There be no religion in Ireland if we had to pay for it
Here's the situation in Germany. Taken from
[broken link removed]
Church Tax
A rather unique part of the German tax system is the ‘Kirchensteuer’ (Church Tax). The origins of the ‘Kirchensteuer’ date back to the early part of the 19th century when the churches were granted the right to levy taxes by Prussia partly as a way of compensating them for property which had been sequestered to help pay for the Napoleonic wars.
The churches’ right to levy the tax now forms part of the German constitution.
When filling in your tax form or on your first visit to the ‘Steuerberater/in’ you will be asked to nominate a religion. If you nominate a religion, you will have to pay ‘Kirchensteuer’. This means the tax authorities levy a 9 percent tax as a payroll deduction on the income of every Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish German who declares their religion on the tax forms.
If you have no religion, you say no. But you should be aware that the tax office can at some point follow you up and ask you to prove that you have no religion. This is relatively easy for Germans. They normally follow a formal process to step out of their church and have documents to prove it.
I'd cancel my membership if I had to pay 9% of my salary.