Religion
Related: About this forumThe Italian Catholic Church will be stripped of an historic tax exemption from 2013
I never understood why the Christian business should be exempt. There should to be records of donations and no exemptions for donations unless it's going to 100% charity and no exemptions for business (evangelizing and money appeals) or political activities.
The Church currently pays tax on several properties it owns that are commercial enterprises but is exempt if at least some of the activities on the property are "non-commercial" -- for example a chapel in a hotel.
"The regulatory framework will be definite by January 1, 2013 - the start of the fiscal year - and will fully respect the (European) Community law," Prime Minister Mario Monti's government said in a statement late Tuesday.
In February, the government had amended Italy's property tax law to end the Church's privileges amid rising calls for the Vatican to share in debt crisis sacrifices and in the face of intense scrutiny from the European Commission.
On Monday the Council of State, Italy's highest ranking court for administrative litigation, rejected the decree. But the government insisted everyone would pay property tax, Church included.
http://www.timeslive.co.za/world/2012/10/10/italian-catholic-church-to-pay-property-tax-from-2013
lalalu
(1,663 posts)That's just my view.
DetlefK
(16,423 posts)Back then, not giving the Catholic Church a discount would have been risky, either by losing its support or by drawing its ire.
The Catholic Church keeps track.
And since today's european nations are legal successors of medieval nations, those deals still count.
2ndAmForComputers
(3,527 posts)Now let's wait for the Distressed Privileged to tell us why this is a bad thing. I'll humbly sit down on this piece of tapestry while I wait. I'll keep some... hm... Tylenol. Yeah, some Tylenol handy for the headaches the mental gyrations may induce.