German synodal journey continues, with controversy and alternative proposalsDossier: all about the German Synodal WayRoads of Europe: Germany. Germanic roadsThe system of church financing in Germany has its own characteristics, the so-called church tax ("Kirchensteuer"), which ensures the maintenance of both the Catholic and Evangelical Churches, as established in the German Constitution. This tax is collected by the State, specifically by the tax offices. The tax rate is generally 9 % of income tax (IRPF) in most of the Länder, although in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg it is reduced to 8 %.
According to the website of the German Bishops' Conference (DBK), the church tax is defined as "a contribution that church members make to finance their religious community. It is not a state subsidy, but a mechanism by which the church obtains resources directly from its faithful."
Historical origin
This system is due to historical reasons, specifically the "secularization" of ecclesiastical property in Germany, a phenomenon known in Spain as disentailment.
During the Napoleonic Wars, the German territories west of the Rhine were incorporated into France, and as compensation for the loss of property, the Diet of the Holy Roman Empire, in its session of 1803 - the last to be held before its dissolution - passed the resolution (ratified by Emperor Franz II on April 27 of the same year) called the "Reichsdeputationshauptschluss", by which church property was expropriated. In return, the German states assumed the obligation to guarantee the mission of the churches by means of state endowments.
Since the 19th century
However, economic and political factors led to the introduction of the church tax in the 19th century. Population growth and the consequences of industrialization increased the needs of the Church, and the growing separation between State and Church, initiated with the French Revolution, consolidated this system. From 1827, beginning with Lippe-Detmold, the church tax was established, transferring the responsibility for financing state churches to their members.
Throughout the 19th century, the other territories adopted this system, Prussia being the last to do so in 1905. The tax became part of state sovereignty, being integrated into the Constitution of the Weimar Republic in 1919, and after World War II, into the Basic Law of the Federal Republic of Germany. Article 140 of this law incorporates the provisions of the Weimar Constitution, including the right of religious denominations to levy taxes. Thus, Art. 137 of the 1919 Constitution remains in force: "Religious denominations which are corporations under public law are entitled to levy taxes on the basis of the civil tax lists in accordance with the provisions of state law".
Even for foreigners
This system, anchored in the Constitution, establishes that any person who is a member of a religious community recognized by the State, such as the Catholic Church, must pay church tax if they pay state taxes. However, the DBK states: "Anyone who does not pay income tax is not a church taxpayer either," which exempts unemployed or retired persons without other sources of income. Foreign residents and taxpayers in Germany are also obliged to pay income tax, even if there is no such obligation in their home country.
Although there have been initiatives to abolish this system, both the Church and the State consider it beneficial. In 2023, the Catholic Church collected about €6.51 billion, 5 % less than the previous year, while the Evangelical Church collected €5.9 billion, 5.3 % less. In addition, the State benefits by receiving between 2 % and 4 % from the collection of this tax through its tax offices. Likewise, if the State were to assume the welfare and health activities that the Church finances with these revenues, the cost would be considerably higher.
Criticism
One of the most criticized aspects at present is the fact that membership in the Church makes the payment of the church tax compulsory. This means that a person who, for whatever reason, no longer wishes to pay church tax - for example, for purely financial reasons, since, unlike in other countries, he is not required to use the additional % or % of his income tax for other purposes - has to withdraw from the church ("Kirchenaustritt") before a state authority. Depending on the federal state, this procedure is carried out at the District Court or the Civil Registry Office.
After years of debate, the Federal Court of Administrative Disputes ruled in 2012 that it is not possible to disassociate oneself from the Church as a legal corporation and, at the same time, continue to belong to the religious community. In other words, disassociation formally implies committing apostasy.
On the other hand, the church tax is a key pillar in maintaining the unity of the Church in Germany with Rome. During the so-called "German "Synodal WayIn the event of a schism, concern has been raised about a possible schism. In the hypothetical case that such a schism were to materialize and the Catholic Church in Germany were to break its communion with Rome, it would also lose its status as a "corporation under public law" (for this is the "Roman Catholic Church"), a status that allows it to receive the ecclesiastical tax recognized by the state. The new entity resulting from the schism would be deprived of its economic base, unless it succeeded in obtaining state recognition, which seems to be a complicated process.
