Church tax calculator
All members of a state-recognised church pay church tax in Germany. With our calculator you can find out how much you pay.
All information is without guarantee of correctness and completeness and does not represent tax or legal advice.
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Basic Facts —
When do I Pay Church Tax?
You pay church tax on your income, if you have your main residence in Germany and if you are a member of a state-recognised church. In Germany, these are the Catholic Church and the Protestant Regional Church. In addition, the Jewish religious communities and the Israelite church communities as well as other Christian church communities are state-recognised and can thus levy church tax. Members of Muslim communities, for example, do not pay church tax.
How High is Church Tax? —
The church tax amounts to 9 % or 8 % of your personal income tax, depending on the federal state.
In Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg it is 8 %, in the other 14 federal states 9 %.
To prevent the tax from becoming too high it is capped at a certain income.
Therefore, some only have to pay 3.5 %. This lower tax sometimes has to be requested.
In addition to the 8 % or 9 % church tax, there is also an occasional church fee, called Kirchgeld.
This additional fee is raised for example in the diocese Limburg or by the Evangelical Church in Rheinland or in Pfalz.
Liable to Church Tax through marriage —
Furthermore, it can occur that with a jointly assessed tax declaration, in which just one partner is liable to church tax, Kirchgeld is demanded. This might lead to the circumstance, that a person with no religion has to pay the Kirchgeld for his or her spouse. You can find more on the exact numbers of the Kirchgeld for couples here (only in German).