MAP European Countries Where Governments Collect Tax From Church Members

Pew Research reports:

In many cases, the churchgoer pays the tax as part of their personal income taxes and the government passes the money along to the church. A few examples:

• In Italy, taxpayers pay an “eight per thousand” tax (0.8%) and express their preference for whether the money should go to one of the religious groups listed (including the Catholic Church, several Protestant groups and the Jewish community) or the state.
• Spanish law “provides taxpayers the option of allocating a percentage of their income tax to the Catholic Church but not to other religious groups,” according to the U.S. State Department.
• The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Denmark – the country’s national church –receives funding through a specific church tax imposed on members and also receives additional support from the Danish government. Denmark reports that nearly 80% of its people were church members as of 2012.
• Two other northern European countries – Sweden and Finland – also collect church taxes from members, both at rates that range from 1% to 2%.
• In Switzerland, church taxes are imposed at the canton level; most of the 26 cantons, or states, collect a church tax in some form. In some cantons, private companies must pay a church tax, according to the State Department, which also reports that some cantons collect taxes “on behalf of the Jewish community,” but that “Islamic and other ‘nontraditional’ religious groups are not eligible.”
• Iceland’s church taxes are collected from members of registered religious groups –including secular humanist organizations.