People in church tax countries no less the to identify as Christian, attend religious services % who Voluntary church contribution
Among the 15 Western European countries we surveyed, six have mandatory taxes for members of the largest churches to help finance their activities – Austria, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Sweden and Switzerland. While most registered Christians (and in some countries, members of other religious groups) in these countries are required to pay the tax, they have the option of not paying by deregistering from their church.
The same basic pattern holds true for levels of religious observance. A minority of adults in church tax countries say they attend worship services monthly or more, with the highest shares in Austria (30%), Switzerland (29%) and Germany (24%). That’s roughly in line with the share of people who say this in countries without a church tax, with Ireland (37%), France (22%) and the UK (20%) topping that list.
People in church tax countries no less  | the to identify as Christian, attend  | religious services  | % who  | IDENTIFY AS CHRISTIAN  | ATTEND SERVICES MONTHLY OR MORE  | Mandatory church tax  | 80%  | Austria  | 30%  | Finland  | 10  | Switz.  | 29  | Germany  | 24  | Denmark  | 12  | Sweden  | 11  | Voluntary church contribution  | 83%  | Portugal  | 36%  | 80  | Italy  | 43  | 66  | Spain  | 23  | No church tax  | 80%  | Ireland  | 37%  | 73  | Sk LUK  | 20  | 64  | France  | 22  | 55  | Belgium  | 51  | Norway  | 16  | 41  | Neth  | 18  | Source: Survey conducted April-August 2017 in 15 countries  | See Methodology for details.  | "In Western European Countries With Church Taxes, Support firou the  | Tradition Remains Strong"  | PEW RESEARCH CENTER 