There is already a church tax in Germany, which would now include the followers of Islam. This would reduce foreign influence, including Turkey, which sponsors Islamic municipalities in the EU.
German law includes 9% the name of any member of the religious community having legal personality. It is paid by the Evangelical, Catholic, Old Catholic and Jewish communities. It is not collected from churches and communities without legal personality, mainly Orthodox and Muslim.
Coalition parties want to change this situation in order to emancipate Islamic religion in Germany from the influence of foreign states. Inventors say that this method of financing would allow mosques to "stand financially on their own feet".
„Who pays the imam decides on prayer – reads the German newspaper "Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung". “That is why it is so fatal that many mosques in Germany depend on money from Turkey or the Gulf States. It strengthens and does not break up parallel societies. For years there has been a great need for reform. However, despite countless Islamic conferences, almost nothing has happened. Also, a tax proposal for a mosque similar to a church tax is nothing new. But this time it is hoped that almost all parties are in favour of putting an end to the influence of foreign forces on local Muslim religious communities.”
Experts point out that the main objective of the tax introduced, namely to reduce the impact of foreign countries, will not only be achieved by introducing a tax. It would have to be accompanied by a ban on financing from abroad.
Author:
Katarzyna Kołbuś - Editor leading RB Magazine. From Over 10 years related to industry press, including the Financial Gazette and portal ipip.com.pl, which is devoted to finance, taxation, law, politics and the economy. She graduated from Polish philology at the UMCS and the language editing of the text at the University of Warsaw.