What's left of your salary?

Gross salary is your pay before tax, the number in your employment contract. Net salary is what reaches your account after your employer withholds preliminary tax. The gap is mostly municipal tax, plus state tax on higher incomes. Your employer also pays contributions on top of the gross, so the real cost of employing you is well above the salary in the contract.

Municipal tax has two parts, one to the municipality and one to the region. The total depends on where you live and sits between just under 29 percent and a bit over 35. On a 40,000 kr monthly salary, the gap between the cheapest and most expensive municipality can top 1,500 kr a month. The councils set the rates each year.

Marginal tax is the tax on your next krona earned, not the average across your whole salary. At lower incomes you only pay municipal tax. Once you pass the state tax threshold, another 20 percentage points kick in. The phase-in and phase-out of the basic allowance and the earned income tax credit matter too. It's the number to look at when you wonder what a raise is really worth.

The jobbskatteavdrag is a tax credit on earned income that Skatteverket applies automatically, no application needed. Its size depends on your income, the basic allowance and your municipal tax rate. From the year you turn 66 a higher level applies, which makes working past retirement age pay off more. It never shows as its own line on your payslip, but it lowers the tax withheld every month.

On top of the gross salary, the employer pays statutory contributions of 31.42 percent, funding the public pension, sickness insurance and parental insurance among other things. For older employees only the 10.21 percent pension part applies. Occupational pensions and insurance under collective agreements often come on top, but aren't part of this calculator.