Test the customary DGA salary — the highest of three criteria, with the tax impact of a shortfall
Test a director-shareholder salary against Art. 12a Wet LB 1964 for 2023–2026: the required salary is the highest of the most comparable employment, the highest-paid employee and the statutory minimum. The tool shows which criterion governs, how large any shortfall is and what it indicatively costs in additional payroll tax.
Who it’s for
What the tool does
Why “the highest of three” so often surprises
Since 2023 the customary-salary rule has no efficiency margin: the required salary is exactly the highest of the three criteria, with no discount. That shifts the discussion from the margin to the question of which criterion governs — and it is by no means always the statutory minimum. As soon as an employee earns more, or a comparable role pays better, that criterion lifts the required salary in one step.
Part-time work widens the gap. The comparable salary and the statutory minimum are weighted by your working hours; the highest-paid employee’s salary acts as a fixed reference and does not scale. A director at 60% can therefore land on a required salary above the pro-rated minimum. The tool puts the three amounts side by side, flags the governing criterion and records the outcome with tool version and dataset vintage, so the substantiation is still traceable years later.