The Tax Appeals Commission of the Canton of Bern finally ensures justice with a ruling: it puts an end to the absurd and untenable practice of the Bern Tax Administration that the secular and secular-humanist oriented Freethinkers' Association of Switzerland (FAS) of all organizations have to pay taxes to all three churches. This is despite the fact that the churches do not have to pay taxes to each other because it would violate the freedom of faith and conscience of their members. The Tax Appeals Commission has now put a stop to this and judged this unequal treatment to be unconstitutional. It decrees that freethinkers are to be exempt from church tax liability for legal entities. "The Tax Appeals Commission has declared an absurd discrimination to be unlawful." rejoices FAS President Andreas Kyriacou.

Persistence proves its worth
For Kyriacou, the ruling is clearly "a landmark decision in the right direction - and a satisfaction for our efforts." The Freethinkers’ Association had filed an appeal against the church tax portion of the property gains tax after the sale of a property in 2021. The tax administration rejected it, whereupon the Freethinkers took the case to the Tax Appeals Commission. The commission now followed the argumentation of the FAS all the way.

Judgement clearly in favor of the Freethinkers
"What, the Freethinkers have to pay church taxes?" - the reaction of almost everyone when they learn that the Freethinkers' Association, of all people, must pay taxes to the churches. At the end of 2022, the Tax Appeals Commission decided that this was not the case. It clarifies that the freethinkers are unreservedly right: "This must apply all the more to the members of the applicant. For the applicant does not merely represent a variant of the Christian faith that deviates to a greater or lesser extent from the national churches, as is the case for the free churches; rather, she rejects any dogmatic religion and advocates a secular worldview."

No privileges for religious communities
What this ruling still doesn't change: In addition to church taxes, the churches receive around 60 to 80 million francs from general tax revenues in the canton of Bern - and these are only the disclosed subsidies. What few people know is that the churches pay no taxes at all, such as capital or property taxes, when they sell their real estate. These privileges of the churches, as well as the absurdity of the state collecting money for religious communities, remains a thorn in the side of the FAS. "Preferential treatment for religious institutions must be abolished! We continue to advocate the separation of church and state," confirms Lisa Arnold, head of the FAS office.

We stay tuned
We are sending out the media release on this huge success to all Swiss media and selected partner organizations in other countries this morning. In addition, we will of course post it on our social media channels. Do you want to help this information reach as many people as possible who could support us in our goal to separate church and state? Then like, share and spread the word. If you need any information or material, please feel free to contact us. Do you have a great idea on how we can be even more successful? We have open ears and are grateful for any active support and implementation. We hope that soon other organizations will no longer have to pay church tax and that religious institutions will no longer receive privileges.