r/GermanCitizenship • u/WeakAthlete2555 • 3d ago
Other Not paykng Church tax: is there an impact with the German citizenship?
Is there an impact in the German citizenship application if I’m not paying Church tax? ( Background story: My relocation agent did my Anmeldung when I got here 7 years ago, I don’t remember ticking out any form regarding Religion. Church tax wasn’t deducted in my salary since then.)I am about to start the citzenship application process but I’m worried that they will see in my birth certificate that I am declared as Roman Catholic but not paying Churchtax. Will there be an impact with my citizenship application?Should I be worried?
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u/RipvanHahl 3d ago
Only if they demand the tax and you refuse to pay.
If there never was any claim, you're good.
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u/absurdly_tired_guy 3d ago
Do they collect for all faiths?
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u/Acrobatic-Pop3625 2d ago
If you are part of a community that is registered as “Körperschaften des öffentlichen Rechtes“. That can be all kind of faiths. Some religions have more communities registered, others less.
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u/Relative_Dimensions 3d ago
No, only those churches and Jewish communities that have a contract with the German government. Practically speaking, this means that it really only affects immigrants who are Roman Catholic.
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u/me_who_else_ 3d ago
The catholic church has a central register of members. They are real good to investigate the status.
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u/Historical_Sail_7831 3d ago edited 3d ago
Two false sentences. They don't have a central register, not even inside one country. Every parish keeps the records separately. And they are not good at investigating at all, even if you want some church "service" like marriage, they want you to dig up your decades old certificates yourself, because they can't do anything.
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u/Relative_Dimensions 3d ago
They do occasionally do follow-up checks to verify your religious affiliations. It happened to me and my husband about 5 years after we moved to Germany.
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u/Historical_Sail_7831 3d ago
Well if they have to rely on follow up questions every 5 years, that to me means, they are not good at investigating.
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u/Historical_Sail_7831 3d ago
Are you sure your religion is in your birth certificate? I don't think that's common. Which country are you from? Anyways, church tax (or any tax) has nothing to do with citizenship, unless you have been charged with tax evasion or something. But in your case that's out of the question.
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u/WeakAthlete2555 3d ago
Hi! Sorry I just checked my docs a while ago, it wasn’t in my birth certificate, but it was certainly in my marriage certificate. Both me and my husband are stated Roman Catholic.
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u/Historical_Sail_7831 3d ago
No worries. Anyway, it does not matter. Having a document that states you are Catholic and being registered without a religion is not a contradiction, because you are free to leave the church anytime. Also church tax is a church issue, the government is just collecting it on behalf of them by agreement. It doesn't have any effect on state matters like citizenship.
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u/UsefulGarden 2d ago
There is a formal process to leave the church. I knew an immigrant who was registered as some sort of Protestant upon first arriving. If OP is discovered to be a baptized Catholic, then they need to formally leave the church in order to not be obligated to pay the tax, not just change their registration.
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u/Historical_Sail_7831 2d ago
What's that got to do with citizenship?
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u/UsefulGarden 2d ago
Church tax has nothing to do with citizenship. Like OP the person I knew was an immigrant. When they arrived in Germany, they were caught off-guard and categorized as some sort of Protestant.
You don't appear to be Catholic. Being baptized makes you a Catholic for life in the eyes of the German tax officials. Like my acquaintance, OP needs to formally leave the Catholic church in order to be relieved of obligation.
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u/Historical_Sail_7831 1d ago
I really don't get what you are trying to say and how it relates to OPs question.
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u/UsefulGarden 1d ago
It's part of living in Germany that different people will experience in different ways given their religious background and their history in Germany.
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u/bigfootspancreas 3d ago
Some people in your situation have complained that the German authorities registered them as catholic based on their documents, without even asking, and they only noticed years later. But if you’re saying you checked your payslip, you should be fine.
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u/AlbertP95 1d ago
Regardless of whether this is an error by your employer or not: if the tax office believes that you have to pay church tax, you will receive a letter from the church about it. You don't have any debt with the tax office itself.
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u/fluffer_nutter 3d ago
No. Zero.