On the other hand, “” impossible sums “” could not be demanded from the state.
With a view to leaving the church and the shrinking population, he warned in the “Augsburger Allgemeine”: “Church tax revenues will collapse in ten years at the latest.”
The Bishop of Mainz, Peter Kohlgraf, told the German Press Agency that by 2030 the church tax revenue could already be expected to decrease by almost a third. “Abolishing the church tax would certainly reduce this financial framework even further.”
Together with his colleague from Rottenburg-Stuttgart, Gebhard Fürst, he therefore pleads for frugality in the church. In the future, it will be about “finding sensible ways of dealing responsibly with dwindling financial resources.”
According to Kohlgraf, one should also consider “that through the church tax alone in the Diocese of Mainz many thousands of people and their families can make a living through the pastoral and social work they do for society”.
Hanke had also pointed out that thanks to taxes, the church can achieve a lot of positive things and guarantee secure jobs. “However, we must now start to think about other ways of financing and we must be more creative. And we must be willing to forego privileges.”
The two large Christian churches together lost around 660,000 members in 2017 – due to demographic change and withdrawals. Computers are circulating on the Internet to determine how much taxes can be saved by leaving the church.
Church tax is levied as a rate of 8 to 9 percent on income tax. Continue reading “On the other hand, “” impossible sums “” could not be demanded from the state.”