Change in the church tax deduction upon joining a church

Prerequisites

• personal declaration of joining the church or rejoining the religious community
• the individual requirements depend on the respective religious community

Documents required

You do not have to submit any documents.

• Forms: no
• Online procedure possible: no
• Written form required: no
• Personal appearance required: no

Please note

In the case of (re-)entry into a religious community, the religious community informs the registration office, which then enters the church affiliation in the population register and transmits it to the database of the financial administration.

There are five religious communities in Hamburg that have the church/cult tax managed by the tax offices:

1. Evangelical Lutheran Church in Northern Germany (Nordkirche)
2. Roman Catholic Church
3. Old Catholic Church
4. Evangelical Reformed Church
5. Jewish community

Notes on church tax:
Information on how to calculate the church tax can be obtained from the free service number of the Nordkirche: 0800 - 118 12 04
For information on changing your income tax deduction characteristics in connection with church membership, see service: ELStAM change after joining the church.

Deadlines

No

Procedure

Submit the declaration of entry or re-entry to the respective religious community.

• The religious community informs the responsible registration authority. The information is stored there and forwarded to the Federal Central Tax Office.
• The Federal Central Tax Office informs the tax offices.
• No application or notification is required to the tax office, as the data is forwarded to the employer by the registration authorities via the Federal Central Tax Office.

Processing time

When entering or re-entering a religious community, the change in the church tax deduction feature becomes effective for tax purposes on the 1st of the month following entry. Example: If you enter the church on 4.7. takes place, this will be on 1.8. tax effective.

Fees

There are no costs for you.

Legal remedies

no

Legal basis

Income Tax Act (EStG)


§ 39e procedure for the formation and application of the electronic wage tax deduction features


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

If you join or rejoin a tax-collecting religious community, you must pay church tax according to the church tax laws of the federal states, namely as a surcharge on income tax or wage tax (Wage Church Tax). The employer must therefore not only withhold wage tax from the wages of the employee with every wage payment, but also regularly withhold church tax and pay it to the tax office. The corresponding procedure for deducting the wage church tax is largely automated. As a rule, you do not have to do anything else once you have declared your entry in order to meet your church tax obligations.

The religious communities themselves regulate how and at which point entry into the church is to be declared. The church affiliation is registered with the registration authorities of the federal states and can only be changed by them. The tax authorities have no influence on this. This is important, for example, if the authorities have incorrect data.

The registration authorities inform the Federal Central Tax Office (BZSt) of changes in church affiliation and the corresponding date. The BZSt stores the electronic wage tax deduction features (ELStAM) in a database. The stored data also includes characteristics for the church tax deduction. The BZSt makes the ELStAM available to the employer for free automated retrieval. The ELStAM are decisive for the withholding of church tax in the tax deduction procedure by the employer, i.e. the employer is bound by them and does not have to check the question of church tax liability.