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Calculator · Dividends
What remains of your dividend after Abgeltungsteuer, solidarity surcharge, and church tax?
The calculator shows what remains from a dividend after German capital income tax. For funds, it applies the selected partial exemption. It shows a computed tax burden and does not replace tax advice.
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Dividends from individual stocks are subject to the full Abgeltungsteuer of 26.375 % (including Soli). For distributing ETFs, the Teilfreistellung (partial exemption) applies: for equity-fund ETFs, 30 % of the distribution is tax-exempt, so only 70 % is taxed. The effective tax rate on gross dividends from equity-fund ETFs is therefore around 18.46 %.
The Teilfreistellung (§ 20 InvStG) exempts a portion of fund income from tax to account for taxation already incurred at the fund level. For equity funds (at least 51 % stocks) 30 % of distributions are tax-exempt. For mixed funds with at least 25 % stocks, the exemption is 15 %. The Teilfreistellung applies to distributions, capital gains, and the Vorabpauschale alike.
Yes. The Sparerpauschbetrag (EUR 1,000 for individuals, EUR 2,000 for married couples filing jointly) is applied to all capital income, including dividends. No tax is charged up to this allowance. It is used up in the order capital income is received. If you hold accounts at multiple brokers, you should split your Freistellungsauftrag (exemption order) accordingly.
Not if you use a German bank or broker: the Abgeltungsteuer is automatically withheld and remitted. If you hold a foreign brokerage account, or if you want to credit foreign withholding tax, you must report your dividends in Anlage KAP of your tax return. The same applies if you want to apply for the Günstigerprüfung (cheaper-rate test).
Distributing funds pay out income (dividends, interest) directly to investors. These payments are immediately taxable and reduce the fund's value. Accumulating funds retain income and reinvest it. Instead of distributions, accumulating ETFs are subject to the Vorabpauschale (advance lump sum), which ensures a minimum level of taxation. In an identical market environment, both variants are tax-equivalent.
Switzerland withholds 35 % Verrechnungssteuer. Of that, 15 percentage points are creditable against the German Abgeltungsteuer (DBA-CH Art. 10), and the credit never exceeds the German tax that actually arises on the dividend. The remaining 20 percentage points are not creditable in Germany but reclaimable in the source country: you recover them through a refund claim with the Eidgenössische Steuerverwaltung, a separate procedure on its own deadline. The calculator therefore reports this portion on its own line and does not fold it into the net dividend, because it is not in your account today.
Because for fund units the foreign withholding tax does not arise at investor level but at fund level (§ 7 InvStG). The fund bears it on the shares it holds, and what reaches the investor is already the reduced distribution. An investor-level withholding tax line would charge the same burden a second time. The flat-rate compensation for it is the Teilfreistellung: 30 % for equity ETFs, 15 % for balanced funds. For individual stocks the withholding tax does arise directly at investor level, and there the calculator reports it.
The full tax chain, from the gross dividend to the net amount.
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Calculate now →Inputs
Aktuell für 2026Input Mode
Source
Your Tax Profile
of EUR 1.000
Your Net Dividend
Net Dividend
EUR 500,00Effective Tax Rate: 0,00%No tax (saver's allowance covers the amount)
Dividends are classified as income from capital assets (Einkünfte aus Kapitalvermögen, § 20 Abs. 1 Nr. 1 EStG) and are generally subject to the full Abgeltungsteuer (flat-rate capital gains tax) of 25% plus Solidaritätszuschlag (solidarity surcharge) and, if applicable, Kirchensteuer (church tax) — resulting in an effective total tax burden of 26.375% to approx. 28.00%.
The actual tax burden depends on whether the dividend comes from an individual stock or from an investment fund / ETF.
Since the 2018 Investment Tax Reform (Investmentsteuerreform), distributions from investment funds benefit from a Teilfreistellung (partial exemption): a fixed percentage of the distribution is tax-free. This is designed to avoid economic double taxation, as funds already pay taxes at the fund level.
| Fund Type | Partial Exemption | Taxable Portion | |---|---|---| | Equity fund (min. 51% equity quota) | 30% | 70% of the distribution | | Mixed fund (min. 25% equity quota) | 15% | 85% of the distribution | | Individual stock | 0% | 100% of the dividend | | Bond fund / other | 0% | 100% of the distribution |
Individual stock (no partial exemption):
Taxable: 1,000 EUR
Abgeltungsteuer: 1,000 × 26.375% = 263.75 EUR
Net dividend: 736.25 EUR
Equity ETF (30% partial exemption):
Taxable: 1,000 × 70% = 700 EUR
Abgeltungsteuer: 700 × 26.375% = 184.63 EUR
Net dividend: 815.37 EUR
The difference on EUR 1,000 gross distribution is roughly EUR 79 — solely from the partial exemption. For larger portfolios, this effect adds up significantly.
The Sparerpauschbetrag (saver's lump sum of EUR 1,000 / EUR 2,000) is applied to the taxable income after the partial exemption. Your bank calculates this automatically, provided a Freistellungsauftrag (tax exemption order) is on file.
Dividends from foreign stocks are often subject to Quellensteuer (withholding tax) in the country of origin before they are credited to your account. The country table below lists the rates the calculator applies.
The withholding tax paid abroad can in many cases be credited against the German Abgeltungsteuer, up to the amount of the German tax liability. Excess withholding tax (e.g., Swiss withholding tax above 15%) must be reclaimed directly from the foreign tax authority — a cumbersome process.
For foreign individual stocks the source state takes its cut first. The calculator reads the country from the first two characters of the ISIN and applies two figures: the rate actually withheld, and the treaty cap up to which it is creditable in Germany. The Source column reproduces the statutory basis exactly as the calculator stores it, in German.
| Country | Withheld | Creditable up to | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Germany | 0% | 0% | Inländische Dividende |
| United States | 15% | 15% | DBA-USA Art. 10 (W-8BEN unterstellt) |
| United Kingdom | 0% | 0% | UK: keine Quellensteuer auf Dividenden an Nicht-Ansässige |
| Switzerland | 35% | 15% | DBA-CH Art. 10 |
| France | 12.8% | 15% | FR: gesetzlicher Quellensteuersatz für nicht ansässige Privatpersonen (Cap nicht bindend) |
| Netherlands | 15% | 15% | DBA-NL Art. 10 |
| Ireland | 25% | 15% | DBA-IRL Art. 11 (für DIREKTE irische Aktien) |
For Switzerland, only 15 percentage points of the 35% are creditable; the remaining 20 percentage points can be recovered solely through a refund claim in Switzerland, never through your German tax return. For France, the rate withheld (12.8%) sits below the 15% cap, so the full 12.8 percentage points are credited. The Irish 25% applies to Irish individual stocks, not to Irish-domiciled ETFs: their distributions follow the fund rules.
The credit is capped three times over. What is credited is the smallest of three amounts: the withholding tax actually paid, the 15% treaty cap, and the German tax that arises at all.
Credit = min(withholding tax paid; treaty cap; German tax)
Anything withheld above that is not lost, but neither is it creditable in Germany: it is reclaimable in the source country. In practice this means a separate procedure with the tax authority there, on its own deadline, with no involvement of the German Finanzamt. The calculator therefore reports this amount on its own line and never folds it into the net dividend: recoverable later, not in your account today.
An example on a 1,000 EUR gross dividend from a Swiss individual stock, above the Sparerpauschbetrag of EUR 1,000 (EUR 2,000 filing jointly):
Withholding tax paid: 1,000 × 35% = 350.00 EUR Creditable: min(350.00; 150.00; 263.75) = 150.00 EUR Reclaimable (CH): 350.00 − 150.00 = 200.00 EUR Remaining German tax: 263.75 − 150.00 = 113.75 EUR Net today: 1,000 − 350.00 − 113.75 = 536.25 EUR
Once the refund succeeds, the total burden is back at 263.75 EUR, and so at the 736.25 EUR net of the base case without withholding tax.
Select "ETF / Stock Fund" or "Balanced Fund" and withholding tax drops out of the calculation. That is not an omission but the correct level: the fund itself bears the withholding tax on the shares it holds, at fund level (§ 7 InvStG). What reaches the investor is already the reduced distribution, so the burden is visible only indirectly. An investor-level withholding tax line would charge the same tax a second time.
For that fund-level burden the legislator compensates on a flat-rate basis, through the Teilfreistellung. It replaces an individual credit with a fixed percentage: 30% for equity ETFs, 15% for balanced funds, regardless of which countries the dividends inside the fund came from.
The calculator's third source option is the balanced fund. The 30% partial exemption stays reserved for equity funds, and for that the fund's investment terms must commit to an equity quota of more than 50% on a continuing basis (§ 2 Abs. 6 InvStG). Funds below that threshold that still hold a meaningful equity share receive 15%.
Taxable: 1,000 × 85% = 850.00 EUR Abgeltungsteuer: 850.00 × 26.375% = 224.19 EUR Net dividend: 775.81 EUR
The effective rate is therefore 85% × 26.375% = 22.42%, sitting between the 26.375% on an individual stock and the 18.46% on an equity ETF.
Whether 30%, 15%, or 0% applies is decided by the equity quota fixed in the fund's investment terms, not by its composition on any single date. Your bank's tax statement is authoritative.
Funds that do not distribute their income but reinvest it internally (accumulating / thesaurierend) do not pay a regular dividend. Instead, the Vorabpauschale (advance lump sum) applies — a prepaid tax on anticipated future gains. The Vorabpauschale is relevant for accumulating ETFs and is calculated separately.
Distributing funds (ausschüttend) pay out income directly. Taxation occurs in the year of distribution — straightforward and transparent.
Which variant is more tax-efficient depends on your personal tax situation, the utilization of the Sparerpauschbetrag, and your investment horizon.