We’re back at it again and answering your top questions!
Recently, a customer asked us:
What is the differences between theKV, AV, RV, UV, and PV payments for insurance that I see in my German payslip?
In this article, you’ll learn:
1. What these payments are
2. What’s the difference between each
3. And how they’re calculated.
How payroll deductions affect your net salary & income tax
Let’s get the basics out of the way:
If you’re reading this, you’re probably decrypting your German payslip.
In Germany, it’s is called Lohnabrechnung. Your employer is legally required to issue payslips.
This payslip shows how your wages or salary are structured: KV, AV, RV, UV and PV are deductions from your gross salary that reduce your net income.
In total, approximately 40% of your gross salary will be paid out to social security contributions and health insurance.
What is the KV Beitrag?
The term KV Beitrag is a shortened term for Krankenversicherung Beitrag, or health insurance contribution in English.
This is how much you’ll need to pay when signing up for health insurance and is made up of several insurance payments.
Each year, the government decides how much each full-time employee will pay in the form of a percentage, which makes up the insurance payment.
In 2025, that percentage is 14.6% of your income. Your employer is responsible for half of this payment, so you should only see about 7.3% taken from your monthly income for your health insurance fund.
In addition to this, there is also the Zusatzbeitrag (in English, “additional contribution”) that helps cover costs for health insurance providers. The amount is determined by each health insurance company and regulated through the German government.
If you’re interested to see the difference, you can go to our public health insurance page and enter in different incomes to see the differences in overall contributions per provider.
However, there is a limit on how much of your total gross salary can be taken for these contributions. It maxes out at €5,512.50 per month or €66,150 per year. This means that at most, you’ll pay around €630 for public health insurance.
Many young, single, and healthy people without children think this is too expensive, so they can actually switch to private health insurance if they earn €73,800 per year or more.
With private health insurance, you typically get more extensive care and save money.
Private health insurance in Germany
support in English.
What is the AV Beitrag?
AV Beitrag is a shortened term for Arbeitslosenversicherung Beitrag, or unemployment insurance contribution in English.
It’s an income tax your employer automatically collects from your gross salary when employed full-time at a company or from your taxes if you are self-employed.
This type of social security contribution is mandatory and is handled through government regulation.
The system provides unemployment benefits that people can use when looking for another job.
During the pandemic, this also includes Kurzarbeit, or temporary unemployment from the impact of lockdowns.
For workers in the Food & Beverage or hospitality industry who are unable to work, they were able to receive a certain percentage of their normal paycheck through the government until things began opening up again.
The contribution for 2025 is 2.4%, with a maximum amount differing from East and West German federal states (Bundesländer).
In West Germany, this is €7,300 per month or €87,600 per year whereas, in East Germany, this is €7,100 per month or €85,200 per year (current information can be found here).
What is the RV Beitrag?
RV Beitrag is another shortened term for Rentenversicherung Beitrag, or pension insurance contribution. It’s a type of social security contribution paid to German tax authorities so that once your retire, you can receive a monthly pension straight into your bank account.
To be eligible for a German pension, you must contribute to German pension insurance for at least 5 years.
If you know you will be leaving Germany before the 5 years are up, you can get your pension contributions back in cash.
It can sometimes be in the tens of thousands, depending on how long you worked and how much you earned.
Find out how here: How to get your pension contributions back.
Pension insurance contributions are set for 2025 at 18.6%, which might seem like a lot, but you’re only responsible for half since your employer pays the other half.
The pension insurance contribution is similar to unemployment contributions as the maximum amount is based on your gross salary, and differs between East and West Germany.
It is set at €7,550 per month or €90,600 per year in Western states, while Eastern federal states are set at €7,450 per month or €89,400 per year (current information can be found here).
What is the UV Beitrag?
Yet again, UV Beitrag is a shortened version of Unfallversicherungsbeitrag, or in English, accident insurance contribution.
This branch of (partially) mandatory social security contributions protects people against accidents.
Most people are mandated to have accident insurance, but the full list can be found on the government’s website.
The amount each person will need to pay is different and is calculated based on the following formula:
Accident insurance contribution = compensation x contribution rate x risk class
You can find the additional information and where you fall on the website of the compulsory accident insurance institution.
What is the PV Beitrag?
The last contribution we’ll discuss in this article is the PV Beitrag (Pflegeversicherungsbeitrag), or nursing care insurance.
This type of insurance is mandatory for everyone in Germany, including privately insured individuals.
The goal is to protect people when they require long-term nursing care.
In 1995, Germany added this insurance to its social services branch due to the aging population.
As people get older, they have a significantly higher chance of needing additional care at either a retirement facility or at-home nursing care. To prevent people from struggling alone, nursing care insurance was added.
The contribution is 3.05% of your gross salary and is included in your health insurance.
Since the payment is paired with health insurance, the contribution limits are the same in both East and West German federal states. For public health insurance, the limit is at €5,512.50 per month and €66,150 per year (current information can be found here).
If you’re confused about what your contribution will be, you can use this salary calculator which estimates each mandatory insurance contribution.
Thinking about getting life insurance or flexible pension insurance? Feather’s policies can be taken with you no matter where your journey takes you. From Shanghai to Mexico City, as long as you sign up in Germany, the plan grows with you!
