{"id":4016,"date":"2026-03-24T13:36:50","date_gmt":"2026-03-24T13:36:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.brasser-accounting.de\/?post_type=glossar&#038;p=4016"},"modified":"2026-09-01T21:36:00","modified_gmt":"2026-09-01T21:36:00","slug":"church-tax","status":"publish","type":"glossar","link":"https:\/\/www.brasser-accounting.de\/en\/glossar\/kirchensteuer\/","title":{"rendered":"Church tax"},"content":{"rendered":"<nav class=\"toc\" aria-label=\"Table of Contents\">\n      <h2>Table of Contents<\/h2>\n      <ol>\n        <li><a href=\"#einleitung\">Brief definition<\/a><\/li>\n        <li><a href=\"#grundlagen\">Basics<\/a><\/li>\n        <li><a href=\"#elstam\">ELStAM<\/a><\/li>\n        <li><a href=\"#berechnung\">Calculation<\/a><\/li>\n        <li><a href=\"#abgrenzung\">Demarcation<\/a><\/li>\n        <li><a href=\"#fehler\">Typical errors<\/a><\/li>\n        <li><a href=\"#checkliste\">Checklist<\/a><\/li>\n        <li><a href=\"#faq\">FAQ<\/a><\/li>\n        <li><a href=\"#fazit\">Conclusion<\/a><\/li>\n      <\/ol>\n\n      <div class=\"card\">\n        <strong>Further terms<\/strong>\n        <ul>\n          <li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.brasser-accounting.de\/en\/glossary\/income-tax\/\">Income tax<\/a><\/li>\n          <li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.brasser-accounting.de\/en\/glossary\/tax-gross\/\">Tax gross<\/a><\/li>\n          <li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.brasser-accounting.de\/en\/glossary\/solidarity-surcharge\/\">Solidarity Surcharge<\/a><\/li>\n          <li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.brasser-accounting.de\/en\/glossary\/tax-bracket\/\">Tax bracket<\/a><\/li>\n          <li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.brasser-accounting.de\/en\/glossary\/eltham\/\">ELStAM<\/a><\/li>\n        <\/ul>\n      <\/div>\n    <\/nav>\n\n<section id=\"einleitung\">\n        <div class=\"snippet info\">\n          <h3>Brief definition<\/h3>\n          <p>The <strong>Church tax<\/strong> is one <strong>Surcharge<\/strong>, collected by tax-levying religious communities. In payroll accounting, it is - if church tax liability exists - in addition to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.brasser-accounting.de\/en\/glossary\/income-tax\/\">Income tax<\/a> withheld and remitted.<\/p>\n          <p class=\"note\">The basis for assessment is the respective wage tax. Depending on the federal state, the church tax generally amounts to <strong>8&nbsp;% oder 9&nbsp;%<\/strong> Income tax.<\/p>\n        <\/div>\n\n        <p>For employees, church tax affects the monthly <a href=\"https:\/\/www.brasser-accounting.de\/en\/glossary\/net-pay\/\">Net wage<\/a> for businesses, it is a component of income tax withholding, which must be correctly taken into account during the payroll run.<\/p>\n      <\/section>\n\n      <section id=\"grundlagen\">\n        <h2>Basics<\/h2>\n        <p>Church tax is linked to the calculated income tax deduction. Whether church tax is payable depends on liability to church tax, which is usually recorded via electronic income tax deduction characteristics.<\/p>\n\n        <div class=\"snippet tip\">\n          <p class=\"title\">Motto<\/p>\n          <p>Church tax is not a separate \u201egross\u201c value, but a surcharge that is linked to income tax.<\/p>\n        <\/div>\n      <\/section>\n\n      <section id=\"elstam\">\n        <h2>Church tax feature in the ELStAM<\/h2>\n        <p>The church tax liability is handled in the payroll deduction via the electronic payroll tax deduction characteristics (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.brasser-accounting.de\/en\/glossary\/eltham\/\">ELStAM<\/a>) shown. In practice, particularly the <strong>Church tax feature<\/strong> Relevant.<\/p>\n        <ul>\n          <li>If church tax is payable, church tax will be taken into account automatically in the payroll run.<\/li>\n          <li>If there is no church tax obligation, no church tax will be withheld.<\/li>\n        <\/ul>\n\n        <div class=\"snippet info\">\n          <h3>Practice Note<\/h3>\n          <p>Changes (e.g. joining or leaving the church) affect income tax deductions. Therefore, ELStAM should be updated and validated before the payroll run.<\/p>\n        <\/div>\n      <\/section>\n\n      <section id=\"berechnung\">\n        <h2>Payroll calculation<\/h2>\n        <p>Die Kirchensteuer wird als Prozentsatz der Lohnsteuer berechnet. Der anzuwendende Satz richtet sich nach dem Bundesland. In der Regel gelten 8&nbsp;% oder 9&nbsp;%.<\/p>\n\n        <div class=\"snippet info\">\n          <h3>Reference to billing<\/h3>\n          <ul>\n            <li>Basis for calculation: Income tax (determined separately depending on the type of employment income).<\/li>\n            <li>Deduction: together with income tax, to the tax authorities.<\/li>\n            <li>ID card: as a separate deduction in the statement.<\/li>\n          <\/ul>\n        <\/div>\n      <\/section>\n\n      <section id=\"abgrenzung\">\n        <h2>Demarcation<\/h2>\n\n        <h3>Church tax and solidarity surcharge<\/h3>\n        <p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.brasser-accounting.de\/en\/glossary\/solidarity-surcharge\/\">Solidarity Surcharge<\/a> is a federal supplementary levy. Church tax is levied by religious communities. In payroll, both \u2013 if applicable \u2013 are tied to income tax.<\/p>\n\n        <h3>Church tax and gross tax<\/h3>\n        <p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.brasser-accounting.de\/en\/glossary\/tax-gross\/\">Tax gross<\/a> is the basis for calculating income tax. Church tax is a surcharge derived from the calculated income tax.<\/p>\n      <\/section>\n\n      <section id=\"fehler\">\n        <h2>Typical errors<\/h2>\n        <div class=\"snippet warn\">\n          <p class=\"title\">Common causes from practice<\/p>\n          <ul>\n            <li><strong>ELStAM not up to date<\/strong> Church tax feature was not adopted in time.<\/li>\n            <li><strong>Incorrect church tax rate<\/strong> State logic or parameters are not correctly stored in the system.<\/li>\n            <li><strong>Mixing of deduction types<\/strong> Church tax and solidarity surcharge are not clearly distinguished.<\/li>\n            <li><strong>Missing documentation<\/strong> Deviations from the previous month are not traceable later.<\/li>\n          <\/ul>\n        <\/div>\n      <\/section>\n\n      <section id=\"checkliste\">\n        <h2>Checklist<\/h2>\n        <div class=\"snippet tip\">\n          <p class=\"title\">Quick check: Church tax clean in the monthly cycle<\/p>\n          <ul>\n            <li>ELStAM are updated before the payroll run.<\/li>\n            <li>Church tax characteristic is correctly taken into account (liability to church tax yes\/no).<\/li>\n            <li>Kirchensteuersatz (8&nbsp;%\/9&nbsp;%) ist systemseitig korrekt hinterlegt.<\/li>\n            <li>Deviations from the previous month are substantiated and documented.<\/li>\n          <\/ul>\n        <\/div>\n      <\/section>\n\n      <section id=\"faq\">\n        <h2>FAQ<\/h2>\n\n        <div class=\"snippet info\">\n        <h3>What is the church tax?<\/h3>\n        <p>Church tax is a supplementary tax levied by religious communities that are entitled to levy taxes. In payroll tax deductions, it is withheld in addition to income tax, provided that church tax liability exists.<\/p>\n      <\/div>\n\n        <div class=\"snippet info\">\n        <h3>How is the church tax calculated?<\/h3>\n        <p>Bemessungsgrundlage ist die jeweilige Lohnsteuer. Je nach Bundesland betr\u00e4gt die Kirchensteuer in der Regel 8&nbsp;% oder 9&nbsp;% der Lohnsteuer.<\/p>\n      <\/div>\n\n        <div class=\"snippet info\">\n        <h3>How does the employer know if church tax needs to be withheld?<\/h3>\n        <p>This arises from the ELStAM, in particular from the church tax feature.<\/p>\n      <\/div>\n\n        <div class=\"snippet info\">\n        <h3>Is church tax the same as the solidarity surcharge?<\/h3>\n        <p>No. The solidarity surcharge is a supplementary levy based on federal law. Church tax is levied by religious communities.<\/p>\n      <\/div>\n      <\/section>\n\n      <section id=\"fazit\">\n        <h2>Conclusion<\/h2>\n        <p>Church tax is a surcharge on income tax, provided there is an obligation to pay church tax. Up-to-date ELStAM (electronic data record for employees), correctly deposited parameters and comprehensible plausibilisation of the results are crucial for correct settlements.<\/p>\n      <\/section>","protected":false},"template":"","glossar-kategorien":[18],"class_list":["post-4016","glossar","type-glossar","status-publish","hentry","glossar-kategorien-lohnbuchhaltung"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brasser-accounting.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/glossar\/4016","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brasser-accounting.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/glossar"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brasser-accounting.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/glossar"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brasser-accounting.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4016"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"glossar-kategorien","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brasser-accounting.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/glossar-kategorien?post=4016"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}