

```text
SolZ = KAP × 5.5%

{"     "}= Investment income × 25% × 5.5%

{"     "}= Investment income × 1.375%
```

Without church tax, the total tax burden is **26.375%**.

**3. Kirchensteuer (Church Tax, KiSt): optional, 8% or 9%**

Investors who are members of a church that collects church tax pay an additional Kirchensteuer on the capital gains tax. The rate is:

- **8%** in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg
- **9%** in all other federal states

### The Church Tax Base Adjustment

Investors who pay Kirchensteuer benefit from a reduction in the tax base for the KAP. The reason: church tax is deductible as a Sonderausgabe (special expense). Without the adjustment, the KAP would be levied on an amount from which church tax is subsequently deducted — a circular calculation.

### Adjusted KAP Formula (§ 32d Abs. 1 Satz 4 EStG)

```text
KAP_adjusted = taxable amount × 0.25 ÷ (1 + KiSt_rate × 0.25)
```

With 9% church tax and EUR 1,000 in taxable investment income:

**KAP** = 1,000 × 0.25 ÷ 1.0225 ≈ **244.50 EUR**

**KiSt** = 244.50 × 9% ≈ **22.00 EUR**

**SolZ** = 244.50 × 5.5% ≈ **13.45 EUR**

**Total** ≈ **279.95 EUR** (≈ 28.00%)

### Effective Tax Rates at a Glance

| Church Tax | Effective Total Rate |
| --- | --- |
| None | 26.375% |
| 8% (Bavaria / Baden-Württemberg) | approx. 27.82% |
| 9% (all other states) | approx. 28.00% |

### Sparerpauschbetrag (Saver's Lump Sum)

Investment income up to the **Sparerpauschbetrag** (§ 20 Abs. 9 EStG) is tax-free:

| Filing Status | Amount |
| --- | --- |
| Single | 1,000 EUR |
| Joint filing (married / registered civil partnership) | 2,000 EUR |

If you have not set up a **Freistellungsauftrag** (tax exemption order) with your bank, the bank will withhold Abgeltungsteuer from the very first euro of income — and you will have to reclaim the overpaid amount through your tax return. The Freistellungsauftrag can be split across multiple banks, but the total must not exceed the Sparerpauschbetrag.

### Partial Exemption in the Calculator: the ETF Earnings Type

When you select **ETF / Stock Fund** as the type of earnings, the calculator shifts the tax base before any tax is computed: **30%** of the gain stays tax-free (Teilfreistellung, partial exemption under § 20 InvStG), and only the remaining 70% is taxed. The reason sits one level below: a stock fund already pays tax on its income at fund level. The partial exemption offsets that prior charge with a flat rate.

### ETF Earnings Type: 70% Is Taxable

```text
Taxable = Investment income × (100% − 30%) = Investment income × 0.70

Effective, without church tax and with the lump sum used up:

0.70 × 26.375% = 18.4625%, approx. 18.46%
```

The other three earnings types carry no partial exemption: **Interest, Capital Gains**, **Stock Sale** and **Dividend (Individual Stock)** are taxed in full. What matters is not whether shares are involved but whether the income comes from an investment fund: a dividend paid directly by an individual stock stays fully taxable, while the same dividend held inside a stock ETF benefits from the 30%.

### Loss Offsetting: Two Pots

The calculator shows a single income event. In a securities account, gains and losses run through two separate offsetting pots (§ 20 Abs. 6 EStG) that your bank maintains automatically:

| Loss From | Pot | Can Be Offset Against |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Individual stock (sale) | Stock pot (Aktien-Topf) | Gains from stock sales only |
| Stock ETF (sale) | General pot (sonstiger Topf) | All investment income |
| Bond, certificate | General pot (sonstiger Topf) | All investment income |

The most common misconception sits in the detail: losses from stock ETFs do not go into the stock pot, which is reserved for individual shares. For funds, the partial exemption also works in both directions: like gains, losses from a stock fund count at only 70%.

Loss pots do not move between banks on their own. Losses at bank A can be offset against gains at bank B only through your tax return, and for that you need the **Verlustbescheinigung** (loss certificate), to be requested from the bank by **December 15**. Missing the deadline loses nothing permanently; the offset shifts by a full year.

For scale: EUR 2,000 of realised losses in the general pot, from a bond for instance, save EUR 527.50 in tax when offset later (26.375% without church tax); for a stock ETF the loss counts at only 70% because of the partial exemption. The pot logic in detail: [Loss offsetting for stocks and ETFs](/en/wissen/verlustverrechnung-aktien-etf).

### The Order of Calculation

The calculator follows the same order your bank applies:

### Order of Deductions

```text
Step 1: Partial exemption   ETF earnings type only: − 30%

Step 2: Sparerpauschbetrag  − EUR 1,000 (EUR 2,000 for joint filing)

Step 3: Capital gains tax   25% on the remainder (with KiSt base adjustment if applicable)

Step 4: SolZ and KiSt       5.5% and 8% / 9% on the capital gains tax
```

Step 2 is the decisive one: the Sparerpauschbetrag reduces the gross amount, not the finished tax. It is applied at most up to the income itself and can never produce a negative taxable amount.

If the remaining Sparerpauschbetrag covers the income in full, the taxable amount is zero. All three components are then zero as well. The Solidaritätszuschlag and the Kirchensteuer are levied on the capital gains tax; if that is zero, they fall away with it.

### When Is No Abgeltungsteuer Due?

**NV-Bescheinigung (Non-Assessment Certificate):** Individuals whose total income is below the basic tax-free allowance (Grundfreibetrag) can apply to the Finanzamt for a Nichtveranlagungs-Bescheinigung. With this certificate, the bank will not withhold any capital gains tax.

If your personal income tax rate is below 25%, you can request that your investment income be taxed at your regular rate instead. The Finanzamt performs the Günstigerprüfung upon request and automatically applies the lower rate. This is especially useful for students, retirees with low income, or in years with low overall earnings.

### When Filing a Tax Return Pays Off

The Abgeltungsteuer is settled once your bank has withheld it. Four situations still argue for filing the **Anlage KAP**:

- **Sparerpauschbetrag unused:** without a Freistellungsauftrag, or with one distributed incorrectly, the bank withheld from the first euro. The return reclaims the tax on the first EUR 1,000 (EUR 2,000 for joint filing).
- **Günstigerprüfung (§ 32d Abs. 6 EStG):** if your personal marginal rate is below 25%, your investment income is taxed at the lower rate on request. The Finanzamt checks automatically whether this works out in your favour; the application cannot leave you worse off.
- **Losses at several banks:** these can be offset only through the tax return, with a loss certificate.
- **Income without German withholding:** with accounts held abroad, the Anlage KAP is mandatory.

How to go about it: [Anlage KAP: when it pays off](/en/wissen/anlage-kap-steuererklaerung).

### Calculation Summary

### Complete Calculation

```text
Tax-free portion:  Sparerpauschbetrag (1,000 / 2,000 EUR)

Taxable:           Total income − Sparerpauschbetrag

KAP    = Taxable × 25%              (with KiSt base adjustment if applicable)

SolZ   = KAP × 5.5%

KiSt   = KAP × 8% or 9%            (only for church tax payers)

Total  = KAP + SolZ + KiSt
```

The Abgeltungsteuer is a final withholding tax — meaning investment income generally does not need to be reported on your income tax return (Einkommensteuererklärung), unless the Günstigerprüfung would be beneficial or the bank has made an error.