Monday March 30 2009, 12:13 pm
Posted in Politics & Society | Tags: | Archive

Today I got my “deklarationspapper”. Those are papers which states how much tax I’ve paid during the past year and wether I’ll get a refund or need to pay extra taxes. I get a refund of 200SEK (18€) and that’s nice.

Something not so nice is the church tax of 923SEK (85€) I’ve paid the past year. I found this quite odd conscidering I left the church one year ago. I phoned the tax agency to ask what’s up with that, thinking it was some kind of mistake and that I could get some money back. Well apparantly since I left the church in early April 2008 I still pay for the rest of 2008 aswell! So basicly I was a member of the swedish church for three months last year but I pay tax for twelve months. WTF?!

Ask me again why I’m so glad I left the church.

Plugs: Sakura, Ravencroft, Vashael, Bre, Gabriella, Samantha, Charity, Nikkole, Maria, Ashie, Justin, Jhoice, Deanna, Jamie, Sheeda, Aly, Ivy, Liza, Jonas, Ashley, Stepherz, cynthia, Angela, snez, Sandra, Sarah, Julie, Kaz, Angie, tina, Gabrielle, Gel, Belinda, Karyn, Tin

  1. Sakura Sakura says:

    Wow A tax refund? Cool. You can spend more now. :)

  2. Ravencroft Ravencroft says:

    WTF? Church tax? *runs away*

  3. Vashael Vashael says:

    Lyrics were once the most important part of a song for me but a lot of the songs i listened to had really good beats but some weird lyrics. So i just kinda said fuck it and started listening to jrock. I have no idea what they’re saying so I’m not creeped out. But I still love songs so much more when the lyrics appeal to me,

    Wow I didn’t know people has to pay a church tax o.O
    85€ is a lot of money here…approximately $702

  4. Bre Bre says:

    Yeah that’d be awesome if they had relay events in Sweden. :] :] It’s such a moving experience, so you should definitely go to one if you ever get a chance!

    I have never ever heard of tax from a church. At least not to my knowledge… and the fact that you had to pay the whole year… weird? :[

  5. Gabriella Gabriella says:

    Oh, how wonderful! Got back quite alot money myself. Life’s wonderful at times. \o/
    Pff at the church tho.

  6. Samantha Samantha says:

    Yay for returns, but BOOOOO to the church. That is ridiculous you have to pay for 12 months even though you were only there for 3. Stuuupid asses.

  7. Charity Charity says:

    Cool that you get a refund, but huh what’s up with the church tax!! :?

  8. Nikkole Nikkole says:

    That’s bogus that you had to pay taxes for an extra 9 months even though you weren’t even apart of the church! How the hell does that work!? Its nice that you’re getting a refund though. I love tax time for that exact reason. Gives us a chance to buy the really big stuff and/or pay off the debt we collected during the year.

  9. Maria Maria says:

    Congrats on tax return! Always nice to get income tax :) the only nice thing about taxes sometimes :´(
    The church seems greedier than ususal. bah not even the greedy telephone companies charges more than 3 months. wtf.

  10. Ashie Ashie says:

    Yay for getting a return though, better than nothing at all. Taxes are fun and unexplainable like that though. So yeah, any money back is a good thing, weird about the church though.

  11. Justin Justin says:

    Wow, you guys pay taxes for the church you belong to in Sweden? That seems so odd to me, and that you have to register through the government for what church you attend seems a little scary too :-x
    Well, at least you got some money back, right? My tax returns were measly, but they were something.

  12. Jhoice Jhoice says:

    U’ve got ur tax refund/?Sweeeeeet…
    OMGEE.. u’re so lucky . lastnyt we have to pay more,
    instead of getting some of our tax refund and it really sucks
    congrats to u, yeeihaaaaaaaa

  13. Deanna Deanna says:

    You have to pay to go to church? That’s weird. You would think they would lose a lot of members that way. I am getting money back from my taxes too I think which is exciting. :D

  14. Jamie Jamie says:

    hahah gotta love those tax refunds! And i didnt even know you had to pay to go to church its probably to support the church being up and stuff :) . Hope all is well :)

  15. Sheeda Sheeda says:

    Congratulations on the tax refunds! I got my tax refunds too last month, which was great!

    You have CHURCH TAX? Seriously? I have never heard of that before. But it sucks that you’ve got to pay for the whole year when you had only been there for a few months. Bleh.

    Anyway, hope everything is well with you! :)

  16. Aly Aly says:

    Yikes…85€ for a church tax? I didn’t even know churches charge such things. =/ Good thing I don’t go to church then, I guess! But still, at least you’re getting a bit of a refund, even if it’s not enough to compensate for the church tax. But think of it this way: the money you paid for church tax is long gone anyway, and the tax refund is still to come and able to be spent! Hehe. Anyway, take care! :)

  17. Ivy Ivy says:

    congrats on getting money back! :) i dont need to pay for taxes but i’ve seen my mom do it and it looks like a pain in the butt! :(

  18. Liza Liza says:

    So in Sweden they have taxes for attending church? Wow, I’m learning something new everyday. :)

  19. Jonas Jonas says:

    i get 3.300 SEK.
    Måste jag skriva på engelska här? Must i write in englisch here?
    Jon-as:)

  20. Ashley Ashley says:

    Getting money back is always nice! :love: But it sucks you have to pay so much taxes when you weren’t with the church anymore. >:(

  21. Stepherz Stepherz says:

    That does kind of suck. Paying for 12 months when you only went three. Money back feels so satisfying. I ended up owing money back to the state which was irritating. >.<

  22. cynthia cynthia says:

    What?! You have to pay that much for a church tax?! Oh my gooooosh! If it cost that much I wouldn’t want to be part of it. :´(

  23. Angela Angela says:

    Wow, I’m glad we don’t have such a thing in the UK!
    And I think you should file a legal suit or something :P

  24. snez snez says:

    Bloody thieving churches. They’ll never get a cent from me!

  25. Sandra Sandra says:

    I will get back almost 6000 sek on my taxes. It will be like christmas in june. Yay!

  26. Sarah Sarah says:

    The Church must be really strapped for cash if they’re getting money through compulsory taxes. Something about that strikes me as being very “un-Christian…”

  27. Julie Julie says:

    Yay for an awesome tax refund. That sucks that you have to pay taxes for being a member of the church for the entire year. I still think it’s crazy to have to pay taxes on a CHURCH membership.

  28. Kaz Kaz says:

    Woah I never knew something like that even existed! It’s good that you got a refund though.

  29. Angie Angie says:

    That’s a concept I’ve never been aware of (church tax??) I ended up owing city tax, I really wish somebody would be more clear about all this tax bullshit. :idea:

  30. tina tina says:

    That sucks about the church tax :(
    85 euros is a lot,I think…I only pay some cents a month…but then again I’m just a trainee :)
    But it’s great you got a tax refund.

  31. Gabrielle Gabrielle says:

    Wow. I never knew there would be a church tax! It seems rather stupid that they charge you for the whole year if you left three months in! Churches should only get what you want to give them, not automatically. :/

    Good for the tax refund, though!

  32. Gel Gel says:

    Congrats on the refund! It’s weird though that you have to pay tax to the church.. especially knowing that you left already after 3 months. Ack. That’s really odd. But hopefully this year they won’t charge you with it anymore!

  33. Belinda Belinda says:

    Never heard of a church tax, kind of a shitty thing, and even shitter that you had to pay,

  34. Karyn Karyn says:

    I’d totally bitch about the church taxes. I would go up to the church office and demand a refund. I HATE churches like that. Hence why I no longer attend any church cept my own rituals. GAH.

  35. Tin Tin says:

    hooray for the tax refund! :) About the church tax, that sucks. I didn’t know there’s church tax, not here in my place at least. :s

:) :D :P 8) ;) :blush: :love: :angel: :idea: :? :| :/ :O :( :cry: >:( >:) :heart: more »