The church tax dates back to the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss of 1803. It was affirmed in the 1933 Concordat between Nazi Germany and the Catholic Church. The current legal basis is Article 140 of the Basic Law in conjunction with Article 137 of the Weimar Constitution. Originally, these laws only allowed churches themselves to tax their members, but in Nazi Germany, the collection of church taxes was transferred to the German government. This informs both the federal government and the employer of each taxpayer`s religious affiliation. This system is still in place today. Mandatory disclosure of religious affiliation to government agencies or employers was a violation of the original European data protection directives, but is now allowed after the federal government received an exemption. [44] Tithing has never been required by law in the United States. However, members of some churches, including Latter-day Saints and Seventh-day Adventists, must pay tithing, and some Christians in other churches do so voluntarily.
The right to receive tithes was granted to English churches by King Ethelwulf in 855. Saladin`s tithe was a royal tax, but it was fixed in 1188 on the basis of ecclesiastical boundaries. The legal validity of the tithe system was confirmed by the Statute of Westminster of 1285. The dissolution of the monasteries led to the transfer of many tithe rights to lay landowners and the crown – and tithes were extinguished in 1577 by an Act of the 37th year of Henry VIII`s reign. Adam Smith criticized the system in The Wealth of Nations (1776), arguing that a fixed annuity would encourage farmers to work much more efficiently.[36] Tithing (Old English Teogothian, “tithe”), a custom that dates back to Old Testament times and has been adopted by the Christian church, with the laity contributing 10th of their income for religious purposes, often under ecclesiastical or legal obligation. Money (or its equivalent in the form of crops, livestock, etc.) was used to support the clergy, maintain churches, and help the poor. Tithes were also a major source of subsidies for the construction of many magnificent cathedrals in Europe. We cannot determine exactly when tithing was first introduced in this country. Perhaps they were at the same time as the implantation of Christianity among the Saxons, by the monk Augustine, towards the end of the fifth century. But the first mention of them I encountered in a written English law is in a constitutional decree issued at a synod in 786 AD in which the payment of tithes is usually heavily prescribed. This canon or decree, which at first did not bind the laity, was validly confirmed by two kingdoms of the Heptarchy in their parliamentary assemblies of the states, each composed of the kings of Mercia and Northumberland, bishops, dukes, senators and the people. This was a few years later than the time when Charlemagne introduced payment in France and made it this famous division into four parts; one to preserve the construction of the church, the second to support the poor, the third for the bishop and the fourth for the parish clergy.
[48]: 25 Many Christian confessions believe that Jesus taught that tithing should be done in conjunction with a deep concern for “justice, mercy and fidelity” (cf. Mt 23:23). [2] [3] [4] Tithing was taught at the first councils of the Christian church, including the Council of Tours in 567 and the Third Council of Macon in 585. Tithing remains an important doctrine in many Christian denominations, such as Congregational churches, Methodist churches, and the Seventh-day Adventist Church. [2] Some Christian churches, such as those of the Methodist tradition, teach the concept of warehouse tithing, which emphasizes that tithing must be prioritized and given to the local church before offerings can be made to apostolates or charities. [5] [6] Although the federal government never levied an ecclesiastical tax or compulsory tithe on its citizens, the states collected a tithe until the early 19th century. The United States and its state subdivisions also exempt most churches from paying income tax (pursuant to Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and similar state laws that also allow donors to claim donations as income tax deductions). Churches may also be exempt from other state and local taxes, such as sales and property taxes, in whole or in part. Members of the clergy such as ministers and members of religious orders (who have taken a vow of poverty) may be exempt from federal self-employment tax on income from ministerial services. Income from non-departmental services is taxable, and churches are required to withhold federal and state tax on this non-exempt income.
They are also required to withhold the employee`s share of Social Security and Medicare taxes under the FCIA and pay the employer`s share of the non-exempt income. [40] Members of regional churches pay an ecclesiastical tax of between 1% and 2% of income, depending on the congregation. In addition, 2.55% of corporate tax is distributed to regional churches. Ecclesiastical taxes are integrated into the common national tax system. [43] The Synod of the Lutheran-Missouri Church teaches that “Christian stewards encourage Christian stewards to live and give joyfully, fruitfully, proportionately (including, but not limited to, tithing) in all areas of life.” [2] A modus decimandi, generally designated only by the simple name of a mode, is when it customarily permits a certain way of paying tithing, which differs from the general law of tithing in kind, constituting the tenth effective part of the annual increase. Sometimes it is a financial compensation, as two cents a morning for the tithes of the earth: sometimes it is a compensation for labor and labor, for the priest should have only the twelfth hay rooster, and not the tenth, in exchange for the owner who does it for him: sometimes instead of a large quantity of raw or imperfect tithes, The priest, when he grows up, should have a smaller quantity than a few hens instead of tithe eggs; and so on. In short, any means by which the general law of tithing is changed and a new method of taking is introduced is called modus decimandi or special type of tithing. [48]: 28–29 Britannica English: Translation of Tithes for Arabic Speakers Originally, the Italian government of Benito Mussolini paid a monthly salary to Catholic clergy under the 1929 Lateran Covenants with the Holy See. This salary was called Congrua. The law of eight per thousand was created in 1984 by an agreement between the Italian Republic and the Holy See.
Since the English Reformation in the 16th century. In the nineteenth century, most Irish chose to remain Roman Catholics and had to pay a tithe equivalent to about 10% of an area`s agricultural produce to maintain and finance the established state church, the Anglican Church of Ireland, to which only a small minority of the population converted. Irish Presbyterians and other minorities such as Quakers and Jews found themselves in the same situation. And it was the same Melchizedek to whom Abraham paid tithing; Yes, even our father Abraham paid tithing for one-tenth of everything he owned. Before the 12th century, in the sense defined in sense 1, the collection of tithes was rejected in the period 1831-36, known as the Tithe War. After that, tithes were reduced and added to rents with the passage of the Tithe Transformation Act in 1836. With the dissolution of the Church of Ireland by the Irish Church Act 1869, tithes were abolished. The Levites, also known as the tribe of Levi, were descendants of Levi. They were the assistants of the priests of Aaron (who were the children of Aaron and thus a subgroup of the tribe of Levi) and did not own or inherit any territorial inheritance (Numbers 18:21-28).