Administrative services A-Z

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

If you join or re-join a tax-levying religious community, you must pay church tax in accordance with the church tax laws of the federal states, as a supplement to income or wage tax (Lohnkirchensteuer). The employer must therefore withhold not only the wage tax but also the church tax from the employee's wages and pay it to the tax office each time the wage is paid. The corresponding procedure for deducting the wage church tax is largely automated. Therefore, you usually do not have to do anything further after declared entry in order to meet your church tax obligations.

The religious communities themselves regulate how and to which office church membership is to be declared. Church membership is recorded by the registration authorities of the Länder 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 notify the Federal Central Tax Office (BZSt) of changes in church affiliation and the corresponding date. The BZSt stores the electronic wage tax deduction characteristics (ELStAM) in a database. The stored data also includes characteristics for the deduction of church tax.

The BZSt makes the ELStAM available to the employer for automatic retrieval free of charge. The ELStAM are decisive for the withholding of church tax by the employer in the tax deduction procedure, i.e. the employer is bound by them and does not need to check the question of church tax liability.

• personal declaration of entry or re-entry into the church to the religious community
• the individual requirements depend on the respective religious community

You do not need to submit any documentation.

There are no costs for you.

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

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

Religious community, residents' registration office

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

• Specialist information on "Wage tax deduction using the electronic wage tax deduction features procedure" on the website of the Federal Ministry of Finance (BMF letter dated 8.11.2018)

Federal Ministry of Finance