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Comment by dnh44 | Hacker News Reader

Regarding the church tax, if you move to Germany you'll be ask what religion your are and unless you answer atheist you'll have to start paying a church tax and it appears to be quite a hassle to get out of it.

https://www.settle-in-berlin.com/stop-paying-german-church-t...

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The same system exists in Switzerland. While living there, and after registering, a priest visited my home to investigate our nonbeliever status. My spouse inadvertently mentioned her Jewish ancestry, at which point the priest offered to send a Rabbi instead, before she could say that she wasn’t then and had never been observant.

> and it appears to be quite a hassle to get out of it.

Five minutes at the local courthouse, 20 Euros or so, and it's effective next month.

Of course, during Corona it can be more difficult to get an appointment, and the fee can vary from state to state, but all in all it's easy to get out.

You declare not being part of an officially recognised church, not being atheist. Muslims don't pay these taxes as these is no recognised Islam "church". Getting out is easy, depending on where you live. It took me about 10 minutes, signing a paper at the Standesamt, and out I was. Got a nice letter from "my" community priest giving me a chance to rethink that while threating me with hell, pretty directly so.

It's Corona, there's no Standesamt available (no joke).

"Church tax in Germany is a 8-9% surcharge on top of your income tax."

That is a stunning amount. I wonder how many Berlin based Startup Developers are having a second look at the salary receipt right now...

Slight clarification here, it is way less than 8-9% of your gross salary. I had a look when I was a church member, and it was 2% of my gross salary. It was indeed 8% of the amount of my income tax.

I think the way it is calculated (depending on the federal state your in): Gross salary -> income tax -> 8 to 9% of the income tax = church tax.

At least in Christianity, 10% is the traditional donation to the Church. So that doesn't necessarily sound out of line. On the other hand, some people split the 10% between the Church and secular charities which wouldn't be possible in this case.

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