Effective tax rate

Your effective tax rate is total tax paid divided by gross income. Because income tax is usually progressive, your effective rate is lower than your top marginal rate. Someone in a 45% top bracket might have a 30-35% effective rate after the lower brackets are blended in.

Mundevo uses the effective rate (not the marginal rate) when computing required gross from a net target. This avoids over-estimating the salary you need. For a more precise number, use a country-specific payroll calculator with your actual deductions — pension contributions, dependent allowances, and special regimes can shift the effective rate by several percentage points.

Effective vs. marginal matters for negotiation. A €5,000 raise that lands in your top bracket is taxed at the marginal rate — for most people that's noticeably worse than the effective rate on the base salary. Build that into the comparison when evaluating two offers with different base + variable structures.