Taxes and contributions
From the salary, the employee unemployment-insurance contribution and the funded pension (II pillar) are charged, and on top the employer social tax and unemployment-insurance contribution. The employer contributions are an employer cost and do not reduce the employee net. The rates shown are those in force for 2026.
Two sides to the payslip
Around a salary sit two kinds of contribution. Some are withheld from your gross pay and lower your net — these are the employee contributions. Others are paid by your employer on top of the gross and never touch your net — these are the employer contributions, part of the total cost of employing you. The calculator shows both, so you see the whole picture rather than just the deduction from your own payslip. Every rate below is the one in force for 2026, taken from its named official source.
Employee contributions (these reduce your net)
The employee unemployment-insurance contribution (töötuskindlustusmakse) is 1,6% of the gross. It is withheld from your pay and, because it comes off before tax, it also reduces the income-tax base. One exception matters: an employee who has reached old-age pension age is exempt from this 1,6% employee premium (the employer share still applies). The second employee item is the funded pension (the II pillar), whose rate you choose yourself and which has its own page. Together, these two are all that is withheld from the gross before income tax.
Employer contributions (these do not reduce your net)
On top of the gross the employer pays social tax (sotsiaalmaks) at 33% and an employer unemployment-insurance contribution of 0,8%. The social tax funds pension and health insurance. It carries a monthly minimum obligation: it is charged on the greater of the gross and the monthly rate (kuumäär) of 886,00 €, so even for a part-time or below-threshold salary the employer pays social tax of at least 292,38 € per month. There is no upper ceiling on the social-tax base.
Why the employer side never lowers your net
A common confusion is to subtract the employer social tax from take-home pay. It is not deducted from you — it is an additional cost the employer bears, shown in the calculator as the employer cost beside your net. Your net is the gross minus only the employee items (the 1,6% unemployment contribution and your funded pension) and the 22% income tax on what is left after the exemption. The state’s automatic top-up to the II pillar is funded from within the 33% social tax, not charged as an extra levy. All figures here are the rates in force for 2026 — an illustration, not an official calculation.