European Commission To Investigate Italy's Tax Benefits To Church-Owned Commercial Property

Bloomberg News reported yesterday that the European Commission is opening an investigation into tax exemptions that Italy grants to the Catholic Church. In addition to a property tax exemption for non-commercial properties, Italy gives the Church a 50% reduction on the tax imposed on commercial property. European Union regulators say this may amount to an illegal state subsidy if the Church's commercial activities are in competiton with private commercial service providers. In a press release yesterday the European Commission also announced that it would examine Italian laws that protect ecclesiastical institutions (as well as amateur sports clubs) from losing tax exemptions for their property even if they begin to use formerly non-commercial property for commercial purposes.