July 17, 2015 Eagle Reporters
German Catholic Church has dragged Italian Footballer; Luca Toni to court over his €1.7m income tax.
Luca Toni had played for German giants Bayern Munich football club between 2007 and 2009 is presently facing Court cases for failing to pay 8-9% income tax levied on all Catholics, Protestants and Jews faithful living in Germany.
Church taxes are payable elsewhere in Europe. In Italy, citizens choose which religious institution they wish to pay a compulsory income tax of 0.8%. The tax can be paid to various institutions, including Christian churches, Buddhist and Hindu unions or the Italian state.
The striker, who is a Catholic, is now suing the city of Munich and his former tax advisors for compensation after claiming that he was misled following his transfer to Munich from Italian side Fiorentina in 2007, German media reported.
The case highlights the religious levies operating in Germany, which generate billions for religious institutions and have led to waves of Christians renouncing their church membership in protest.
Toni, a World Cup winner in 2006, returned to Munich yesterday for a second appeal hearing following a first appearance in the regional High Court in March. However, yesterday’s hearing produced no conclusive result and the case appears to have been kicked further down the road.
Bayern have supported their former player, now with
Serie A side Verona, who earned a monthly salary of €500,000 while with the
German champions. The striker reportedly earned a total of €43m during the
period when he was playing for Bayern.
The tax is a percentage of the income tax paid, so an tax bill of €100 would
result in a church tax of €8, bringing the total to €108.
Toni has said he was not given a description of the
documents he was signing by government authorities when he arrived in Munich in
2007.
“I did not know that you have to pay so much money to be Catholic here,” said
Toni, according to local newspaper Tageszeitung.
He added that he told his advisors to rush through the process of signing the documents so he would be able to start playing. “I had many documents laid in front of me, so I simply signed. We players talk about everything, but not about taxes,” said Toni.
The religious levy was first introduced in the 19th century to compensate for the nationalisation of religious property. According to German law, anyone baptised as a child is automatically a member of the church and is liable to pay the tax unless they make a formal renunciation of their faith.