Church contribution

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In Austria , members of the Catholic , Protestant and Old Catholic Churches pay a church fee . Until 1998 members of the IKG paid a culture tax . The legal basis is the Church Contribution Act of 1939, which provides for the collection in one's own area of ​​responsibility via church contribution offices and the implementing ordinance for the Church Contribution Act, as well as, on their legal basis, the canonical contribution regulations.

The determination of the calculation bases as well as the individual calculation of the church contributions is carried out by the churches and religious communities themselves. The taxable income according to the Income Tax Act 1988 (EStG) is used as the contribution basis for the Roman Catholic and Protestant churches , taking into account the church's own tax deductions or reductions; the Old Catholic Church starts with the annual net income (see in detail below in the associated sections) . However, since the churches and religious communities do not receive any government information about their members' income or other data necessary for the calculation, they are dependent on their voluntary disclosures, otherwise the income can only be estimated for the calculation. According to estimates, the churches therefore lose around 40 percent of the possible income.

From an income tax point of view, according to § 18 para. 1 no. 5 EStG, “mandatory contributions to churches and religious communities that are legally recognized in Austria” are deductible as special expenses; since August 2011 up to a maximum contribution of 400 euros.

history

Until 1780, the church had financed its expenses mainly from its own assets and from the proceeds of its property.

During the reign of Emperor Joseph II (1780–1790) many monasteries, monasteries and churches were closed. The so-called religion fund, which was under state administration, was created from these proceeds . With this the clergy were paid and the parishes financed. In addition, government grants were granted.

After the “Anschluss” of Austria , Hitler's regime stopped paying the church in 1939, confiscated the religious fund and created the Church Contribution Act. This applied to the Catholic Church, the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg and Helvetian Confessions and the Old Catholic Church in the East Mark.

After the end of the war, the Church Contribution Act was incorporated into the Austrian legal system .

Supreme Court Jurisprudence

Individual applications 1981

In 1981, the Constitutional Court (VfGH) rejected individual applications to repeal Sections 1 to 3 of the Church Contribution  Act , GBlÖ 543/1939, and Sections 1 to 3 of the 1st Implementing Ordinance to the Church Contribution Act, GBlÖ 718/1939 in the version GBlÖ 1408/1939, back. The reason (extract):

“The content of the contested provisions alone shows that this does not directly interfere with the legal sphere of a person. The VfGH represents in long-standing case law (VfSlg. 3039/1956, 9199/1981) the legal opinion that the church contribution obligations are obligations under civil law. A current encroachment on the legal sphere of a person within the meaning of Art. 139 Paragraph 1 and Art. 140 Paragraph 1 B-VG only takes place through a court decision, which is made on the basis of a church membership fee regulation issued according to the contested provisions. The ordinance and legal review application therefore had to be rejected due to the lack of authorization to apply without having to check whether there were other reasons for rejecting the application. "

VfGH complaint 2013

Eytan Reif, co-founder and spokesman of the "Initiative Religion is a Private Matter ", filed a complaint with the Constitutional Court on August 16, 2013, because his contributions to the initiative do not reduce income tax, in order to ensure that church contributions are tax deductible as a privilege of religious faith communities (churches) to fight. The Constitutional Court dismissed the complaint and stated that the tax deductibility of church contributions falls within the discretion of the legislature.

Contribution calculations of the Christian churches

Roman Catholic Church

Use of the church contribution for the renovation of the parish church in Reisenberg

The church contribution is collected through church contribution offices. The basic formula for income is 1.1 percent of taxable income, minus a deduction of 56 euros (as of 2019) and various discounts, such as for single earners, children, senior citizens, extraordinary burdens and more. There is a separate calculation for farmers and foresters. The total income of the Austrian dioceses from the church contribution amounted to 461 million euros in the 2017 reporting year. The income from the church contribution makes up on average of all Austrian dioceses almost 76 percent of the income.

In August 2016 - addressed to the Austrian bishops - a parish council member from Feldkirch-Gisingen, Vorarlberg criticized the practice of collecting outstanding church contributions, sometimes through seizures. At that time, this affected around 300 out of 150,000 debtors in Vorarlberg.

Protestant church

The Evangelical Church (AB and HB) must due to the Federal Law of 6 July 1961 on external legal position of the Evangelical Church ( BGBl. No. 182/1961 , the so-called Protestants Act 1961 , to levy church contributions and community assessments. The whole church tax is directly from the "Every Protestant Christian with residence or main residence in Austria regardless of nationality from the year in which he / she turns 20 is exempt." Schoolchildren, apprentices, students as well as attendance and attendance are exempt Civil servant, as well as that of two Protestant spouses who works exclusively in the household.

The amount of the church contribution is 1% of the taxable income of the previous year (minus any allowances for single earners and children). The general tax credit of 44 euros is deducted from this.

In addition, there is a community levy, which amounts to up to 25% of the church contribution. It is set by each parish according to the respective financial needs.

Old Catholic Church

According to the Church Contribution Act and its implementing ordinance, the Old Catholic Church in Austria is generally entitled to collect a church contribution. The issuing of the church contribution regulation is incumbent on the Synodal Council of the Church (§ 1 Z 3) within the meaning of the implementing regulation for the Church Contribution Act (GBlÖ No. 739/1939). The synodal council is the collegial governing body of the church and consists of three clergy and six lay people. Synodal council and bishop form the church leadership. The church contribution is collected centrally via the church contribution office, which is located at the Synodal Council in Vienna. The contribution is set on the basis of income. As a rule, it will be 1.1% of the annual net income, for lower incomes there are rates of 0.5% or 0.8% of the income. The actual church contribution is set and any changes are made in direct discussions with the church contribution office or the locally responsible pastor (or pastor).

Other religious communities

Free Churches

There is no compulsory church fee for the free churches in Austria . Since the majority of the members take an active part in community life, there is a great willingness to provide financial support so that rooms can be rented, buildings bought or built. In addition, individual employees (e.g. pastors ) are employed.

Buddhist religious society

The Austrian Buddhist Religious Society (ÖBR) has not raised any religious contribution since it was founded in 1983. The ÖBR expenses are financed by donations .

Legal sources

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Eric Frey : Stolen assets, ailing finances. The hopes of the religious community for a renovation through restitution have so far been unfulfilled. In: Der Standard , May 9, 2003 ( full text online ( memento of September 28, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) formerly in: restitution.or.at, May 8, 2003).
  2. ^ Daniel Herndler: Church contribution & church tax in Austria. In: Finanz.at, as of November 1, 2019, accessed on December 28, 2019.
  3. ↑ Church contribution 2020 in Austria - Church tax, resignation. Here: high failures due to missing data. In: finanzer.at - Wirtschafts- und Finanznachrichten, undated , accessed on December 28, 2019.
  4. ↑ § 18 EStG 1988 in all its versions for the comparison of paragraph 1 item 5. Therein: Maximum contribution of 400 euros according to § 18 in the version August 2, 2011, amended by Federal Law Gazette I No. 76/2011 (= Tax Amendment Act 2011) . Before that: 200 euros according to § 18 in the version April 1, 2009, amended by Federal Law Gazette I No. 26/2009 (= Tax Reform Act 2009); as well as: 100 euros according to § 18 in the version June 5, 2004, amended by Federal Law Gazette I No. 57/2004 (= Tax Reform Act 2005).
  5. ^ Decision of the VfGH: decisions V3 / 81; G12 / 81 of November 27, 1981, here in II.1.b. ( Full text in the federal legal information system .
  6. ^ VfGH again engaged with church contribution. In: religion. ORF.at / APA , August 21, 2013, accessed on December 28, 2019.
  7. ↑ VfGH confirms the deductibility of the church contribution. In: religion. ORF.at / APA / KAP , October 14, 2014, accessed on December 28, 2019.
  8. ↑ How much church contribution do I pay - and why? In: Kirchenbeitrag.at. Media report of the Austrian Bishops' Conference /katholisch.at and financial chambers of the dioceses of Austria (ed.), Undated, accessed on December 28, 2019.
  9. ↑ Church finances - budget & management overview. In: Church Financing in Austria. Media report of the Austrian Bishops' Conference / kathisch.at, undated, accessed on December 28, 2019.
  10. ^ Sharp criticism of garnishment because of church contribution. In: vorarlberg. ORF.at , August 3, 2016, accessed December 28, 2019.
  11. ↑ Federal law of July 6, 1961 on external legal relationships of the Evangelical Church in the current version in the RIS .
  12. ↑ Karl W. Schwarz: From Protestant Patent (1861) to Protestant Law (1961): The Evangelical Church in Austria and the State. (PDF; undated) In: Website of the association “Evangelisches Museum Österreich”, accessed on December 28, 2019. (Note: The term Protestant Law or Protestant Law 1961 is not in the original version of the Federal Law of 6 July 1961 on external legal relationships of the Evangelical Church, Federal Law Gazette No. 182/1961 , anchored in the later amendments to this law.)
  13. ↑ Answers to the church contribution. In: Kompetenz.at. Evangelical Church AB in Austria (ed.), Undated, accessed on December 28, 2019.
  14. ↑ Answers to the calculation. In: Kompetenz.at. Evangelical Church AB in Austria (ed.), Undated, accessed on December 28, 2019.
  15. ↑ Church contribution. In: Lexicon of the Old Catholic Church of Austria, undated, accessed on December 28, 2019.
  16. ↑ a b become an ÖBR member. In: Buddhism in Austria. Website of the Austrian Buddhist Religious Society in Vienna, undated, accessed on December 28, 2019.