1,500 euros gross: net pay with no monthly wage tax
Why nothing is withheld for tax at this salary, why the two extra salaries are taxed anyway, and what you can claim back after the year ends.
On €1,500 gross a month you take home €1,273.20 in 2026 and pay no wage tax (Lohnsteuer) at all on your regular salary. The only deduction is social insurance of €226.80, a rate of 15.12 %, because employees below €2,225 no longer pay into unemployment insurance. Scaled to a year, the tax scale would charge €321, but every employee gets a traffic credit (Verkehrsabsetzbetrag) of €496 that wipes it out. Monthly tax only starts around €1,580 gross. Holiday pay and Christmas pay, Austria's 13th and 14th salary, follow different rules: your annual sixth (Jahressechstel) is €3,000, above the €2,615 exemption limit, so €117.38 of tax is withheld on the two payments at 6 %. The year comes to €17,737 net from €21,000 gross. Filing the employee tax return (Arbeitnehmerveranlagung) refunds part of your social insurance, about €979 by our calculation for someone without children.
Net pay from this gross salary
Net per month
€1,273
| Social insurance | €227 |
| Wage tax | €0 |
| Annual net (14 payments) | €17,737 |
| Deductions from annual gross | 15.5 % |
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Calculation method
Your payslip at €1,500: social insurance only
| Item | Month | Year (12 salaries) |
|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | €1,500.00 | €18,000 |
| Health insurance 3.87 % | €58.05 | €696.60 |
| Pension insurance 10.25 % | €153.75 | €1,845.00 |
| Unemployment insurance 0.0 % | €0.00 | €0.00 |
| Chamber levy and housing subsidy | €15.00 | €180.00 |
| Wage tax | €0.00 | €0.00 |
| Net | €1,273.20 | €15,278.40 |
Since January 2026 nobody earning up to €2,225 gross pays the employee share of unemployment insurance (ÖGK health insurer). You are still covered: your employer keeps paying its 2.95 %, and you build up the same right to unemployment benefit as a higher earner.
The point where monthly tax kicks in
Austria taxes salary on an annual basis even though it is withheld monthly. Twelve months of €1,500 after social insurance and the flat €132 work-expense allowance give a taxable base of €15,146. The first €13,539 are tax-free and the rest is taxed at 20 percent (section 33(1)), which makes €321.48. The traffic credit of €496 is deducted from that tax, not from income, so nothing is left to withhold. The calculator puts the break-even near €1,580 gross; €10 above it, your employer starts deducting €0.73 a month.
The exemption limit on the 13th and 14th salary
Most Austrian employees get fourteen salaries, the extra two being special payments (Sonderzahlungen). They are taxed at fixed rates up to one sixth of your regular annual pay (section 67), and fully exempt if that sixth stays at or below €2,615. With fourteen equal payments the sixth equals two monthly salaries, so the cut-off is €1,307.50 gross. It works as a cliff, not a slope: cross it and everything above €620 is taxed.
| Monthly gross | Annual sixth | Tax on both special payments | Net per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| €1,307 | €2,614 | €0.00 | €15,557.46 |
| €1,308 | €2,616 | €97.60 | €15,471.78 |
| €1,500 | €3,000 | €117.38 | €17,737.42 |
At €1,500, holiday pay leaves €1,248.11 net and Christmas pay €1,210.91; the €620 allowance is used up on the first one. Our page on the annual sixth explains the mechanism in detail.
Children and refunds: what to file for
Because no wage tax is withheld, the Familienbonus Plus does nothing for you during the year. Sole earners and single parents get the Kindermehrbetrag instead, about €379 per child (oesterreich.gv.at), and everyone at this salary can get social insurance back. Both only arrive through the employee tax return after the year ends. The traffic credit page shows how the top-up shrinks as income rises.
Try other figures in the gross-to-net calculator, or compare with 2,000 euros gross, where wage tax is deducted every month.