Church tax: General information for joining the church

Prerequisites

Documents required

Please note

Church/religious tax from five religious communities in Hamburg is administered by the tax offices: Evangelical Lutheran, Roman Catholic, Old Catholic Church, Jewish Community, Evangelical Reformed Church.

Information on how church tax is calculated can generally be obtained from the North Church's free service number: 0800 - 118 12 04

Deadlines

The change in the church tax deduction characteristic will take effect on the 1st of the month following entry.

Procedure

• You have declared your entry or re-entry to the church or religious community (pastor).
• The church or religious community will report your membership to the church administration or the administration of the religious community.
• The HamburgService on site will be informed of your entry and record this with your registration data.
• The HamburgService on site forwards the information to the responsible authority.
• The responsible authority provides the data about your changed ELStAM wage tax characteristics in the database for employers.
• Your employer will be informed that church tax is being withheld for you the next time your electronic wage tax deduction features (ELStAM) are retrieved.

Processing time

The change will be transmitted directly from the Hamburg Service on site to the responsible authority.

Fees

no

Legal remedies

No legal remedy is provided for.

Legal basis

Section 39e paragraph 3 of the Income Tax Act (EStG)


https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/estg/__39e.html