Monthly rhythm — the Lohnsteuer-Anmeldung and remittance by the 10th after period end; the Beitragsnachweis present at each Einzugsstelle by 0:00 on the fifth-last bank working day (transmit by 24:00 the day before); the Gesamtsozialversicherungsbeitrag due on the third-last bank working day, in estimated amount.
Annual arc — the year closes 31 December, and mid-February collects the reports: the DEÜV Jahresmeldung by 15 February (2026: 16 February, Sunday roll), then both accident-insurance reports — digital Lohnnachweis and UV-Jahresmeldung (Grund 92) — by 16 February.
The January cliff — new contribution ceilings, a new Programmablaufplan, minimum-wage steps and procedure changes all land on 1 January; the pieces are published from September to November, so the cliff is knowable by mid-November.
These are the same statutory dates seen through three lenses. This page is the period view — what's due because a month or a year just closed. For the deadlines each pay run triggers — DEÜV Anmeldungen with the first payroll run, Sofortmeldungen the moment work commences — use the payday view. For each obligation end-to-end, with channels, penalties and per-claim citations, use the lodgement guide.
The monthly rhythm — three dates, every month
Unlike Australia's month/quarter/year stack, Germany's recurring reporting is almost entirely monthly — and the dates float, because two of the three are counted in bank working days from the end of the month.
Both the return and the withheld amounts (LSt, SolZ, church tax) are due by the 10th day after the end of the Anmeldungszeitraum. The period depends on the previous year's remittable wage tax: monthly above €5,000, quarterly from over €1,080 to €5,000, annually at €1,080 or less (2026 values, per the official BMF form instructions). A nil Anmeldung is still required unless you've told the Finanzamt no wage tax arises.
The contribution statement must be with each Krankenkasse at the start of the fifth-last bank working day. The DRV's 2026 Beiträge brochure is explicit: "Zur Wahrung der Frist muss der Beitragsnachweis jeweils am Vortag bis spätestens 24.00 Uhr übermittelt werden" — "to meet the deadline, the contribution statement must in each case be transmitted by 24:00 on the previous day" (our translation). If exceptionally no contributions arise, a nil Beitragsnachweis still goes — otherwise the Einzugsstelle can estimate.
Contributions fall due in voraussichtlicher Höhe — the estimated amount of the month's contribution debt — because the deadline lands before many payrolls close (§ 23 Abs. 1 Satz 2 SGB IV). A simplification option lets you pay at the level of last month's final contributions, with the true-up in the following month; any residual is due the next third-last bank working day. One-off payments are excluded from the simplification and ride the month actually paid.
Anmeldungen (with the first payroll run, at latest 6 weeks after the start), Abmeldungen, Unterbrechungsmeldungen and the Sofortmeldung (at the latest when work commences, in eleven risk sectors) run on the payroll-run clock — see the payday view.
The floating dates resolve to fixed calendar days each year. For 2026 the payment falls due on 28 Jan, 25 Feb, 27 Mar, 28 Apr, 27 May, 26 Jun, 29 Jul, 27 Aug, 28 Sep, 28 Oct, 26 Nov and 28 Dec; the Beitragsnachweis transmission days (by 24:00) are 25 Jan, 22 Feb, 24 Mar, 23 Apr, 21 May, 23 Jun, 26 Jul, 24 Aug, 23 Sep, 25 Oct, 23 Nov and 21 Dec — per the Minijob-Zentrale's 2026 tables. 24 and 31 December do not count as bank working days, and DEÜV deadlines landing on a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday roll to the next working day (§ 26 Abs. 1 SGB X with §§ 187–193 BGB).
The annual arc — the calendar-year strip
Germany's year runs January to December. The strip shows why the turn of the year is the pinch point: the parameters change on 1 January, the reports on the old year land by mid-February — and the next cliff is assembled, in public, from September to November.
The quiet months aren't idle. Every one of the twelve cells also carries the monthly rhythm above: Lohnsteuer-Anmeldung by the 10th · Beitragsnachweis present by 0:00 on the fifth-last bank working day · contributions due on the third-last bank working day.
1 January is the master reset. The Sozialversicherungsrechengrößen-Verordnung re-sets the contribution ceilings each year in line with the prior year's income development — für 2026: KV/PV €69,750/year (€5,812.50/month) and RV/AV €101,400/year (€8,450/month), from 2024 wage growth of 5.16%. The new Programmablaufplan takes over the wage-tax calculation the same day (2026: Grundfreibetrag €12,348, SolZ-Freigrenze €20,350). Minimum-wage steps land on 1 January too — €13.90 for 2026 — and mechanically pull the minijob threshold (€603/month) and the Übergangsbereich lower edge (€603.01) with them. Even fund-level and procedural changes ride the date: the Minijob-Zentrale's U1 levy fell from 1.1% to 0.8% on 1 January 2026, and the same day the Rechtskreis ("West"/"Ost") indicator was dropped from the Beitragsnachweis.
Two 2027 changes are already pre-armed. The Fünfte Mindestlohnanpassungsverordnung fixed two steps at once — €14.60 from 1 January 2027 is already law. And per the DRV's 2026 Meldungen brochure, from 1 January 2027 the Betriebsdatenpflege becomes a direct Dialogverfahren with the Bundesagentur für Arbeit. Next year's cliff is a known quantity.
The 1 January cycle is not sufficient to watch. The PAP for 2025 was published 22 November 2024 — then re-issued in changed form on 22 January 2025 after the Steuerfortentwicklungsgesetz moved the tariff. The revised plans were mandatory "spätestens ab dem 1. März 2025" — "at the latest from 1 March 2025" (our translation) — and employers had to retroactively correct the January and February withholding where economically reasonable, "was die Regel ist" — "which is the rule" (§ 41c EStG). That's stronger than a table swap: a mid-year PAP revision creates recomputation work for periods already paid. SV parameters move mid-year too — the care-insurance childless surcharge rose on 1 July 2023, and Kasse-level rates (Zusatzbeitrag, U1/U2) can change at any time.
The autumn build-up: September to November
The January cliff is assembled in public, in a fixed sequence — and part of it is perishable. Draft Programmablaufpläne appear around late September (the 2026 ENTWURF was published 25 September 2025) but are removed from the BMF site once the finals land — if you want the early read, the September–November window is when to capture it. The cabinet decides the Rechengrößen-Verordnung in October (8 October 2025 for the 2026 values, Bundesrat consent following), the Mindestlohn ordinance lands in early November on the Mindestlohnkommission's two-year cycle (5 November 2025), and the final PAP is announced mid-November (12 November 2025). By mid-November, everything that changes on 1 January is published.
If a period deadline is missed
Both systems charge 1% per commenced month on the arrears rounded down to €50 — the SV Säumniszuschlag and its tax twin. A late Lohnsteuer-Anmeldung can additionally draw a discretionary Verspätungszuschlag (capped at €25,000), and a missing Beitragsnachweis lets the Einzugsstelle estimate. The full penalty mechanics, with citations, live in the lodgement guide.
Quick answers
Which German payroll deadlines repeat every month?
Three dates. The Lohnsteuer-Anmeldung — and payment of the withheld amounts — must reach the Finanzamt by the 10th day after the end of the period (monthly if the previous year's wage tax exceeded €5,000; quarterly from over €1,080 to €5,000; annually at €1,080 or less, 2026 values). The Beitragsnachweis must be present at each Einzugsstelle by 0:00 on the fifth-last bank working day of the month, which means transmitting it by 24:00 the day before. And the Gesamtsozialversicherungsbeitrag is due on the third-last bank working day, in estimated amount, with any residual settling the following month. 24 and 31 December do not count as bank working days.
What is due in mid-February?
Three annual reports land within two days. The DEÜV Jahresmeldung (Grund 50) for everyone employed over 31 December is due with the first payroll run of the new year, at latest 15 February — for reporting year 2025 the operative date was 16 February 2026, because 15 February fell on a Sunday. Accident insurance then adds two separate obligations, both due 16 February: the digital Lohnnachweis to the UV carrier and the per-employee UV-Jahresmeldung (Grund 92). 15 and 16 February are different statutory dates, not a typo.
Why is 1 January the cliff in German payroll?
Because Germany runs payroll on the calendar year and re-arms almost every parameter at once on 1 January: the Sozialversicherungsrechengrößen-Verordnung sets new contribution ceilings (2026: €69,750/year for KV/PV, €101,400/year for RV/AV), a new Programmablaufplan takes over the wage-tax calculation (2026: Grundfreibetrag €12,348), and minimum-wage steps land the same day (2026: €13.90, pulling the minijob threshold to €603). Procedure changes ride the same date — from 1 January 2026 the Rechtskreis (West/Ost) indicator was dropped from the Beitragsnachweis, and from 1 January 2027 the Betriebsdatenpflege becomes a direct Dialogverfahren with the Bundesagentur für Arbeit.
Do German payroll parameters only change on 1 January?
No — mid-year revisions are a documented pattern. The Programmablaufplan for 2025 was published in November 2024, then re-issued in changed form on 22 January 2025 and made mandatory from 1 March 2025 at the latest — with employers obliged to retroactively correct the January and February withholding where economically reasonable, which the BMF calls the rule (§ 41c EStG). On the social-insurance side, the care-insurance childless surcharge rose mid-year on 1 July 2023, and Kasse-level rates (the Zusatzbeitrag and the U1/U2 Umlagen) can move at any time. Watch the BMF Programmablaufplan page through the year, not just at the rollover.
Every period, closed on time — and every January, pre-armed
Ledra Pay's German country pack tracks the monthly rhythm in bank working days, files the mid-February reports on both statutory dates, and stages each year's Rechengrößen, PAP and minimum-wage steps as they publish in the autumn — including mid-year revisions with their retroactive corrections.
See German payroll →Government sources
- BMF — Muster der Lohnsteuer-Anmeldung 2026 (PDF — 10th-day deadline; €1,080/€5,000 period thresholds; nil returns; Säumniszuschlag).
- BMF — Programmablaufplan 2026 — BMF-Schreiben, 12 November 2025 · Anlage 1 (PDFs — the calendar-2026 calculation spec; Grundfreibetrag €12,348; SolZ-Freigrenze €20,350).
- BMF — Geänderter Programmablaufplan für 2025, 22 January 2025 (PDF — the mid-year revision precedent: mandatory from 1 March 2025; retroactive correction per § 41c EStG).
- Deutsche Rentenversicherung — Auf den Punkt gebracht: Meldungen, Jahresausgabe 2026 (PDF — DEÜV deadlines incl. Jahresmeldung 15 Feb and the 16 Feb 2026 worked example; UV duo; Rechtskreis drop; 2027 Dialogverfahren; weekend-roll rule).
- Deutsche Rentenversicherung — Auf den Punkt gebracht: Beiträge, Jahresausgabe 2026 (PDF — third-last-day Fälligkeit, the estimate and simplification rules, the transmit-by-24:00 sentence, Säumniszuschlag).
- Minijob-Zentrale — Beitragszahlung und Fristen (the 2026 transmission/payment date tables; 24/31 December not bank working days).
- DGUV — UV-Meldeverfahren: Fristen (FAQ) (digital Lohnnachweis due 16 February of the following year).
- Deutsche Rentenversicherung Knappschaft-Bahn-See — Sozialversicherungsrechengrößen 2026 (ceilings €69,750 / €101,400; carried forward per prior-year income development).
- Deutsche Rentenversicherung — Bundeskabinett beschließt SV-Rechengrößen-VO 2026 (cabinet decision 8 October 2025; wage growth 5.16%).
- BMAS — Fünfte Mindestlohnanpassungsverordnung (MiLoV5) (€13.90 from 1 January 2026, €14.60 from 1 January 2027 — both steps in one ordinance).
- Minijob-Zentrale Magazin — Neue Verdienstgrenze 2026 · Minijob-Beiträge 2026 (the €603 threshold formula; the U1 cut to 0.8% on 1 January 2026).
Per-claim citations, channels and penalty mechanics live in the lodgement guide.
Related
Lohnsteuer, social insurance, payslips, leave and sick pay — the hub.
The same deadlines seen from the payday — what each German pay run triggers.
The same deadlines organised by obligation — ELSTER, DEÜV, Beitragsnachweis, penalties.