# Pfändungsfreigrenze 2026: how much of your income can be garnished?

> Garnishment doesn't take your whole income. Since 1 July 2026, €1,587.40 a month is protected, more if you support dependants. How the garnishable amount is calculated and which parts of your pay are specially protected.

- URL: https://norta.app/en/resources/garnishment-exemption-2026
- Language: English
- Deutsch: https://norta.app/ratgeber/pfaendungsfreigrenze-2026
- Site index for agents: https://norta.app/llms.txt

By Lara Planet · 2026-07-09

First things first: if your wages are being garnished, it does not mean your entire income is gone. A certain share of your income is protected by law. That share is what's called the `Pfändungsfreigrenze`, the garnishment exemption.

How high yours is depends mainly on your monthly net income and on the number of people you are legally obliged to support, such as children or a spouse.

## What is the Pfändungsfreigrenze?

The exemption is there to make sure that, if your salary or wages are garnished, you keep enough money to live on. For a person with no maintenance obligations, the monthly basic allowance (`Grundfreibetrag`) has been **€1,587.40 since 1 July 2026**.

In concrete terms:

- If you earn less than that, your income is generally not garnishable.
- If you earn more, your income is divided into tiers: part of it stays with you to live on, and only the amount above that can be partly garnished, depending on how much you earn and how many people you support.

The exact figure comes from the official table (`Pfändungstabelle`) under § 850c ZPO. The amounts are adjusted every year on 1 July; the current ones apply until 30 June 2027.

## How is the garnishable amount calculated?

As briefly described, two things matter most:

- your monthly net income
- your maintenance obligations

Dependants raise your allowance. The first person you support adds €597.42 a month, and the second to fifth each add a further €332.83.

| Dependants | Protected per month (allowance) |
| --- | --- |
| none | €1,587.40 |
| 1 person | €2,184.82 |
| 2 people | €2,517.65 |
| 3 people | €2,850.48 |
| 4 people | €3,183.31 |
| 5 people | €3,516.14 |

Of the income above your allowance, a further share stays with you: three tenths with no dependants, five tenths with one, and one more tenth for each additional person. Only above a net income of €4,866.30 is everything beyond that fully garnishable.

An example: with no dependants and €2,000 net, €412.60 sits above the allowance. Three tenths of that, around €124, stays with you; about €289 is garnishable. You keep roughly €1,711.

Our garnishment calculator shows you the exact figure for your income. It uses the same table and runs entirely in your browser.

## Which parts of your income are specially protected?

Not every item on your payslip is treated the same way. Some payments have their own rules (§ 850a ZPO). A few examples:

- overtime pay
- Christmas bonus (`Weihnachtsgeld`)
- expense allowances
- certain supplements and benefits

Part of these payments can be partly or even fully protected from garnishment. Overtime pay, for instance, is half exempt, and expense allowances within the usual range are fully exempt.

**Important: these special rules apply to wage garnishment at your employer. If your bank account is garnished, it is the protected account (`P-Konto`) that shields you instead.**

*This article is general information, not legal advice. For questions about your own case, contact a debt advice service (`Schuldnerberatung`) or a lawyer.*

## Work out what you get to keep.

Our garnishment calculator shows you in seconds which part of your net income is protected. In the Norta app you turn that into a plan: every debt in one place, and a realistic way out.