{
    "country": "Germany",
    "country_code": "DE",
    "version": "2026",
    "status": "available_source_audit",
    "sources": {
        "minimum_wage": {
            "value_hourly_eur": 13.90,
            "label": "Statutory minimum wage",
            "source_name": "Bundesministerium für Arbeit und Soziales",
            "source_type": "official",
            "url": "https://www.bmas.de/EN/Labour/Minimum-Wage/the-minimum-wage-questions-and-answers.html",
            "evidence": "The statutory minimum wage has been 13.90 euros gross per hour since 1 January 2026.",
            "confidence": "high"
        },
        "social_security_ceilings": {
            "health_care_ceiling_monthly_eur": 5812.50,
            "pension_unemployment_ceiling_monthly_eur": 8450.00,
            "label": "Social security contribution assessment ceilings",
            "source_name": "Bundesregierung",
            "source_type": "official",
            "url": "https://www.bundesregierung.de/breg-de/aktuelles/beitragsgemessungsgrenzen-2386514",
            "evidence": "2026 contribution assessment ceilings: health insurance 5,812.50 euros per month; general pension insurance 8,450 euros per month.",
            "confidence": "high"
        },
        "wage_tax_algorithm": {
            "label": "PAP 2026 wage-tax algorithm",
            "source_name": "Bundesministerium der Finanzen",
            "source_type": "official",
            "url": "https://www.bundesfinanzministerium.de/Content/DE/Downloads/Steuern/Steuerarten/Lohnsteuer/Programmablaufplan/2025-11-12-PAP-2026.html",
            "evidence": "Official Programmablaufplan for the machine calculation of wage tax, solidarity surcharge and church-tax base for 2026.",
            "confidence": "high"
        },
        "employer_only_levies": {
            "insolvency_levy": 0.0015,
            "u2_maternity_levy_standard": 0.0044,
            "label": "Insolvenzgeldumlage and general U2 Mutterschaftsumlage",
            "source_name": "TK (Techniker Krankenkasse) Firmenkunden",
            "source_type": "official_aggregated",
            "url": "https://www.tk.de/firmenkunden/versicherung/beitraege-faq/umlagen-u1-u2-und-insolvenzgeld/hoehe-umlagesaetze-u1-und-u2-2031720",
            "evidence": "Insolvenzgeldumlage 0.15% for 2026 (unchanged from 2025, confirmed via NWB Datenbank cross-check); general U2 rate 0.44% for 2026, described as a nationally uniform rate set at the Ausgleichskasse level. Distinct from the Minijob-Zentrale's own U2 rate (0.22%), which is a separate Ausgleichskasse with its own rate schedule.",
            "confidence": "high",
            "added": "2026-08-31"
        },
        "implementation_scope": {
            "included": [
                "gross wage grid",
                "net wage before income tax",
                "statutory employee social contributions",
                "statutory employer social contributions",
                "health and care contribution ceiling",
                "pension and unemployment contribution ceiling",
                "standardized PAP 2026 wage-tax simulation",
                "net wage after Lohnsteuer and Solidaritätszuschlag",
                "Saxony and non-Saxony care contribution profiles",
                "childless and with-child care contribution profiles",
                "Minijob and Midijob (Übergangsbereich/Gleitzone) specific contribution formulas",
                "Insolvenzgeldumlage and the general U2 Mutterschaftsumlage as separate employer-only levies (added 2026-08-31)"
            ],
            "excluded_or_simplified": [
                "private health insurance",
                "church tax actually paid",
                "accident insurance",
                "collective agreements",
                "firm-level payroll details",
                "U1 Umlage (Krankheitsumlage), mandatory only for employers with 30 or fewer employees, not modeled since employer size is unspecified outside the minijob regime",
                "special payments and bonuses",
                "household taxation and spouse effects"
            ]
        }
    },
    "availability_decision": {
        "status": "available",
        "reason": "The module combines official minimum-wage parameters, official social-security ceilings and the official BMF PAP 2026 wage-tax algorithm. Remaining limits are explicitly documented."
    }
}