**There has been a significant increase in people filling out paperwork at town halls to leave both the Catholic and Evangelical churches between September and October, new research suggested on Thursday. **
LOL! at the reporter who wrote that. No paperwork needs to be filled out at a town hall.
What a riotous laugh!
Churches in Germany are supported by tax money. They're filling out papers to tell the government to stop taking money out of their taxes to support the church.
>>When a person leaves the church, they become exempt from church tax which is levied by the government.<<
.
Lived and worked in Germany in 1977 but I had to declare my religious affiliation for tax purposes.
I told them that I was an atheist (I am not), it was unacceptable. I still had to pay German taxes.
I don't know about German law, but what you state makes sense. Can't help smile on that one too! :-)
To be exempt from the tax they have to do it. Weird ways in Europe. Truly I am shocked a secular government gets away with this in the 21st century. This is truly an alien concept for Americans given our Protestant founders torpedoed the idea of taxing citizens to support the clergy. They had enough of that nonsense under the church of England.