Churches decide to tax their members; they can then further decide to get the government to collect it on their behalf (the government takes a fee).
In Germany, on the basis of tax regulations passed by the communities and within the limits set by state laws, communities may either
require the taxation authorities of the state to collect the fees from the members on the basis of income tax assessment (then, the authorities withhold a collection fee), or
choose to collect the church tax themselves.
In the first case, membership in the community is entered onto a tax document (Lohnsteuerkarte) which employees must surrender to their employers for the purpose of withholding tax on paid income. If membership in a tax-collecting religious community is entered on the document, the employer must withhold church tax prepayments from the income of the employee in addition to other tax prepayments. In connection with the final annual income tax assessment, the state revenue authorities also finally assess the church tax owed. In the case of self-employed persons or of unemployed taxpayers, state revenue authorities collect prepayments on the church tax together with prepayments on the income tax.
If, however, religious communities choose to collect church tax themselves, they may demand that the tax authorities reveal taxation data of their members to calculate the contributions and prepayments owed. In particular, some smaller communities (e.g. the Jewish Community of Berlin) choose to collect taxes themselves to save collection fees the government would charge otherwise.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_tax#GermanyUntil now, the Catholic church hasn't worried if you paid the tax when you take communion, or have a Catholic burial. Now, they've decided that, rather than just telling members they
ought to sign up to pay the tax, they won't get the basic 'benefits' without it.
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