Italy to raise €600m by taxing Church businesses

The Italian government announced measures yesterday to end tax exemptions on commercial property owned by the Catholic Church, in a move expected to add up to €600 million to state coffers each year.

Prime minister Mario Monti, who is a practicing Catholic, tacked the measure — which affects other non-profit organisations — onto a larger deregulation package.

The European Commission opened a probe against Italy in 2010 to determine if tax breaks for some Church properties amounted to illegal state aid and distorted competition.