EU tells Italy to recoup unpaid property tax from Church

(ANSA) - ROME, MAR 3 - The European Commission on Friday asked Italy to recoup sums of the former municipal property tax ICI which were not paid between 2006 and 2011, including from non commercial entities like Catholic Church activities and assets.
    The Commission ordered Italy to recover illegal state aid granted to certain non-commercial entities in the form of an exemption from the municipal property tax (ICI) from 2006 to 2011.
    The decision follows a 2018 ruling by the European Court of Justice partially annulling a 2012 Brussels decision in which it declared Italy's tax exemption incompatible with EU state aid rules, but waived recovery.
    Brussels' decision to order Italy to recover illegal aid granted as ICI tax exemptions between 2006 and 2011 concerns activities of an economic nature even when carried out by non-commercial entities such as the Church, an EU spokesman told the EC's daily press conference.
    "Entities that carry out non-economic activities," he explained, "such as strictly religious activities, will not be affected by the order" to recover state aid, "however, when such activities are of an economic nature, the fact that they are carried out by non-commercial entities does not preclude the EU norms on state aid", he said. (ANSA).