Church tax
In some countries that do, people who are not members of a religious community are exempt from the tax; in others it is always levied, with the payer often entitled to choose who receives it, typically the state or an activity of social interest.
In the past it was usual for people to be expected to pay a part of their production (e.g., agricultural produce) or income to a church, a practice known as tithing.
It is no longer enforced by civil rulers, but some religious organisations still expect or require their members to pay a tithe.
An additional 9% is paid by the government through block grants ("bloktilskud"), which means that even people who are not members of the Church of Denmark finance its activities through taxes.
Studies have found that people leave the church in Finland mainly due to the general secularization of society, not to become exempt from the tax.
Church tax collected may be used to cover any church-related expenses such as funding institutions and foundations and paying ministers.
The church tax is historically rooted in the pre-Christian Germanic custom whereby the chief of the tribe was directly responsible for the maintenance of priests and religious groups.
Despite the resulting medieval conflict between emperor and pope, the concept of church maintenance by the ruler remained the accepted custom in most Western European countries.
[10] The paid church tax is deductable in year of paying and reduces the taxable income.
This should ensure, that also shareholder of private companies pay church taxes on dividends.
This has led to many people declaring they have abandoned the religion of their birth; it is not known what proportion do this only to avoid the tax.
[clarification needed] Taxpayers in Iceland who belong to an officially registered religious group or secular humanist organization[14] must pay a congregation tax (Icelandic: sóknargjald, plural sóknargjöld)[15] which is deducted from income taxes and goes to their organization.
[18] The Church of Iceland receives governmental support beyond the congregation taxes paid by its members.
Taxpayers in Italy pay a mandatory eight per thousand tax, and have the option to choose to whom they will assign the funds.
development, the Swedish government has agreed to continue collecting from individual taxpayers the annual payment that has always gone to the church, if they opt in through a checkbox on the tax return.
The government will allocate the money collected to Catholic, Muslim, Jewish and other faiths as well as the Lutherans, with each taxpayer directing where his or her taxes should go.
[clarification needed] In some cantons private companies are unable to avoid payment of the church tax.
[35] Other colonies would more generally support religion by requiring taxes that would partially fund religious institutions - taxpayers could direct payments to the Protestant denomination of their choosing.
Only the colonies of Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island did not require a tax to support religion.
During and after the American Revolution, religious minorities, such as the Methodists and the Baptists, argued that taxes to support religion violated freedoms won from the British.
