Poles will pay the church tax? A petition appeared

At the beginning of June, the Civic Petition regarding the introduction of the so -called church tax. The amount of tribute would be 8 percent. income tax collected from remuneration received under an employment contract, mandate contract and contract for specific work.

Church tax in Poland?

According to INFOR.pl, the tax payer would be obliged to transfer it to the tax office, and he would send him further to the account of the declared church or religious union. Money would only go to religious associations, which appear in the register of churches and other religious associations kept by the Ministry of Interior and Administration.

The only way to avoid tax would be to formally declare atheism, i.e. the lack of belonging to any religious relationship.

The author of the petition has been referring to the solution for years functioning in Germany, where the so -called Kirchensteuer. – This system, successfully functioning in Germany for many years, proves its high effectiveness and transparency. German experiences clearly show that such a financing model not only effectively supplies the funds of individual religious associations, providing them with financial stability and the possibility of taking their mission – emphasizes the originator of the tax.

How do they do it in Germany?

The amount of tax depends on the place of residence, in some lands it is 8 percent. (including Bavaria, Badenie-Württemberg), in others it is 9 percent. income tax (including Brandenburg, Hesse or Saxony). This tax is a monthly deducted by the employer from remuneration and transferred to Finanzamt, i.e. the German tax office. People who do not want to pay Kirchensteuer must formally appear from the church or declare the lack of belonging to any religious relationship.

The author of the petition also indicates that the current system of financing religious institutions in Poland, “based largely on voluntary donations and subsidies, is often opaque and raises controversy.” – The introduction of church tax would allow you to improve the circulation of financial resources, making it more formal and subject to public control. Tax collection directly from remuneration by the Tax Office minimizes the risk of abuse and increases social trust in the method of financing churches – emphasizes the originator of the tax.

The data of the Central Statistical Office (GUS) shows that the community of the faithful belonging to the Roman Catholic Church in Poland is 33.7 million faithful, which is 87.6 percent. of the total population.