Top court nixes tax breaks for religious hotels

(supersedes previous)(ANSA) - Rome, December 13 - Hotels and pensions run by religious bodies and non-profits must offer "significantly" below-market rates if they want to enjoy tax breaks, Italy's supreme Court of Cassation ruled Tuesday.
    Not doing so undermines free competition by giving those facilities an unfair advantage tantamount to undeserved State aid to the detriment of the private sector, the court found.
    The ruling upheld an Internal Revenue Agency appeal against IRES business tax breaks for a lay Catholic women's boarding house in Turin, called the Istituto delle Rosine.
    The Cassation Court judges found that the boarding house is "de facto" being operated as a hotel, that it is open to the public, with facilities being rented out at market prices, and that it might have been managed by any private entrepreneur.