The church tax in Germany - a short information by Dr.

Jens Petersen

Sorry for my bad english. I hope youll understand.

1. Introduction The church forms a substantial factor in the mental, cultural, educational and social infrastructure of our community. It creates value consciousness and offers a condition for a democratic state, which the state cannot bring out from itself. It forms an investment in ethical values, lives, sense of life, justice, peace and retaining of the creation. The church tax serves the financing all these church tasks and is at the same time solvent-work-rises up for our society. 2. Church tasks and their financing 2.1 church tasks The church has the order to preaching1 the gospel in word and act. It accompanies and advises humans on its life ways. This happens predominantly in direct contact from humans to humans. The work of the church municipalities and the dia.-conical mechanisms is thus accordingly personnel intensive. To the preaching the tasks come in the ranges from basic and advanced training, schools and academies, youth and woman's work, telephone and hospital-preaching, public work, journalism, mission and Oekumene as well as development assistance. To finance is likewise the maintenance of buildings, clerical work, insurance and other. The dia.-conical work (e.g. kindergartens, deacon IE and social service buildings, craze endangering assistance, hospitals) is a further large field, in which the churches become active. The Diakonie as active next love belongs to the self understanding of the church. In order to be able to notice all these tasks, church and Diakonie need the engaged cooperation of many humans and a secured financing basis. This solid basis forms the church tax. The church incomes, in particular the church tax, ensure the independence of the church in a very much higher measure, as if them would be dependent on reallocations or donations which can be requested in each case on that own fortune. Furthermore the church tax system ensures a fair distribution of the financing loads, it secures not only the independence of the church in relation to the state, but it offers also the possibility to adjust the differences ready of "is enough" and "poor" church municipalities everywhere. 2.2 Sources of finance The church financing nature in the reference system of an institutional separation from church and state. The church is justified to regulate affairs independently their own (internal) and it has a taxation right. 2.2.1 Other incomes than taxes Charities, deductions and donations are mostly tied incomes of church households. The predominant part of this volutary gifts flows to works and mechanisms and projects, e.g.. "bread for the world", "Adveniat", "Evangelist mission work", "Misereor" etc.. Among the private-economical incomes mainly yields from landed property rank.

It means in German: Verkuendigung, Seelsorge

2.2.2 Incomes from the church tax The church incomes result predominantly from the church tax, in particular in their form of the addition to the wage and/or income tax. The church tax arising amounted to in the year 2004: Evangelist regional churches church wage tax church income tax 3,217 billion 0.515 billion Roman-catholic (ore -) dioceses church wage tax church income tax 3,632 billion 0.771 billion

2.2.3 Church household The incomes and expenditures of the churches into that annually and/or two-annually set up budgets is proven. They are discharged by the representatives of the church members, the Synoden, and published and/or settled in the generally accessible Officials Journal of the churches. The use of the church funds is supervised by independent audit offices. They are comparable with the audit offices of the countries and/or the Federal Audit Office, which control the national households. This regulation guarantees that the churches deal carefully and economically with their moneys. Handling is to be able to be reconstructed by everyone seen and ("transparent cashes"). The budgets also the church municipalities are laid out and published each year. 3. the historical development of the church tax The emergence of the church tax since the center 19. Century is on a set of state to lead back church and society to changing circumstances. By the Annexion of the linksrheinischen areas by the French revolution army at the beginning 19. Century had the German princes transfer this territrories at France. For reconciliation for it they - the princes - were suitable on church landed property and church net assets. But undertook it the obligation to provide for the maintenance of the church and the ministers. Starting from center 19. Century the financing of the church need by the princes replaced by church arranged deliveries, finally the church tax. This principle of the financing of church work by the church members with the church tax applies until today. 4 Sources of right of the church tax right 4.1 Legal bases of the church tax Highest source of right for the church tax right forms art. 140 GG2. It took up all condition standards, which concerned the churches in that Weimar realm condition (WRV) as constitutional law fully valid in law. Afterwards among other things the right is granted to the churches, which are bodies of the public right, due to the civil tax lists to raise taxes (art. 140 GG i.V.m. art. 137 exp. 6 WRV). Nationallegal regulations set the frameworks, i.e. the Lands of the Federal Republic are responsible for the church tax laws. The church tax laws are skeleton-laws, due to whose the churches issued own regulations (church tax orders). 4.2 Church sources of right The church conditions and constitutional structures of the regional churches assume deliveries can be imposed upon to the church members. In addition the church tax belongs.

GG = German Constitution (Grundgesetz)

The churches and religious communities, which are bodies of the public right, have the taxation right. All Evangelist regional church, the Roman-catholic Dioezesen, the Jewish Kultusgemeinden, the oldcatholic church as well as some free churches take the tax law up. 5 Church tax and kinds of church tax Among church tax one understands the payment of fees and/or money, which can be raised from the religious communities recognized as a body of the public right due to the civil tax lists for the financing of church tasks in accordance with condition of nationallegal regulations from its members (art. 140 GG i.V.m. Kind. 137 exp. 6 WRV). Church taxes are genuine taxes in the sense of the tax code ( 3 AO). The term of the "church tax" is to be understood however in a broader sense. In principle by this the different church ways of financing are summarized. The church tax raised as addition to the income tax (wage tax and assessed income tax), as church tax of the income, as church tax of the fortune, as (place -) Church tax and as special church tax in faith-different marriage. A church tax of the landed property is isolated levied. 5.1 Church income tax and church wage tax The church tax as addition to the wage and/or income tax is the most important source of finance. The church tax amounts to in the Lands of the Federal Republic BadenWuerttemberg and Bavaria 8 %, in the remaining Lands of the Federal Republic 9% of the wage or income tax. Example: Wage tax 100 euro, church tax 9 euro. ?????? the employer apart from the national wage tax of the employee retains and exhausts The church wage tax retains the employer apart from the national wage tax of the employee and exhausts it to the tax office. This passes it on to the locally responsible church. The church affiliation is noted on the tax card of the employee and/or during the financial administration. 5.3 Who pays and who receives the church tax 5.3.1 Church tax obligation For the tax liability are in all church tax laws two criteria crucially, the church belongingness (church membership) and the domicile and/or the usual place of residence (principle of territoriality). The affiliation to an Evangelist regional church or to the Roman-catholic church is justified by the act of the baptism. The taxpayer has a domicile in the sense of the tax law, where sometimes it holds a dwelling, who suggests that he will use the dwelling maintained and. 5.3.2 Membership regulations The church membership right is internal-church right. A condition for the reason of the church membership is in the Evangelist and Roman-catholic church the baptism. Church tax requiring only from natural persons, who belong to the church. Legal entities (thus e.g. companies) can be consulted - contrary to some European neighboring countries not for the church tax.

Foreigners are church tax requiring, if they have their domicile or usual stay in the Federal Republic and it an taxentitled religious community to belong. Limited taxpayer persons, who have domicile nor usual stay in the inland neither, are not church tax requiring, since they are subject to the income tax only with their domestic income. Taxpayers church member, who want their domicile in the inland only temporarily to give up and again return, maintain their membership in the church. For the time of the foreign stay they are however released from the obligations in relation to their church, i.e. they pay also no church tax. With the return their rights and obligations revive again. 5.3.3 Creditors of the church tax The church tax is entitled to that church, in whose area the church member has his domicile or usual stay. In the area of the Federal Republic of Germany there are 24 Evangelist church and 27 roem. kath. Dioezesen (see maps - Evangelist: http://www.ekd.de/kirche/kirchen.html ; roem. kath.: http://www.bistuemer.de/ = > catholic directory). 5.4 Height of the church tax The church tax as addition to the income tax and/or wage tax is from arising the most important kind of church tax. She is raised in form of a firm percentage, which is differently high in the individual Lands of the Federal Republic: Baden-Wuerttemberg Bayern Berlin Brandenburg Bremen Bremerhaven Hamburg Hessen Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Niedersachsen Nordrhein-Westfalen Rheinland-Pfalz Saarland Sachsen Sachsen-Anhalt Schleswig-Holstein Thringen 8% 8% 9% 9% 9% 9% 9% 9% 9% 9% 9% 9% 9% 9% 9% 9% 9%

Example 1 With a monthly gross wage of 2,200 pays a married employee without children (tax schedule III) in the year 2006 74.00 wage tax and 6.66 church tax.

Example 2 - Who pays like much church tax four examples from the wage tax table 2006 with a church tax rate of assessment of 9% income gross monthly 1,000 1,500 2,500 3,500 marrying 1 child tax schedule I tax schedule III tax schedule III/1 1.16 --11.29 --36.44 12.25 3.49 65.71 36.69 25.39 single marrying marrying 2 children tax schedule III/2 ---14.67

5.5 The computation of the church tax if children available An important church giving up and expenditure range is the work with children and young people. The church attention is considered to them also with the taxation as future generation. If with the taxpayer children are to be considered available and for taxation, the assessment basis for the computation of the church tax is reduced around the 5,808 per annum per child. Example: a married employee with 2 children has in the year 2006 an income at a value of 35,000 computation of the church tax with 2 children gros-income child free allowance (2 x 5,808) income (zvE) income tax church tax 9% 5.6 Taxation of the spouses The church tax pays only the church belonging spouse. At married employees is to differentiate between denomination-same, denomination-different and faith-different marriage. In a denomination-same marriage both spouses belong to the same church. The church tax is calculated by the together determined assessment basis. A denomination-different marriage it concerns, if both spouses belong to different religious communities (e.g. ev/rk). In a denomination-different marriage the spouses are consulted together for the church tax. The church tax for each spouse computes itself from half of the common tax assessment basis. Altogether the resulting in church tax divides itself thus on the religious communities of the spouses to the half. Heard only one spouse concerned of a church manager-lifting, the other spouse against it no religious community or a religious community, which does not raise taxes, it concerns a faithdifferent marriage. With spouses in faith-different marriage the church tax is levied only from the spouse, the members of an taxentitled and manager-lifting religious community is. Its church tax is determined from that its portion of the income of the spouses. with cild 35,000 ./. 11,616 23,384 1,494 134.50 without child 35,000 35,000 4,364 392.70

5.7 Beginning and end of the church tax obligation The tax liability begins in principle with the baptism, usually however only with occurs the working life. The tax liability ends by death of the church member or by withdrawal from the church. 5.8 Departure of the church wage tax by the employer The church wage tax one exhausts together with the national wage tax according to the data on the tax card from the employer to retain and for each payperiod to the tax office. The removal takes place separately according to denominations. During the retention and removal of the church wage tax the employer has itself to arrange after the religion key noted on the tax card (e.g. ev, rk). The employer becomes active with the retention and removal of the church wage tax as an executing aide of the fiscal authority and not the religious community. 5.9 Integration of the financial administration The administration of the church tax task of the churches is fundamental. The church tax laws of all Lands of the Federal Republic open however the possibility to the churches of transferring the administration of the church tax to the national fiscal authorities (tax offices). For the administration of the church tax as addition to the wage and income tax of it in all Lands of the Federal Republic - however not of all religious communities - use was made. The Evangelist and the catholic church locked corresponding contracts with the financial administration in all Lands of the Federal Republic. The administration of the church tax as addition to the wage and income tax by the tax offices is comprehensive. It is enough from the appointment and collection to the recovery and for the introduction of the church wage tax which can be exhausted from the employers. Only some decree decisions for cheapness reasons reserved themselves the churches. In Bavaria the administration of the church taxes takes place generally not via the tax offices, but via those already 1942 furnished Evangelist and catholic offices for church tax. Only the introduction of the church wage tax is incumbent on the tax offices. For the recovery of church tax arrears the tax office can be asked. For the administration of the church tax by the tax offices the religious communities pay an administrative expense remuneration. This is however more economical for the churches nevertheless, as if they would have to develop and maintain their own administration. 5.10 Further details 5.10.1 Church tax - extra charge departure In the calendar year the actually paid church tax is - less possible refunding - removable in full height as extra charge during the income tax assessment. 5.10.2 To course of law and redress Against the appointment of church tax the course of law is given to the national courts 5.10.3 End of the church tax obligation by church withdrawal or death The church withdrawal leads in the context of the assessment procedure for the monthlyreferred allocation (so-called time-proportional) of the church tax.

Example: With a church withdrawal in September the church tax amounts to 9/12 of the tax liability, which would have resulted for the whole year. With the death of the taxpayer the church tax obligation ends with the day of death. 6. The church tax in Europe The financing of the churches varies dependent on how the relationship between state and church turns out in each case. This is enough from a national church - with its very close teeth between church and state - up to the complete separation of both. Thus different connections between church and state and thus different ways of financing exist. Some examples of different ways of financing are: Directly by the state the church financed in the countries Norway, Greece, Italy and Spain. A church tax system one finds in some to Swiss cantons, Sweden, Denmark and Germany. By a church contribution system the church in Austria finances itself. Yields from church-own fortune are used in Portugal and Great Britain for the financing. On donations is based the financing in the USA, the Netherlands, France and Russia. 7. Other 7.1 Comparison values of the tax revenue
population previous year employed person German arising LSt/ESt State Kirchenmitglieder previous year evang kath in in thousend thousend 29,202 28,198 28,875 28,128 28,458 28,003 28,197 27,909 27,922 27,715 27,611 27,533 27,398 27,383 27,099 27,154 26,834 27,017 26,614 26,817 26,454 26,656 26,211 26,466 25,836 25,165 church tax (net) evang kath in bil. 4.289 4.272 4.191 4.264 4.041 3.867 3.964 4.204 4.225 4.055 4.044 3.986 3.656 in bil. 4.321 4.285 4.203 4.287 4.157 4.012 4.166 4.427 4.535 4.356 4.302 4.356 4.026 index 1992=100 State church tax tax 100 100.82 101.10 102.72 106.25 105.58 110.97 118.32 121.45 117.41 118.03 116.49 110.83 100 99.38 97.49 99.31 95.21 91.51 94.43 100.24 101.74 97.69 96.92 96.89 89.22

year

1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

in thousend 80,275 80,975 81,338 81,539 81,817 82,012 82,057 82,037 82,163 82,260 82,440 82,537 82,532

in thousend 34,068 33,391 33,094 33,050 33,056 32,937 33,023 33,482 33,592 33,742 33,487 33,182

in bil. 147.688 148.899 149.314 151.699 156.913 155.933 163.883 174.738 179.374 173.400 174.314 172.036 163.676

7.2 Administration of the church tax in the Lands of the Federal Republic the administration of the church tax is transferred by the following religious communities of the financial administration of the Land of the Federal Republic: Land in all Lands religious community Evangelische, Lutherische, Reformierte Landeskirchen; Rm.-katholische (Erz-)Dizesen BadenAltkatholische Kirche; Wuerttemberg Israelitische Religionsgemeinschaft Wrttemberg; Israelische Religionsgemeinschaft Baden; Freireligise Landesgemeinde Baden Bayern Altkatholische Kirche; Landesverband der Israelitischen Kultusgemeinden Berlin Altkatholische Kirche Hamburg Jdische Gemeinde Hessen Altkatholische Kirche; Jdische Gemeinden in Frankfurt, Gieen, Kassel, Darmstadt, Bad Nauheim; Freireligise Gemeinden Mainz und Offenbach Niedersachsen Altkatholische Kirchengemeinden Hannover-Niedersachsen; Jdische Gemeinde Hannover NordrheinAltkatholische Kirche; Westfalen Landesvorstnde Jdische Kultusgemeinden von Nordrhein, von Westfalen-Lippe, Synagogengemeinde Kln RheinlandAltkatholische Kirche; Pfalz Jdische Kultusgemeinde Koblenz; Freireligise Gemeinde Mainz; Freireligise Landesgemeinde Pfalz; Freie Religionsgemeinschaft Alzey Saarland Altkatholische Kirche; Synagogengemeinde Saar 7.3 Addresses of the churches in Germany Evangelist regional churches (http://www.ekd.de/kirche/3218_kirchen.html ) Roman-catholic church (http://www.kath.de/) 8. Summary Service and preaching, instruction, structure of municipality are the always continuous central tasks of the church, whose personnel and material existence by the church tax become financially secured. To this religious central site belong also those social and dia.conical service of the churches, because from the faith necessarily Christian doing follows, which church can convincingly of justice and love only speak, if it does all standing in its strength, in order to carry out justice and love. Particularly this range of church service referred to the single and public interest depends on the deduring of the church taxation right.