Catholic Church no exception in cuts

The new plan which aims at taxing non-religious property owned by the Roman Catholic Church follows the introduction of a law last December requiring all land owners, with the exception of the church, to pay taxes.

“…When a building is used in part for religious purposes, or in part for some welfare activity and commercial purposes, what should we do? Of course we must have an adequate solution…,” the Union of Christian and Center Democrats’ Rocco Buttiglione says.

Recent unofficial surveys show that the Vatican’s properties are equivalent to 20 percent of Italy’s real estate market.

The Vatican currently pays taxes for about 10 percent of its estates.

The church is reviewing the new tax plan.

According to the official data agency Istat, the Italian economy shrank by 0.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011 followed by a contraction of 0.2 percent in the third.

Europe is battling a debt crisis that so far has prompted two international credit rating agencies to cut the ratings of at least five of its members including Italy, Spain and the second largest EU economy, France, which lost its triple-A credit rating.

SZH/JR

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