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For a single without kids, 50%, meaning 40k in your pocket, is a good rule of thumb, yes.

So an 80k salary in Germany involves the employee paying 50% and the company paying another 20k on top of that?

Set the "Steuerklasse" to 1 for singles, 3 for married employees.

Yes. But remember that this includes health insurance, basic retirement, unemployment benefits and so on.