Alexander Radwan

Merkel affiliated politician suggests new ‘church tax’ for Muslims in Germany

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• published: 21 Apr 2016
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Just a week after Germany’s Christian Social Union party called for stricter regulation of Islam in the country, Alexander Radwan, a CSU member of the Bundestag, has recommended the introduction of a so-called “church tax” for Muslims living in Germany. "If you stop foreign funding of mosques, of course you have to provide sufficient funding here in Germany," Radwan, a member of the European Parliament for Bavaria, told German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung, adding that this could be done similar to the “existing church tax for Catholics and Protestants." Church members in Germany are required to pay tax to fund church activities, so when Germans register as Catholic, Protestant or Jewish on their tax forms, the government receives income tax from them which amounts to 8 or 9 percent of their total income tax, according to the German Catholic Bishops’ Conference. Radwan didn't provide further details for his proposal, but according to the interview, Muslim religious communities may have to get registered as public corporations (Koerperschaft des oeffentlichen Rechts) like The Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) and many other religious institutions. The status will allow them to raise taxes. Last week Andreas Scheuer, General Secretary of the Christian Social Union (CSU), the Bavarian sister party of Angela Merkel’s governing CDU party, laid out a proposal to “cultivate” a European kind of Islam in Germany by barring foreign investment from Muslim countries. He told Die Welt daily that "German must become the language of the mosques,” among other things. Scheuer highlighted the need for a so-called “Islam law” that would help Muslims better integrate into European society.