Church tax in Finland
Only members of the Lutheran or Orthodox Church pay church tax (kirkollisvero), and each parish sets its own rate.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Calculation method
Finnish church tax (kirkollisvero) in 2026 is 1.00% to 2.00 % of taxable income for members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church and 1.75% to 2.25 % for members of the Orthodox Church. A Lutheran earning €40,000 a year in Tampere pays €445 a year, roughly €37 a month, because the Tampere parishes charge 1.25 %. As an Orthodox member the same person would pay €712 at 2.00 %. If you moved to Finland and never joined either church, you pay nothing: membership is never assumed, and other faiths cannot levy tax through Vero. The base is the same figure used for municipal tax, after work expenses, employee contributions and the basic deduction. Capital income such as dividends or rent is not subject to church tax. On the tax card the difference is visible: at €40,000 in Tampere a member’s withholding rate is 16.5% against 15.0% for a non-member.
Church tax in your municipality
Lutheran church tax per year
€445
| Lutheran rate | 1.25 % |
| Orthodox tax | €712 (2.00 %) |
| Per month (Lutheran) | €37 |
Who pays and how much
Vero collects church tax on behalf of two churches only: the Evangelical Lutheran Church and the Orthodox Church of Finland. If you belong to neither, the line simply does not exist for you. Many newcomers notice it only when a Finnish colleague with the same salary turns out to have a higher withholding rate on their tax card (verokortti). Rates for every parish are published together with municipal rates in Vero’s 2026 decision.
Lutheran parishes charge between 1.00% and 2.00% in 2026. Orthodox parishes cover wider areas and charge 1.75% to 2.25%, so in most towns an Orthodox member pays more than a Lutheran neighbour.
| Municipality | Lutheran rate | Lutheran tax | Orthodox rate | Orthodox tax |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Helsinki | 1.00% | €356 | 1.80% | €641 |
| Tampere | 1.25% | €445 | 2.00% | €712 |
| Oulu | 1.30% | €463 | 2.25% | €802 |
| Kuopio | 1.45% | €517 | 2.00% | €712 |
| Kemiönsaari | 2.00% | €712 | 1.75% | €623 |
Taxable income is €35,622 in every row; only the parish rate changes. The gap is small next to municipal tax, which you can compare in the municipal tax rate table.
The base: municipal taxable income
Church tax is levied on exactly the same base as municipal tax (kunnallisvero). Starting from gross pay, Vero subtracts the automatic €750 work-expense deduction and any commuting costs, then your pension, unemployment and daily allowance contributions, and finally the basic deduction (perusvähennys). The municipal rate, the parish rate and the health care contribution are all applied to what remains.
The earned income tax credit (työtulovähennys) makes church tax small on modest pay. The credit comes off state tax first; when state tax runs out, the rest is shared pro rata between municipal tax, church tax and the health care contribution. A Lutheran in Tampere on €18,000 therefore pays only €0 of church tax and €211 of tax in total, against €211 as a non-member. At €80,000 nothing is left of the credit to share, and church tax reaches €900.
Church tax at different salaries
The parish rate is flat, but the share of gross pay it takes is not. The basic deduction and the earned income credit weigh most on small incomes, so church tax barely registers at the bottom and edges towards the nominal rate at the top. The table assumes a Lutheran employee in Tampere with no children and no other deductions.
| Annual salary | Taxable income | Church tax | Share of pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| €20,000 | €15,542 | €10 | 0.05 % |
| €30,000 | €26,272 | €328 | 1.09 % |
| €40,000 | €35,622 | €445 | 1.11 % |
| €60,000 | €53,808 | €673 | 1.12 % |
| €80,000 | €71,994 | €900 | 1.12 % |
How it shows on your tax card
There is no separate church line on the card. Church tax is built into the withholding rate and the additional rate, worked out under Vero’s 2026 withholding rules. Because the rate is rounded up to the next half point, membership can move your card by more than the parish rate itself: in Tampere on €40,000 the card reads 16.5% for a member and 15.0% for a non-member, while church tax is really 1.11 % of pay. Any excess comes back after the annual assessment. The tax rate calculator lets you switch membership on and off to see the effect.
Moving, joining and leaving
Your parish follows your home municipality, so a move changes both rates at once without any separate notice. Joining or leaving is done with the church, not with Vero; the tax authority receives membership data from the church register. Tax already withheld from your pay is not corrected month by month, so the effect of leaving appears in the final assessment and on your next tax card. If you are weighing it up, put your own salary into the calculator above: the monthly amount is often closer to a dinner out than to a rent payment.
Åland and non-residents
Parishes in Åland levy church tax the same way, and several island municipalities are at 2.00% or close to it. If you live abroad and are taxed as a non-resident, no church tax is added: your Finnish pay bears source tax or a flat municipal rate of 7.60% instead. Åland also replaces the Yle tax with its own media fee, explained on the Yle tax page.