Aktivrente 2026: Was Arbeitgeber jetzt umsetzen müssen

Since January 1, 2026, up to 2,000 euros of wages per month have been tax-free for people who keep working after reaching the statutory retirement age. The Aktivrente under § 3 no. 21 EStG is therefore one of the strongest arguments for keeping experienced staff on board. Nobody has to apply for it, but as an employer you still have to implement it: in the wage tax deduction, in the wage tax certificate and with the right view of social security. Here is what applies and where payroll gets tricky.

What the Aktivrente is

The Aktivrente is a new tax-free allowance under § 3 no. 21 EStG. Anyone who has reached the statutory retirement age and continues in employment subject to social security keeps up to 2,000 euros of wages per month tax-free, so up to 24,000 euros per calendar year. Anything above that is taxed as usual.

The Aktivrente applies regardless of whether an old-age pension is actually drawn. What matters is reaching the statutory retirement age, not the start of the pension. Anyone who retired early, for example via the "Rente mit 63", benefits only from the month after the statutory retirement age is reached.

Who qualifies, and who does not

Three conditions have to come together:

• The statutory retirement age under § 35 sentence 2 or § 235 SGB VI has been reached.
• There is income from employment within the meaning of § 19 (1) sentence 1 no. 1 EStG.
• The employer has to pay pension insurance contributions on these wages, or contribution subsidies to a professional pension scheme.

That rules out several constellations people often ask about:

• Self-employed activity: not covered. Anyone continuing as a freelancer or trader gets nothing from the Aktivrente.
• Mini-jobs: not covered, because flat-rate social security contributions are paid there. This applies regardless of whether wage tax is charged at a flat 2 or 20 percent or via the ELStAM.
• Civil servants and members of parliament: not covered. A retired civil servant who additionally takes up employment subject to social security can, however, use the Aktivrente for that job.
• Midi-jobs in the transition range (2026: 603.01 to 2,000 euros): covered. The exemption applies to the full remuneration, not only to the reduced contributory pay used for pension purposes.
• Managing shareholders: only if pension insurance contributions actually have to be paid for them.

Important for the self-employed: the Aktivrente follows purely tax criteria. Anyone classified as an employee for social security purposes but without income under § 19 EStG for tax purposes does not get the allowance. Voluntary payments into the state pension insurance do not help either.

What this means for your payroll

As an employer you are obliged to take the allowance into account in the wage tax deduction procedure as soon as the conditions are met. No application by the employee is required. In concrete terms, you reduce taxable wages by up to 2,000 euros per month and calculate wage tax only on the rest.

Four points that regularly cause trouble in payroll:

• Monthly, no carry-over: unused amounts lapse. Someone earning 1,500 euros a month cannot carry the remaining 500 euros into another month, not even for one-off payments such as a Christmas bonus.
• One employment only: the Aktivrente is applied in the first employment relationship (tax classes I to V). In tax class VI only if the employee has confirmed to you that the allowance is not already being used elsewhere. That confirmation can be informal, by e-mail, and belongs in the payroll account.
• Pro rata on a change of employer: if the employment starts or ends mid-month, the allowance is split by calendar days on the basis of 30 days. If a new hire confirms in writing that they have not yet received the Aktivrente that month, you may apply the full allowance.
• Severance payments: as a rule not exempt, because they are not subject to social security contributions. Back payments, on the other hand, are exempt to the extent they relate to qualifying periods.

Worked example: one-off payment

An employee reached the statutory retirement age in April and continues from May at 1,500 euros a month. In December you additionally pay an 800-euro bonus.

• Current wages of 1,500 euros: tax-free
• Of the bonus, only 500 euros are tax-free, since 1,500 + 500 = 2,000 euros
• The remaining 300 euros are taxable wages

The unused 500 euros from May to November do not help in December. If you can structure one-off payments flexibly, it is better to spread them over several months.

Wage tax certificate 2026: the exact wording

You have to report the total of tax-free Aktivrente amounts in the electronic wage tax certificate. For 2026 there is no dedicated data field yet. Instead you enter the amount in a freely assignable line, with the line description:

SteuerfreibetragAktivrente

No spaces, exactly as written. The precise spelling is mandatory so that the tax administration can process the entry automatically. A regular data field is planned for the following years.

Social security stays unchanged

The Aktivrente is purely a tax exemption. It does not change the social security obligation, contributions continue to be due under the general rules and are certified normally in the wage tax certificate. Only in the wage tax calculation are the social security contributions attributable to the Aktivrente disregarded, so they do not feed into the flat-rate pension expense allowance (Vorsorgepauschale).

Topic	Rule
Maximum amount	2,000 euros per month, up to 24,000 euros per year
Legal basis	§ 3 no. 21 EStG, since January 1, 2026
Start	month after reaching the statutory retirement age
Social security	contributions unchanged
Application	not required, the employer implements it
Tax return	only needed if the allowance was not applied, or only partly

What your employees should know

Tax-free wages have a flip side: related expenses are not deductible. Income-related expenses connected with the Aktivrente fall under the deduction ban of § 3c EStG, and pension expenses with a direct economic link fall under § 10 (2) sentence 1 no. 1 EStG. Where income is mixed, the split follows the ratio of the income.

The good news: the employee lump-sum allowance of 1,230 euros remains available in full against the taxable wages. And other exemptions, such as the trainer allowance under § 3 no. 26 EStG, are applied first without reducing the 2,000 euros.

Hand over the payroll, avoid the mistakes

The Aktivrente is attractive in tax terms and fiddly in payroll: a monthly cap, calendar days, confirmations for the payroll account, a precisely spelled line in the wage tax certificate. Those are exactly the details we take off your hands at Buchführungsheld. We handle your ongoing bookkeeping at a fixed price, digitally and with real people to talk to. If you want to check what this means for your business, book a free initial consultation.

Frequently asked questions

How high is the Aktivrente in 2026?

Up to 2,000 euros of wages per month are tax-free, so a maximum of 24,000 euros per calendar year. The legal basis is § 3 no. 21 EStG and the rule has applied since January 1, 2026.

Does the Aktivrente apply to mini-jobs?

No. Mini-jobs are not covered because flat-rate social security contributions are paid there. This applies regardless of how wage tax is charged. Midi-jobs in the transition range, by contrast, do qualify.

Can the self-employed use the Aktivrente?

Not for their self-employed activity. Only income from employment qualifies. Anyone who was previously self-employed and takes up employment subject to social security after the statutory retirement age can use the Aktivrente for that job.

Does the Aktivrente have to be reported in the tax return?

As a rule no. The employer reports the tax-free amounts with the electronic wage tax certificate. An entry is only needed if the allowance was not applied, or only partly.