GmbH Payroll in Germany 2026: How to Run Payroll for Directors and Employees

Whether you're putting yourself on payroll as a director or hiring your first employee — payroll (Lohnbuchhaltung) in a GmbH comes with specific obligations. There are registrations to file, social security contributions to calculate, and monthly payroll tax reports to submit. Getting this right from day one saves corrections and fines later.

What GmbH Payroll (Lohnbuchhaltung) Involves

GmbH payroll covers everything related to compensating directors and employees:

• Calculating gross salary, deductions and net pay
• Registering with social security bodies and the tax office
• Monthly payroll tax (Lohnsteuer) filings via ELSTer
• Creating pay slips (Lohnabrechnung) for every employee and director
• Paying over social security contributions and Lohnsteuer on time

Registration Requirements Before Your First Payroll

Before running payroll for the first time, complete these steps:

• Obtain a Betriebsnummer (employer ID) from the Federal Employment Agency (Bundesagentur für Arbeit) — one-time, available online
• Register each employee with their health insurance provider — they forward the registration to pension, unemployment and care insurance funds
• Set up ELSTer access for electronic Lohnsteueranmeldung filings
• If the director's social security status is unclear: apply for a Statusfeststellungsverfahren (status determination) at the Deutsche Rentenversicherung

Director-Shareholders: Special Social Security Rules

Whether you, as a GmbH director-shareholder, must pay into social security (Sozialversicherung) depends on your ownership stake:

• More than 50% stake: Generally not subject to social security — no employer or employee contributions
• Less than 50% stake: Treated like a regular employee — full social security contributions apply
• Exactly 50%: Determined case by case via a formal status ruling

For more on structuring director pay, read our guide on managing director salary in a GmbH.

Payroll Tax (Lohnsteuer) and Monthly Filings

Payroll tax applies to every salary payment — including your own director salary:

• Retrieve ELStAM data: electronic payroll tax record holds tax class, child allowances etc.
• Calculate Lohnsteuer based on tax class and gross salary
• Submit Lohnsteueranmeldung: monthly (or quarterly for small amounts) via ELSTer
• Pay over Lohnsteuer: by the 10th of the following month

Running a Pay Slip: Step by Step

A correct pay slip for a social-security-liable employee contains:

• Gross salary (e.g. €3,500)
• Minus employee social security contributions (health + care + pension + unemployment ≈ 20.5%)
• Minus Lohnsteuer (and church tax if applicable) = net pay (amount transferred)
• Plus employer social security (~20.5% on top of gross) → a deductible business expense for the GmbH that reduces taxable profit

Conclusion

Payroll in a GmbH requires upfront effort, but once set up correctly it runs smoothly. Get the registrations right, file Lohnsteuer on time, and maintain clean pay slips. Norman's AI bookkeeping helps you record payroll entries accurately within your GmbH accounts. For the optimal compensation mix, see our article on salary vs. dividends and the specifics of bonus pay (Tantiemen) as a supplementary component.