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Apparently even if you list any religion, Germany will collect a church tax from you if you list ANY religion. So people moving to Germany, when registering yourself at the city, tell them you are an atheist or it will cost you dearly. Also if you want to get out of it, you fill up a form which costs 30 euros and it takes another two months to go away.
Note you're not just getting out of the tax, you're getting out of your church (or equivalent depending on religion). To take Catholic Church for example you can no longer get married in a church, cannot get a church funeral, can't be the godfather of a child or such.
The 30 Euro is just burocracy since the decision gets notarised. Same cost if you get married, a little less to get proof of residency. It's not meant as deterrent.
Personally I'd prefer state and church to be more separate here, even if it means double bookkeeping and extra cost (the Churches would have to deal with all the monthly money transactions). But the Wikipedia article goes into the historical context and it's unlikely to go away soon.
> if you want to get out of it Note you're not just getting out of the tax, you're getting out of your church (or equivalent depending on religion). To take Catholic Church for example you can no longer get married in a church, cannot get a church funeral, can't be the godfather of a child or such. The 30 Euro is just burocracy since the decision gets notarised. Same cost if you get married, a little less to get proo…
> if you want to get out of it Note you're not just getting out of the tax, you're getting out of your church (or equivalent depending on religion). To take Catholic Church for example you can no longer get married in a church, cannot get a church funeral, can't be the godfather of a child or such. The 30 Euro is just burocracy since the decision gets notarised. Same cost if you get married, a little less to get proo…
Yes but people seem to have a religion other than Christianity. I guess the government is a bit unaware of the fact.
(signed by an angry German)
> if you want to get out of it Note you're not just getting out of the tax, you're getting out of your church (or equivalent depending on religion). To take Catholic Church for example you can no longer get married in a church, cannot get a church funeral, can't be the godfather of a child or such. The 30 Euro is just burocracy since the decision gets notarised. Same cost if you get married, a little less to get proo…
Yes but people seem to have a religion other than Christianity. I guess the government is a bit unaware of the fact.
That's deceptive. The tax form lists several churches that have decided to let the state collect their "membership dues". Many churches and denominations have declined to do so, and you won't find them on the tax form. You simply tick "none" if you're not a member of those specifically listed churches. And if you are, well, you owe that money to the church. You're free to leave that church.
Having tithes collected by the state is a breach in the separation of church and state (for historical reasons), but it's not like the churches have no choice.
> if you list ANY religion That's deceptive. The tax form lists several churches that have decided to let the state collect their "membership dues". Many churches and denominations have declined to do so, and you won't find them on the tax form. You simply tick "none" if you're not a member of those specifically listed churches. And if you are, well, you owe that money to the church. You're free to leave that church.…
* The Protestant Church (the "big one", there are myriads of small protestant free churches, especially in southern Germany – none of which participates)
* The Catholic Church
* The Old Catholics
* "Free Religion Congregations" (a special group)
* The Unitarians
* The Jewish congregations
It also lists twenty-two churches that don't let the state collect money on their behalf, including the Methodists, the Salvation Army, Mormons, some Pentecostal church, Alevits, Muslims and so on).
But don't worry: Catholic and Protestant Churches will get your tax money anyway: Since Napoleon – yes: THE Napoleon! – Germans pay a "compensation" for the riches taken from the churches then (which they, of course, had taken first from the people…). It is still paid today by the state, even though already the German constitution of the "Republic of Weimar" (i.e. 1919-1933) demanded that these payments should be sto…
But don't worry: Catholic and Protestant Churches will get your tax money anyway: Since Napoleon – yes: THE Napoleon! – Germans pay a "compensation" for the riches taken from the churches then (which they, of course, had taken first from the people…). It is still paid today by the state, even though already the German constitution of the "Republic of Weimar" (i.e. 1919-1933) demanded that these payments should be sto…
Wrong.
> They get a free appartement, a free car with a driver and a salary near 10,000 €/Month
I guess you should leave the Catholic church then. Oh, you're not a member? Why should you have a say in what salary Catholics find adequate?