How much is the church tax?

The amount of church tax depends on your place of residence. In Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, it is 8% of the assessed income tax; in other federal states, it is 9%. The calculation is based on the assessed income tax.

Withholding tax:

Church tax is also taken into account at the same rate within the framework of the withholding tax. If you have income from business operations or income taxed under the partial income procedure, the taxable income (zvE) for the calculation of church tax is determined separately.

Church tax and child allowances:

• Example without child allowance: You live in Berlin, have a gross monthly salary of 3.000 Euro in tax class IV. Your monthly church tax is 29.63 Euro.
• Example with two child allowances: With the same income and tax class, your monthly church tax is reduced to 11.21 Euro.

If child allowances are entered in your ELStAM (Electronic Wage Tax Deduction Features), the monthly wage tax is not reduced, only the church tax and the solidarity surcharge. This applies regardless of whether you receive child benefit during the year.

Child allowances in income tax assessment:

Child allowances only reduce the taxable income if the tax advantage is higher than the child benefit. However, for the calculation of church tax and solidarity surcharge, the allowances are taken into account fictitiously.

Advantage:

Even if children are only considered for part of the year (e.g. when finishing education or at birth), the full child allowance and BEA allowance are credited for the calculation of church tax and solidarity surcharge.