The Italian government has told the European Commission it will change Italian law to ensure the Church pays property tax on parts of buildings used for commercial purposes.
It will mean the likes of convents that offer bed and breakfast, or church buildings that rent space to shops, pay their full share of taxes.
Prime Minister Mario Monti has asked all Italians to make unprecedented sacrifices as part of an austerity plan to thwart a crisis similiar to that in Greece.
Once law, the change could result in annual revenues of €600 million to €2.2 billion a year.
In December, 130,000 people signed an online petition calling on the government to revoke the church’s tax-exempt status.
”It was time that they paid, too, with all the exemptions they’ve had throughout the years,” Marco Catalano, 35, a shopkeeper in Rome, said. He goes to church twice a month. ”They own the most beautiful buildings in downtown Rome, on Italian soil, and rent them out at market prices. They don’t give them for free or at low prices for charity.”
Many church buildings fall into a grey area, taking advantage of a tax exemption for religious organisation buildings even if they are largely commercial in use.
In a statement, the Italian Bishops Conference said, “We are waiting to find out the exact formulation of the text to be able to offer a more precise opinion.”
Monti, a Catholic, is the latest in a string of Italian Prime Ministers and is following a regular pendulum of Prime Ministerial swings on the issue.
Sources