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Pam Travers

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:shocked:I find that preposterous!:thumbdown:

 

When you say registered, what do you mean? What sort of registration or membership is it, and where is it recorded?

 

See Violet Sky's quote below. That's what I was talking about. There was once an idea of having a ''law'' like that here, in our country, as well. And all of those who are registered as Catholics should pay extra taxes. And believe me, I know what a laic country is, or at least what it should be, but I don't really think it also works in practice. Too bad. So there's no need to laugh and think that I'm a complete fool for saying something like that, but that sorf of tax exists. Maybe not in Belgium and the Netherlands, but it does in Germany, and I think that it also does in Austria. But of course it's not obligatory, you have to pay it if you're registered as Catholic.

 

I believe that they consider you as registered when you are baptised + when you get all the other sacraments. That way you enter 'the wonderful world of catholic church'.

 

Hm, the 'when are you registered' is a good question actually. I think, annabelle is right, you are as soon as you are baptised. There is also this document, your income tax card, which is issued by your local authority and sent to you each year. It contains info about your family status as well as your religion and your tax bracket. You give that document to your employer so they can determine the sum of you taxes and social-insurance contributions and pay them over to the relevant authorities. If you decide to leave your church, or your family status has changed, you have to inform your local government office, so that they can transfer the changes to the official documents before they affect the amount of your taxes.

I don't remember ever having told my community office that I am baptised catholic, so they obviously had that info from the church already. :boxed:

I don't really practise that religion, btw.

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Nobody's laughing at you or thinks you're a fool. I merely asked for an explanation.

 

Anyhoo, I just read up on this German tax thing and it says that this church tax is fully deductible.

So even though people who are registered with tax collecting churches (not all of them collect) have to pay taxes, they will get their money back.. So nobody's paying extra.

 

This is not 100% true.

Usually in the end of a year you do your income tax return paperwork (or have it done by a professional tax consultant) and hand it in to your finance office.

In most cases then you get some of the tax money you payed over the last year back. This is due to a more accurate evaluation of your actual income (considering extraordinary expenses or additional income, some sorts of debt etc... ). And of course a certain percentage of the money you get back (8 or 9% in Germany, the same fractional amount you payed) is church tax. Paying it wouldn't make a lot of sense if you got it all back in the end, would it?

I also think being 'deductible' means that you can take the amount of church tax you actually payed and substract it from the base for tax (as in your income) in order to have the return calculated.

I can't explain it properly but to my defense I have to say it is rather complicated.

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This is not 100% true.

Usually in the end of a year you do your income tax return paperwork (or have it done by a professional tax consultant) and hand it in to your finance office.

In most cases then you get some of the tax money you payed over the last year back. This is due to a more accurate evaluation of your actual income (considering extraordinary expenses or additional income, some sorts of debt etc... ). And of course a certain percentage of the money you get back (8 or 9% in Germany, the same fractional amount you payed) is church tax. Paying it wouldn't make a lot of sense if you got it all back in the end, would it?

I also think being 'deductible' means that you can take the amount of church tax you actually payed and substract it from the base for tax (as in your income) in order to have the return calculated.

I can't explain it properly but to my defense I have to say it is rather complicated.

 

Aso!! :mf_rosetinted:

 

I must say, I googled it cuz I couldn't believe my eyes.

In my opinion church tax shouldn't exist. I think it's rediculous.

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I’m an atheist too.

Not baptised, no confirmation, not married in church.

In just a few years ago the church got separated from the state so every child was born a member of the church (Christian).

You have to do an active step to not be a member of the church, which I have done of course.

 

Anyway, in my country the church usually don’t have so much influence on our daily life by tradition, we have a lot of freedom to do name giving, marriage and funerals in an “out of church way”( can’t find the English word for it).

But if you go back in history it was very different, in the 19 century a big reason for people to emigrate was to be able to practise their religion in other ways than the traditional Christian way which wasn’t allowed in Sweden.

 

Sometimes when I go into a philosophical mind I really don’t know what to think so maybe I should count myself more as an agnostic.:blush-anim-cl:

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:shocked: I'm quite shocked to hear that other countries in Europe have tax systems which take religion into account - I don't like the idea, even if the total tax burden on the individual is the same in the end. In the UK, the only time the government asks about religion is in the 10-yearly census, which is purely for statistical information. (A lot of people now claim to be "Jedi":naughty:)

 

We do have interference from the Church of England, whose leaders have a right to sit in the House of Lords, and of course the Queen is both Head of State and head of the church.

 

We've got some antiquated Sunday trading laws - shorter hours for large stores - and the most important restriction for me - no garden centres open on Easter Sunday:blink: I like gardening, and the 4-day Easter break is the ideal time of year for sowing & planting - Its the one religious imposition I really resent!:thumbdown:

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:shocked: I'm quite shocked to hear that other countries in Europe have tax systems which take religion into account - I don't like the idea, even if the total tax burden on the individual is the same in the end. In the UK, the only time the government asks about religion is in the 10-yearly census, which is purely for statistical information. (A lot of people now claim to be "Jedi":naughty:)

 

I agree- To me, this is an infringement of one's personal space (for lack of a better word, I'm tired now and english is not flowing :naughty:) , and it makes people vulnerable to possible discrimination based on religious beliefs.

 

When this info is so openly and widely available, it sure can be used against people.

Boo :thumbdown:

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Do atheists say "Oh my god!"?

 

(this is a serious question, by the way :naughty:)

 

all the time, or sometimes i go for *oh my fcking god* i also like holychrist a lot or maryjesufckingchrist

 

no blaspheme there though, i just love the sound of it

 

 

oh and did greta explained the papal tax in italy etc?

 

*praise god, pay your tax*

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...........WOW, as in .................

 

***** it is HARD to explain ANYTHING without it being taken the WRONG way and immediately everyone jumping on you and wanting to burn you at the stake************************************************

 

I just COULD NOT beleive that SO MANY of the people here do not beleive in anything.

 

I am NOT a religious freak.... I don't even go to church people.......

I am just in shock cause I had no idea.

 

THE O N L Y thing I can say about NO KNOWING if there is a God.... of course we have no proof.... that is why there is such a little thing called

faith --- it means beleiving in something that you cannot see, nor feel, nor touch.... nor PROVE.

 

I do not want anyone to think I am attacking or whatever one might think.... so I will walk out *gracefully*

 

------------- do not throw vegetables at me please---------- :naughty:

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...........WOW, as in .................

 

***** it is HARD to explain ANYTHING without it being taken the WRONG way and immediately everyone jumping on you and wanting to burn you at the stake************************************************

 

I just COULD NOT beleive that SO MANY of the people here do not beleive in anything.

 

I am NOT a religious freak.... I don't even go to church people.......

I am just in shock cause I had no idea.

 

THE O N L Y thing I can say about NO KNOWING if there is a God.... of course we have no proof.... that is why there is such a little thing called

faith --- it means beleiving in something that you cannot see, nor feel, nor touch.... nor PROVE.

 

I do not want anyone to think I am attacking or whatever one might think.... so I will walk out *gracefully*

 

------------- do not throw vegetables at me please---------- :naughty:

 

*throws tomato*

 

I'm just kidding :naughty:

 

 

That's why people shouldn't discuss religious beliefs and political beliefs on a public forum....people are too opinionated that it always ends up bad.

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*throws tomato*

 

I'm just kidding :naughty:

 

 

That's why people shouldn't discuss religious beliefs and political beliefs on a public forum....people are too opinionated that it always ends up bad.

 

I REALLY do agree with that! Seems that there are alot of MFCers *well maybe not ALOT* some MFCers who like to push the envelope. :mf_rosetinted:

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I REALLY do agree with that! Seems that there are alot of MFCers *well maybe not ALOT* some MFCers who like to push the envelope. :mf_rosetinted:

 

Not really just MFCers, but people in general. I choose to stay out of those arguments :naughty:

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