Salaries

A vacancy says 2,500 euros per month. You arrive, work a full month, and around 1,750 shows up in your account. Nobody cheated you. The ad quoted gross pay, which is normal in Europe, and the difference went to income tax and social contributions that are deducted before you ever see the money.

The gap is worth understanding in advance, because it changes which offers are actually better than others.

Gross is the negotiating number, net is the living number

Employers talk in gross because that is what the job costs them in wage terms, and because deductions depend on you: your tax class, whether you have children, which country you are taxed in, sometimes whether you belong to a church. Two people on the same gross salary in the same office can take home different amounts.

How large is the gap? In Germany, a single person with no children on 2,500 euros gross monthly lands somewhere around 1,700 to 1,800 net. In the Netherlands the deduction is often smaller for lower salaries because of tax credits. In Poland or Estonia the arithmetic is different again. Do not rely on a rule of thumb from a friend who works in another country. Every tax authority publishes an official calculator; find the one for the country in the ad and put the number in before you accept.

Money that exists but is not in the monthly figure

Some of your pay may arrive outside the monthly transfer, and it is real money:

• Holiday allowance. In the Netherlands employers must pay at least eight percent of annual gross salary as vakantiegeld, usually in May.
• A thirteenth month or an annual bonus, common in parts of Germany, Italy and Austria, sometimes fixed by a collective agreement rather than by your contract.
• Overtime and shift premiums, which in trades and logistics can be a large share of the total. Ask how overtime is paid, not whether it happens.
• Per diems for work away from the home base, which are often untaxed and often confused with salary by people quoting you a big number.

Money that quietly leaves

If the employer provides housing or transport, ask what is deducted from your pay for it and get the amount in the contract. Several countries cap how much may be deducted for accommodation, and some require your written agreement, but the protection only helps you if you know the deduction exists. The same goes for work clothing, tools and a deposit for a company phone.

Ask one direct question before signing: how much will be transferred to my account in a normal month, after tax and after every deduction? A serious employer answers it with a number. A vague answer is the answer.

Compare offers properly

An offer of 2,300 gross with free accommodation is usually better than 2,600 gross where 400 goes on rent, and the gap widens once you count the commute. Write both offers out as net pay minus housing minus transport, per month. It takes five minutes and it is the only comparison that means anything.