Solidarity Surcharge: Who Still Pays It in 2026
The solidarity surcharge was introduced in 1995 and is still levied today — but only on a minority. Since it was largely abolished with effect from 2021, the great majority of wage and income taxpayers no longer pay any soli at all. Who is still charged, from what income that starts and how the transition zone works is what this article sets out. You can calculate your personal burden in seconds in the Income Tax Calculator.
The 2026 exemption threshold
The soli amounts to 5.5 percent of the assessed income tax. Decisive, however, is the exemption threshold under § 3 SolZG: in 2026 it stands at €20,350 of income tax under single assessment and €40,700 under joint assessment. Below those amounts no solidarity surcharge is levied. Crucially, the threshold relates to the tax, not to income — and that is precisely where most of the confusion arises.
Translated into taxable income, this means the soli only falls due from around €75,000 under single assessment and from roughly €150,000 under joint assessment. The figure is an exemption threshold, not an allowance — once the tax crosses the line, the whole amount in principle becomes the assessment base, not merely the excess.
The transition zone
An abrupt jump from zero to 5.5 percent would be unreasonable. § 4 SolZG therefore provides for a transition zone: immediately above the threshold the surcharge may not exceed 11.9 percent of the difference between the income tax and the threshold. The soli thus grows slowly from zero rather than striking at full force straight away. Only once 5.5 percent of the tax is lower than that cap does the regular rate take over.
In figures: at €80,000 of taxable income and income tax of €22,464 the soli comes to €252 — barely 1.1 percent of the tax. At €100,000 of taxable income and €30,864 of tax it is €1,251, and at €150,000 of taxable income and €51,864 of tax, €2,853. The full 5.5 percent rate is only reached from around €37,800 of income tax, which corresponds to roughly €116,600 of taxable income under single assessment.
Who still pays the soli in full
Two groups are excluded from the relief. First, the solidarity surcharge continues to apply unchanged to the flat tax on investment income: 5.5 percent sits on top of the 25 percent flat tax, producing an effective burden of around 26.4 percent — the exemption threshold does not apply here. Second, corporations continue to pay the surcharge on corporation tax without any threshold, which matters in particular for shareholder-directors weighing salary against distributions.
The dispute over constitutionality
Whether the soli may still be levied at all after the reconstruction funding programme expired was contested for years. The Federal Constitutional Court settled the question in its judgment of 26 March 2025 in case 2 BvR 1505/20, rejecting a constitutional complaint against the Solidarity Surcharge Act 1995. The surcharge remains permissible as a supplementary levy under Article 106(1) no. 6 of the Basic Law, because a reunification-related additional financial need of the federal government has not obviously ceased. In practice this means the soli stays, and assessments on this point are no longer issued provisionally.
The soli for married couples
Under joint assessment the threshold doubles to €40,700 of income tax. Together with the splitting tariff that produces relief twice over: the joint tax is already lower where incomes are unequal, and the higher threshold applies on top. A couple with €140,000 of combined taxable income therefore remains entirely soli-free, whereas a single person on €140,000 already pays a four-figure sum. You can trace the comparison directly in the Income Tax Calculator by switching between the forms of assessment.
The soli in wage tax withholding
For monthly wage tax withholding the threshold is converted to the pay period. Employees whose annual wage tax stays below the threshold therefore have no soli deducted during the year at all. Deviations typically arise with one-off payments such as bonuses or severance, because the deduction in the month concerned is projected onto a higher annual wage. The income tax return in the following year evens out these differences again.
For most taxpayers the solidarity surcharge is history, but for upper incomes it remains a noticeable factor — and inside the transition zone it is a source of surprisingly high marginal burdens. If you are close to the threshold, a careful look pays off: additional work-related or provision expenses can push the income tax below the line and thereby reduce two burdens at once. Run both variants through the Income Tax Calculator before you file your return.