Church Tax (Christians Only?)

What happens if you are Jewish?
Is it only for Christians or all religons?

Alice

You also have to pay if you're jewish.

Basically, any religious body registered under german common law can avail themselves of church tax. However only certain churches do:

* The evangelical state churches and their parishes (EKD)
* The diocese of the Catholic church in Germany
* The Catholic diocese of the Traditional (Alt) Catholics in Germany
* The free-religious parishes, or the state parishes of Baden, Mainz, Offenbach and Pfalz
* The Unitarian Religious Society of Free Protestants
* The jewish parishes ("Kultussteuer")

So if you belong to any other grouping, or none at all, you don't have to pay.

Oh wow I am suprised. I figured it was only Christians.
Oh well live and learn.
I wonder does claiming to be a Messianic Jew get you out of it.
It would confuse them at the very least.
Also do they pass your details on to the respective religous bodies. So get letters demanding to know why you haven't attended yet.

Danke Schön

Alice

if you say you are church of england you dont have to pay

You can put yourself down as having no religion at all.

Yes, details are given to the churches and you will receive a letter from them asking when you have left the church if you stop paying the church tax.

Do they have a collecting plate too?

Yeah, I don't want to deny what I am. But I'd be a little concerned who else would be privy to that information.
Àlso I don't like the idea of the local Rabbi popping round to find out why Im not attending. (Yes Im going to hell)
I don't mind giving them the money though.

Alice

Of course, in any church I've been in, they've always had a collection.

Jehovahs witness don't have a collection, but they do have a number of boxes on the church walls so you can donate if you like.

There are some "churches" though which are recognized but also will not put in their good backs (as i am led to believe), someone in the office thinks that if you are a scientologist then there are some restrictions on employment i.e. dificulty working in a government / military related job.

alice: I would (and did) write "none" in the "religion" box

for obvious reasons. I just think it is spooky to put that sort of thing on record around these parts. you never know...

and it's cheaper

I'm officially "Anglikanisch" (C of E) and I don't have to pay.

The bugger who first interviewed me in 1987 (called "Herr Lacher", source of much merriment at the time), when I was a green and innocent lad, just arrived oof the ferry, put down "Evangelisch" and I ended up paying for the first few years. Got my money back, though!

"Herr Lacher" - love it!!!

@jordigo
Not sure I agree,
but I respect your opinion.
Quite frankly I would feel a hell of a lot more comfortable with German authorities having that info on me than British ones!!!
(Remmeber the whole RUC handing Catholics addresses to the protestant terrorists debacle)

I simply would feel more comfortable knowing who exactly has access to that kind of info. In the same way that I would be if we had an equivalant to Church Tax in Britain. Could for example political parties get their hands on it? And I still would like to know wether the local Rabbi gets notified of your existence when you start paying it.

I can just see it now.
The Rabbi turning up unannounced, me listening to Schlaflied in the background.
Dodgy looking (but rather yummy) German male lounging on the sofa all in black with a rather noticiable crucifix hanging round his neck.
And lots of questions from said Rabbi about how it is in any way appropriate to be listening to verboten lieder on the Sabbath. And am I not aware of the existence of the Office for Youth endangering writings.
And wouldn´t I like a nice Jewish boy instead?
(A: Only if hes in possession of one of those sexy German accents and has a really cool CD collection)
I suppose there would be novelty value in it I´ve never had a Jewish boyfriend before.

Alice

Alice,

I can't really comment on who has access to this religion affiliation info. For that matter, it's anybody's guess where it goes. I personally think it does not get far, but I never much supported the conspiracy theories anyway...

I CAN tell you that the Jewish congregation definitely gets notified as soon as you mark your registration form. I had my own "Herr Lachter" who convinced me to put down "Jewish" although I am the most non-practicing Jew I know
Two weeks later I started getting invitations to old Yiddish recitals at the Frankfurt town hall or something. It really got to the point of spam- sometimes 3 letters a week.

That mistake is reversible though. There is an easy process at the court. You just need to go and sign a statement saying you are non-practicing (not non-Jew...) and then you stop paying after a 1-2 month grace period. What's more important, those letters stopped coming Luckily, no calls from no Rabbis (although I did have a speech prepared for months that I was just waiting to try out ).

Gil.

Hi Gil (you fellow sinner you )
You understand where Im coming from on this.
Begs the question though if I write non practising Jew to start off with will that cover me?
Trust me you are not more non practising than me.
Although I do still have a penchant for matzos .
My friends cant get why I like eating cardboard with jam on.
Just be grateful they didnt send some old biddy round to tell you your skin and bone and insist on feeding you.
Still I dont think there are that many Jews in Hamburg.
Wouldnt mind the odd Jewish bakery though.
Other than that Im not fussed.

Alice
P.S. I really do think that you should share your Rabbi speech.

does not seem to be clear who exactly has access to the info

Someone told me that as it is not confidential then anyone can access it.

However, someone else told me that this was not the case and that only your wages dept. and the Einwohnermeldeamt has the info. Although when you register in a new town or move the Einwohnermeldeamt can let all the relevant religious establishments in the area know about you or they can approach them for the information. Apparently this is not so for political parties.

You would would think that they would tell you who could access this sort of info when you fill all the forms in.

I always tell them 'none' but if a colleague is with me translating they always insist on telling people I am 'C of E' and I when I protest they say it doesn't matter as I wont pay any Church Tax anyway! It drives me nuts!

Just put "none" on your form, save yourself a few Euro and have no concerns about who is accessing the data. And if you feel guilty, just give a donation at the church.
You know, God doesn't care how he gets your money, as long as he gets it.

I thought God wanted love not money...

Sorry, I must have been here too long.

This whole church tax thing just pisses me off ... the church and the finanzamt in bed together. The fact that they try to shut you out of the community if you don't pay. That's not very Christian, is it?

Thanks everyone for your help in this

@Loopy
That was particularly enlightening.

That is alittle bit worrying. If that IS true then surely Political Parties could get it too.
I dont care if the govt know. There is only ONE party Im scared of, and they will never see power in Germany, of this I am certain.

@Luke
I appreciate your comments. But its about not denying I am a Jew. I know it probably seems silly but denying it would not sit comfortably with me.

Alice

You don't deny your faith. Opting out of paying the church tax doesn't equate to opting out of your religion. It is purely a matter of money, not conscience. Your affirmation is that you go to the Synagogue and practise Judaism. When you want to contribute money then you can do so directly at the Synagogue or to a Jewish aid organisation. By opting out of paying taxes you cut out the middleman (Government tax-collectors). Think of it as a government cost-saving measure.

I just don't see what you gain my putting your religion down on the form. It's not a denial, it's a refusal to part with irrelevant personal information.
I just think that religion is more of a personal thing that nobody has a right to question.

Hubby's company requested that we put "no religion" since they pay the taxes for us. Actually, they registered us without us present, and did whatever they wanted.
We felt funny about it at first. Then realized, we won't be going to any of the state-supported churches as we don't speak the language anyway. Meanwhile, we can continue to donate to our home church in the states.

But God doesn't exist.

Jean-Pierre

Oh yes I do.

Frank Lampard.

alice

I can do the accent and my CDs are on the way

but seriously... on the UK census I did fill in the "religion" box, without even thinking twice about it. here, dunno...

last relative of mine on whom that sort of info went to a german official got a free trip to poland. not so nice.

I completely understand what you are saying. We all have that legacy and it isnt pleasant. But I think Germany today is a good country with good people (NPD not withstanding). And dont forget Britain has the BNP.
I really would trust German authorities over English ones. I honestly do not believe there will ever be danger like that for us again in Germany. Quite simply because they average German would not want or allow it.
How can you do the accent, arent you are English?

re accent: had to learn. serves mainly to take the p*ss, essentially

"what wedgetables haf you awailable?" and so on