Mannheim - Germany's former world No 1 tennis player, Steffi Graf, will save millions of deutschmarks in church tax after leaving the Catholic Church, radio reports said yesterday.
Under agreements between the German government and churches, employed and self employed people pay a tax which is given to the different denominations.
Ms Graf was reportedly supposed to pay between DM300,000 and DM500,000 a year since 1990, but only one third was actually paid in tax. The remainder - more than DM1m - has to be paid after her father, Mr Peter Graf, was convicted of tax evasion.
According to a Suddeutscher Rundfunk report, Ms Graf decided to quit after failing to reach a negotiated payment of arrears. - (AFP)