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Almost every salary comparison runs the wrong way. It starts with a gross figure and shows you what is left, when the question people actually ask is the inverse: “I take home €60,000 today — what do I need to earn there to keep it?” That is a different calculation, and it is the one this page does: it inverts the same engine, solving for the gross salary that lands exactly on a given net figure.
Three countries appear here, for a reason. All three price in euro and all three are computed for 2025, single, no children, standard regime — no 30% ruling, no Beckham law, no IFICI. Germany is left out because our German model computes income tax without the employee allowances (Vorsorgepauschale, Werbungskostenpauschale, Sonderausgabenpauschale), so a German gross requirement would be overstated; we would rather omit the row than publish a number we know is wrong in one direction. The United Kingdom is left out because it pays in pounds, and a same-net comparison across currencies needs an exchange rate we are not going to invent.
| Net target | Netherlands | Spain (Madrid) | Portugal | Spread |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| €40,000 | €61,394 (34.8%) | €58,077 (31.1%) | €71,857 (44.3%) | €13,780 |
| €50,000 | €79,461 (37.1%) | €74,908 (33.3%) | €96,257 (48.1%) | €21,349 |
| €60,000 | €99,263 (39.6%) | €92,452 (35.1%) | €122,231 (50.9%) | €29,779 |
| €70,000 | €119,065 (41.2%) | €109,996 (36.4%) | €148,205 (52.8%) | €38,209 |
| €80,000 | €138,867 (42.4%) | €127,540 (37.3%) | €174,178 (54.1%) | €46,638 |
Spain needs the least gross at every one of the five targets, and its wedge stays the lowest of the three: 31.1% at a €40,000 net target and 37.3% at €80,000. Portugal needs the most, and its wedge crosses 50% between the €50,000 and €60,000 net targets: at €80,000 net, more than half of every euro of gross goes to tax and contributions.
The spread column is the part worth staring at. Doubling the net target from €40,000 to €80,000 triples the gap between the cheapest and the most expensive country — from €13,780 to €46,638 of gross salary. Country choice is a rounding error at junior salaries and a second salary at senior ones.
Why Spain wins and Portugal loses at these levels
The employee side explains most of it. Spain’s contribution is 6.48% on a base capped at €58,914 a year, so above that gross the contribution stops growing with salary. Portugal’s contribution is 11% with no ceiling at all, and on top of it the Portuguese schedule climbs to 48%, which is why its wedge reaches 54.1% by the top of this table. The Netherlands sits between them: its employee premies are levied inside the Box 1 rate rather than as a separate percentage, so the wedge grows with the brackets rather than jumping.
None of this makes Portugal a worse place to live, and none of it is a statement about take-home purchasing power — see the limits below.
The number that matters when you negotiate
Between a €70,000 and an €80,000 net target, each additional euro of net pay costs €1.75 of gross in Madrid, €1.98 in the Netherlands and €2.60 in Portugal. That is the exchange rate between your employer’s budget and your bank account, and it is the figure to use when a package is being negotiated across borders: a €5,000 net raise needs roughly €8,750 of extra gross in Madrid, €9,900 in the Netherlands and €13,000 in Portugal.
How to check any row yourself
Our public comparison runs gross to net. Take any gross figure in the table, enter it there for the same country, and you should get the net target back — for example €92,452 in Madrid returns €60,000, and €122,231 in Portugal returns €60,000. If a row does not reproduce, the engine or the table is wrong and we want to know.
What this table does not say
- Cost of living. A same-net comparison holds your take-home constant and says nothing about what it buys; housing, childcare and prices decide that, and they are not in these numbers.
- Arrival regimes. Every row here is the standard regime. With the Dutch 30% ruling you need less gross for the same net, with Spain’s Beckham law the Spanish figure changes shape, and with Portugal’s IFICI the Portuguese figure improves — the regime articles carry those numbers, including what happens when the regime ends.
- Employer cost. Employer contributions differ sharply between the three countries, so the gross that lands in your account is not the cost to your employer. If you are negotiating a package, ask for the total employer cost, not just the gross.
- Anything outside a single employee with employment income: self-employment, dividend income, equity, pension contributions and regional deductions all move the answer.
Frequently asked questions
- Why is Germany missing from the table?
- Because our German model computes income tax without the employee allowances that German payroll applies — the Vorsorgepauschale above all, plus the Werbungskosten and Sonderausgaben allowances. Those reduce German income tax, so quoting a German gross requirement from our current model would overstate it. We would rather leave the row out and say so.
- Do these numbers include the 30% ruling, the Beckham law or IFICI?
- No. Every figure is the standard regime, so the comparison is like for like. Arrival regimes change the required gross in all three countries, and the three-regime comparison article carries those figures at the same salary points.
- Does a lower wedge mean more money in my pocket?
- It means more of your gross reaches you, not that you are better off. The same net pay buys different amounts in different places, and the total employer cost behind it differs too. Use this table for the tax question and a cost-of-living comparison for the rest.
- Why is the Netherlands neither the cheapest nor the most expensive?
- Because its employee premies sit inside the Box 1 rate instead of being charged separately, so the wedge tracks the brackets. At these net targets it lands between Spain’s capped contribution and Portugal’s uncapped 11% plus a schedule reaching 48%.
Run the numbers yourself
One salary, five countries, ten seconds - the same engine this article describes, free and without signup.