The countries of the world differ significantly from each other in the extent to which religion is separated from the state. For example, France is a purely secular state. But in Germany there is such a thing as a church tax.
Not all citizens of the country pay it, but only those who indicate their religious affiliation in the tax return. True, not all confessions take advantage of this opportunity, but, in any case, the main ones. Payment of this tax accounts for approximately 70 percent of church income. And citizens donate 8 percent of their money to the church. income tax. The collection of the tax even brings profit to the treasury of the federal states - churches pay about 3 percent of the money collected for its organization.
There are several other countries where a similar system exists. There is no such tax in America, but businessmen who donate financial resources churches are exempt from taxes on amounts paid. But in Greece, for example, all priests are paid by the state.
It is interesting that the well-known Metropolitan of Smolensk and Kaliningrad Kirill, who later became the patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church MP, said on March 21, 2001 in an interview with Interfax that he advocates that part of the income tax of every Russian should be transferred to religious organizations. According to the Metropolitan, “each specific taxpayer will make an application to tax authority, to which religious organization he would like a portion of the tax to be deducted." He also noted that social programs Churches in some European countries, such as Italy (89% of Italians pay church tax), Germany, Poland, are possible precisely thanks to such deductions. "Society expects a lot from religious organizations, but they must agree to funding social activities, says the Metropolitan. “If a person does not want to send funds to the budget of religious organizations, then this part of the income tax will go to the state.”
The idea was not supported then.
Will Kirill return to her again? Who knows. On the one hand, church budgets can receive a good boost. On the other hand, in general, it is not a fact that this will happen. In addition, a severe embarrassment may occur - our citizens do not like to pay taxes. Even in harsh socialist times, some irresponsible Komsomol members and, scary to say, party members, did not want to pay Komsomol and party dues, which amounted to only one to one and a half percent of their salaries. And tax statistics are something that you can’t really fool, everything is clear there, and as a result it may be revealed that the number of parishioners, and, accordingly, the degree of influence of the Russian Orthodox Church on society is greatly exaggerated.
The motivation for withdrawing taxes from all citizens, and not just believers, which was expressed in Cyril’s statement, is also unclear. If someone wants to support the church, that’s great, but what do non-believers have to do with it? And where will the state send taxes from non-believers?
In general, Russia went its own way. In return for the church tax, the church received many tax benefits and preferences, as well as formerly tourist and now religious sites, such as the Ryazan Kremlin and the Solovki archipelago. As you can understand - for food. And now, as they say, it has become the third largest owner of property in Russia, after Gazprom, and, if memory serves, Russian Railways.
There are also peculiar cases of “church tax” collected from all citizens. For example, the public became aware of a large donation from Lenenergo to the Russian Orthodox Church. Of course it is Joint-Stock Company, and it’s up to the owners in what direction to use the profit. However, this enterprise is a monopolist, and its right to include such costs in utility tariffs for electricity (and Lenenergo has nowhere to generate more income) outraged many.
Another funny case is the “church tax” in reverse. In Kurgan, local authorities tried to oblige clergy to pay tax in local budget for funeral services provided. The attempt was unsuccessful, it is clear why - churchmen love to look into other people's pockets, but keep theirs tightly closed.
But in general, it’s interesting what the portal people will say about the church tax in Russia. Are you ready to pay it? If yes, in what sizes?
Finding out how many believers there really are in Russia (and therefore, how many people’s feelings may be inadvertently offended) is very simple. To do this, you need to take advantage of the progressive Western experience and introduce a tax on the church in Russia. This tax will have to be paid by all citizens who identify themselves with any religion. Defaulters are not considered believers and are not allowed to participate in sacraments and rituals, which is absolutely logical: if you haven’t paid for a service, it means you can’t use it. If you believe, support your church. If you don’t want to pay, provide an official statement of resignation from the denomination with a copy to the tax authorities.
This is roughly how the church tax works in different countries.
Germany
There are no state religions in Germany, but many religious organizations operate within the framework of so-called public law corporations. According to the register of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Federal Republic of Germany, 40 church structures have this status. Among them, in addition to the traditional Catholic and various Lutheran churches in Germany, are Orthodox, Mennonites, Seventh-day Adventists, Mormons and four Jewish organizations. They are all entitled to church tax. The fact is that in addition to income tax, believers pay another 8-9% of its amount. This 8-9% is the church tax. The state acts as a cash register: it collects the tax and transfers it to the church, specifically the one to which the taxpayer belongs. The church tax does not apply to the poor, atheists and followers of religious movements not included in the “list of forty”.
Not all believers can withstand the test of the euro. For example, in recent crisis years, the volume of tax revenues to the budget of the Catholic community in Germany has decreased. In 2010 alone, 181 thousand Germans officially left the church and thereby freed themselves from the additional tax burden. To reverse the trend, in September 2012, the German Catholic clergy issued a decree according to which the church refuses confession, communion and posthumous funeral services to all defaulters.
Finland
Since the beginning of 2012, the Evangelical Lutheran Church (ELC) of Finland has lost 20 thousand parishioners (in total there are more than 4.2 million people in the ELC). The reasons are the same as in Germany: believers refuse to pay church tax, which currently amounts to 1-2% of income (depending on the municipality). Thousands of Finns chose television over God: the mass conversion of believers to non-believers is believed to be caused by the introduction of a new tax on public television in the country (0.69% of income). According to forecasts from the online service Eroakirkosta.fi, where Finns officially announce their withdrawal from the church, by the end of the year about 20 thousand more people will refuse to pay church taxes. In addition to the ELC, the state church of Finland is the Orthodox Church (an autonomous church of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, 1.1% of Finns are parishioners). There is no official data yet on the decline in the number of Orthodox Christians in the country.
Denmark
In Denmark, the state church is the Evangelical Lutheran Church, headed by the monarch. The state finances the church itself (state support amounts to about 14% of the church budget). In addition, believers from all religious associations registered in the country pay church tax - 0.44-1.5% of annual income. These funds are targeted to those churches to which believers belong. Clergy are responsible for managing most cemeteries, registering marriages (including same-sex marriages), births, deaths, and maintaining statistical records of parishioners.
Sweden
In Sweden, any religious association can submit a request for registration to government bodies and after that receive church taxes from their parishioners. Now Muslims, Jews, Catholics, and Lutherans of various denominations form their budgets in this way. Funding is provided through one of the departments of the Ministry of Culture. The amount of church tax in Sweden does not exceed 1-2% of the income of a believer. By the way, until 2000, the Lutheran Church was a state church in Sweden, and after its separation from the state, more than 500 thousand parishioners decided not to pay the tax and left the church.
Iceland
In Iceland, all taxpayers aged 16 and over are required to pay parish tax. Both believers and non-believers pay 8,376 ISK ($68) per year. These contributions form almost half of the income of the Church of Iceland and amount to almost 1.63 billion kroner ($14.2 million). Another 845 million kroner ($7.3 million) is provided by the tax on cemeteries, the operator of which is the same Church of Iceland. And the church tax that atheists pay goes to finance the University of Reykjavik (although, according to some evidence, not the entire University, but only its theological faculty).
Greece
Unlike all the above countries, there is no church tax in Greece. Here the Orthodox Church has state status and enjoys numerous tax preferences that no other religious structure in the country has. 9 thousand Orthodox priests are in government service and receive official salary. The state pays for church events, maintains churches, and trains new priests at its own expense. At the same time, the Greek Orthodox Church’s own income is completely opaque, which makes it similar to the Russian Orthodox Church.
If in Greece the state openly takes upon itself almost all the care of the Orthodox Church, then in Russia the gradual nationalization of the Russian Orthodox Church has not yet been officially recognized. It is obvious that the state spends a lot on the church, but neither the ROC’s own budget nor the amount of funds allocated for it by the state are known for certain. But it would be so easy to make the church budget transparent! It is enough to take advantage of Western experience and introduce a church tax in Russia.
That would be a lot of money. According to VTsIOM, which the Russian Orthodox Church likes to refer to, 75% of Russian citizens consider themselves Orthodox. This is more than 80 million working-age people. With monthly average wages at 27,219 rub. (according to Rosstat as of July) and a two percent church tax, the Russian Orthodox Church would receive from its believers more than 40 billion rubles per month, or 500 billion rubles per year ($16 billion).
There is, however, one danger here. It may happen that, like some Europeans, Orthodox citizens will not pass the test of the ruble and it will turn out that in fact there are much fewer true believers in Russia than is commonly believed. But the bitter truth is always better than the sweet uncertainty, isn’t it?
Related materials
In Finland, up to 20 thousand people have refused to pay church tax since the beginning of the year, and in Germany last year - 126 thousand Catholics. Why do Orthodox Christians in Germany not participate in state system financing of religious associations through the collection of a special tax, says Archpriest Nikolai ARTEMOV, Secretary of the German Diocese of the ROCOR
In a number of European countries, there is a system of church tax - citizens deduct part of their income to the state, from which religious organizations are financed. It has been experiencing serious disruptions over the past few years. So in Finland, since the beginning of the year, about 20 thousand people have refused to pay the church tax, as follows from data published recently on the website Eroakirkosta.fi, on which Finns can write a refusal to pay the tax and officially leave the Lutheran Church.
In Germany, where the church tax system has been in place for more than a hundred years, the numbers of people leaving the church for economic reasons are even higher. More than 126 thousand people left the Catholic Church alone in this country last year - a record number in recent decades of secularization.
Orthodox parishes in Germany initially chose a different path. They do not participate in the state system of financing religious associations through the collection of a special church tax - their activities are paid for from voluntary donations. Let us recall that today, according to estimates of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, Orthodoxy is the third largest Christian denomination in the country (approximately 1.5 million people).
The attitude of the German Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia to the church tax is explained by the secretary of the diocese Archpriest Nikolai ARTEMOV:
The decision taken in September by the German Catholic Bishops' Conference not to consider those who do not pay church taxes as members of the church was not discussed among the Orthodox. It is possible that at the next meeting the Orthodox bishops will talk about this, but no more.
All Orthodox bishops, united in the Conference of Orthodox Bishops in Germany, are unanimous that the Orthodox Church is called to live on voluntary donations and voluntary membership fees of believers.
Although a number of dioceses are registered as public corporations and could connect to the German tax system, however, none of them have done this and are not going to do this. Orthodox Christians have never paid church tax. Everything is built on a voluntary basis (the Vatican recommended that German Catholic bishops switch to a similar scheme for financing dioceses - ed.).
Now about the rules in Germany: If a person officially applies to leave his (Catholic or Protestant) church at the registry office, then a message about such exit is sent to the priest or pastor at his place of residence. The priest who receives such notice must visit the “lost sheep” to try to convince her.
Undoubtedly, the Catholic Church maintains many social services, and very useful ones, with funds from taxes. Budget cuts are hurting these activities. Both major denominations - Catholic and Evangelical - must reckon with the fact that this "iceberg" is melting before our eyes. This phenomenon is, of course, sad.
Why are the Germans leaving the Church?
Most often, Germans refuse the tax and report leaving the church for economic reasons. Although conservative Catholics are also leaving because they are opposed to “modernism.” I believe that with their recent decision, the Catholic bishops tried to point out the serious consequences of such a step and keep parishioners within the church fence. However, this statement threatens to come back to haunt them. In any case, the discussion about the relationship between church, faith and state has seriously flared up in German society today.
What consequences await a person who refuses to pay church taxes and announces his resignation from the church?
The prohibition of “participation in worship” means active participation in the sacraments or social life arrival at your place of residence. Thus, the deceased is not buried or crowned. He has no right to hold any positions in the parish. But attending religious services and public events is not prohibited. Anyone can come there, including Jews or Muslims. Of course, the police will not take a person out of the temple.
Catholics do not have the Eucharistic discipline observed in the Orthodox Church. Confession is not required, for example. It is very easy to circumvent the ban on participation in the sacraments. You can even go to Rome, to the Cathedral of St. Peter, and there go to communion, after dinner, without fasting or confession. But that would be disingenuous. In other words, in this matter the matter is left to the conscience of the believer.
Many people do not understand how refusing a tax can be considered automatically a “leaving the church.” Partial loss of rights due to refusal to perform duties is logical. But the essence of the matter is still far from clear. The debate will continue. The Germans love order, and they are worried about the question: how is “faith” formally and rigidly attached to the “state”.
Refusal to pay to one’s church through the state cannot in itself be considered “apostasy,” a complete falling away from the Catholic Church. There is also another possibility: what if, for example, a Catholic suggests: I refuse to pay tax, but I will pay it to my parish voluntarily, but without the “help” of the state redistributing taxes?
The question is already there. No answer yet. But the Orthodox managed to avoid these problems.
Church tax in Germany dates back to the 19th century. Today they charge it financial departments federal states. In different lands its value varies from 8 to 9%. IN tax returns, which Germans fill out, there is a special clause about belonging to a religious community. This does not mean a declaration of what faith the taxpayer professes, but to which religious organization the state should allocate the funds received from him.
If a person refuses to pay the church tax, then he declares his resignation from the church. This is usually the data that is cited by the media under the catchy headlines “126 thousand Catholics in Germany renounced the church in a year.”
Among Catholics, the question of whether such an economic exit from the church should be understood as apostasy, renunciation, or not, remained open until recently. In September, the German Bishops' Conference decided to excommunicate those who had committed financial service statement of resignation from the church. On September 26, the Catholic Archbishopric of Freiburg won a legal battle that lasted almost 5 years with Professor Hartmut Zapp, who sought the right not to pay church taxes and remain in the local Catholic parish. If the court had upheld Zapp's claim, the church tax system would have been called into question.
The fact that the church tax still exists might surprise Americans, since the First Amendment to the US Constitution prohibits the government from collecting taxes on religious groups. However, religions in the United States have benefits, which is also criticized by secular atheists.
Despite European solidarity, the situation with finances and churches is different in different EU countries. In some European countries, churches finance themselves, in others they are paid by the state, in others they are financed by a special church tax, which is again paid differently: either by people who belong to a particular denomination, or by all citizens of the state.
Church tax in Europe
Church tax in Germany amounts to 8-9% from income and it is paid only by people who identify themselves with a certain denomination. This partly led to this. that an increasing number of Germans - Protestants and Catholics - are leaving their churches. Among the reasons explained for the decline in membership is the reluctance to pay the de facto increase in church taxes. However, for example in 2013, Germany collected $13.2 billion for their churches. Part of this money goes to finance schools, hospitals and other social institutions.
In Denmark The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Denmark is the national church. It receives funding through a special church tax of 1,51% from earnings, which all of its believing citizens must pay, and also receives additional support from the Danish government. Danish authorities previously reported that, for example, in 2012, almost 80% of the population were church members. Atheists in Denmark protest against this state of affairs and hold campaigns, as a result of which about 3,000 Danes left the Church.
In Sweden church tax in the amount 2% of income All citizens also pay, regardless of their affiliation with a particular religion. Unlike Denmark, church and state in Sweden are separate.
In Austria church tax is 1.1% of income and all residents who identify themselves as Catholics are required to pay it.
In Switzerland Church taxes are set at the canton level, but no more 2.3% of income. Most of the 26 cantons collect some form of church tax. In some cantons, church taxes must be paid by private companies; in other cantons, according to the US State Department, taxes are collected “on behalf of the Jewish community”, despite the fact that “Islamic and other ‘non-traditional’ religious groups do not have this right.”
In Iceland according to Article 62 of the Constitution “The Evangelical Lutheran Church is the state church in Iceland and enjoys the protection and support of the state.” Therefore, the church tax is collected from all members of registered religious groups - including secular humanist organizations. This causes their protest, which resulted, for example, in the creation of the Zuist movement “to worship the Sumerian gods.” In two weeks, more than 3,100 people joined, which is about 1% of the Icelandic population. In addition, about 40 different religious associations are counting on receiving money.
In Croatia There is no separate church tax. But according to a special agreement between the Holy See and the Republic of Croatia, the state finances salaries and pensions for the clergy, repairs and restoration of churches, construction and operation of church schools and universities.
In Finland in different municipalities, parishioners of a particular church pay a church tax in the amount of 1% to 2% of income.
In Italy taxpayers pay tax “eight out of a thousand” ( 0,8% ) and express their preferences where this money should go: the Catholic Church, a number of Protestant groups, the Jewish community or... to the state.
In England Churches of the Anglican Church are maintained by parishioners, but they make good donations. For example, a priest receives a house, a car, money for children’s education and other benefits from the parish.
In Spain The Catholic Church lives on donations from believers and receives assistance from the state. Since 2007, Spanish taxpayers can, at their personal request, transfer money to the Catholic Church (and only to it) 0.7% income tax. The curia pays the priests a monthly salary. And it is approximately next numbers: archbishop - 1200 euros; bishop - 900 euros; priest - 700 euros.
In France the church receives income only from the donations of believers, and the priests receive salaries from the curia.
In Belgium priests of all Christian denominations receive salaries from the state and annual bonuses - in summer and winter.
eugenyshultz in Church taxRecently, the concept of “believer” has become a legally significant term. At the same time, identification of believers is extremely difficult. Moreover, there is no way to objectively verify whether a person is a believer or not. Someone else's soul is dark... And according to external manifestations, 95% of declared believers do not know the basic concepts of their faith. However, a dispute about who knows better or worse is wrong for identifying faith. In the end, maybe a person is illiterate, has a bad memory, etc., in short, he’s just moving toward faith :) so he confuses everything and doesn’t know the “Our Father”... However, when it comes to legal terms and real articles of the Criminal Code, it’s still worth decide about them...
The simplest way to legally secure the concept of “believer” is a receipt for full and timely payment of church tax! :) Church tax is a strictly voluntary tax that goes to the religious organization chosen by the citizen. The tax amount is the same for any religious organization! I think the right amount of church tax would be 10% of all income received. Tithe. For non-payment - church sanctions in the form of novitiate, prayers for education, and if this does not work, then excommunication! However, this is a matter for the church... and the size of the tax is a debatable issue, but it cannot be too small, a non-binding tax.
Church tax is right! You cannot demand anything from your faith, and especially from the state, without giving anything (literally, nothing!) to either the state or the faith! The saints gave their entire lives to faith! They built a temple of their faith, and did not come for free to churches built by someone and demand respect from everyone around them... for what, excuse me, respect? What did you buy the cross? This is not enough, where are the deeds, where is the service, where is the knowledge of at least one’s faith, which would prove to others that the believer at least understands what he believes in?
Plus, there is an unpleasant nuance in our multi-religious country. The fact is that our state financially and administratively supports a number of faiths. Not all, but only some. This choice is not justified by anything other than voluntarism and political expediency. Someone (not God, by the way:) decided that one faith is worthy of government funding, and the other is unworthy. As a result, funds are spent on various denominations in one way or another federal budget. And this is wrong, since our state is separated from religion + a purely technological problem of separation arises: who will guarantee that the money is distributed correctly? Why does it de facto turn out that tax contributions from Jews go to Christians or vice versa? Or why does an atheist or agnostic pay for a faith that they do not believe in? Or, on the contrary, someone who believes in something not accepted among us (but permitted by state law) receives nothing for his faith?...
But with taxes everything will be fine. As many true believers as there are, those who represent the One in whom they believe have as much money. 10% of all income is quite a convincing amount to convince a person that he really believes or at least has serious cultural, social, and political hopes in the religious organization he finances.
Naturally, at the same time government funding or state propaganda of a particular religion should be strictly prohibited! Any preferences of the state and its representatives of one or another religion should also be prohibited. In parallel, of course, the opposite should be prohibited - any persecution and oppression of religion should be prohibited if it does not violate the laws of Russia.
Revenue collection must be done V general procedure Federal Tax Service, strictly voluntarily. The collected tax is transferred in full to the budget of the religious association to which it is intended. Records of deductions must be kept. When a citizen appeals to the state in connection with his belief, an actual comparison is made real income and church tax deductions. In the absence of payments or identification of a significant discrepancy between income and taxes for a period of more than 6 months. the person is not recognized as a believer and his claim related to religion is automatically rejected. In this case, the church (in general, another governing body of a religious organization) is notified of the concealment of income.
In fact, a church tax is a constitutional donation in favor of a chosen religion. I repeat, the attitude towards a tax defaulter by the church is established independently (from admissibility to excommunication), but the state identifies a citizen as a believer only and exclusively on the basis of full payment of the church tax. Only complete and timely paying a church tax will allow a citizen to speak in court, for example, by appealing to his faith.
Punishment for non-payment of church fees The church chooses taxes at its own discretion. From the absence of any punishment, to censure or even excommunication, but strictly within the framework of state law - for example, forced imprisonment, confiscation of property, physical punishment that can lead to injury, execution, etc. prohibited. The church can even consider a tax evader as its parishioner (this is the church’s business), but the “power” of a religion is taken into account only according to actual tax collections and the state recognizes as believers only and exclusively a conscientious church tax payer! The state does not force people to pay church taxes, but provides the infrastructure for payment + keeps records of revenues, since this is an important and politically significant matter.
At the same time, all religious organizations should be deprived of any tax preferences, since this creates unequal opportunities for economic activity other public associations that do not fall under the definition of religious. It should also be prohibited to use church tax money for purposes unrelated to religious worship. Use of church tax funds for purposes not specified in statutory activities religious association is equivalent to fraud. At the same time, it is not prohibited to indicate, for example, “the comfortable life of the chief priest.” The main thing is that parishioners are publicly informed about these goals, and the goals can be any, as long as they do not violate the law.
To the erudite's collection: Although not entirely on the topic of the post, I will still remind you that in the Roman Empire there was no punishment for blasphemy. The basis for this was the view that God, by definition, is strong enough to independently punish a person who has offended him, and the very idea of the need to defend God with the weak forces of people is already blasphemy (Deorum injuriae diis curae - Emperor Tiberius)
The church tax is not a new invention and has existed since ancient times - approved, for example, by the Christian Church, as well as a number of other religions. Regarding Christianity, for example, the Council of Tours in 567 invited the faithful to pay tithes, the Council of Macon in 585 already ordered the payment of tithes under threat of excommunication!!! So the idea is far from new, but in the current circumstances it could not be more relevant! The only thing that is unacceptable is that previously this tax was collected forcibly from all citizens and in favor of one denomination, but in our enlightened age of freedom of religion it should be voluntary and directed specifically to the religion or denomination that the citizen chooses.
Analysis of the proposed reform made mainly on the example of the Christian church, since I myself am an Orthodox Christian, but it concerns all religious associations with the corresponding nuances.... In the post, naturally, only schematic outlines of the future reform are given, which certainly needs more detailed elaboration. But its essence should remain unchanged. Complete separation of state and religious affairs. A ban on financing religious associations from the state budget and the budgets of state-owned companies, as well as a ban on any coercion to finance religious associations. Strict, legal meaningful definition concept of "believer". Complete subordination of all religious associations to state law. The dependence of the welfare of a religious association on its own parishioners and only on them. At the same time, the state protects the right to faith and religious beliefs, and as a way to ensure this is the creation on the basis of the state tax service financing infrastructure that provides an equal and fair way to finance a particular religious association, since this right is guaranteed by the Constitution of Russia.
Especially topical issue church tax becomes in conditions of widespread transfer of medicine to a paid basis. Insurance fees in compulsory medical insurance, this is an actual tax on official wages. If someone believes that the owner of the body should deal with the salvation of the body, then what can we say about the salvation of the soul...