An Italian archbishop has warned Church-owned schools will close if the government forces them to pay property taxes worth around €100,000.
Responding to a call from Ferrara’s mayor Tiziano Tagliani to pay retroactive property taxes on schools that charge a partial tuition fee, on the basis that this could be considered a “commercial activity”, Ferrara-Comacchio’s Archbishop Luigi Negri has written to Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, asking him to reverse the edict.
Tax bill
Dr Negri said that the archdiocese doesn’t have the money to pay the tax bill, and that insisting on payment will come “at the expense of the children” because the schools will be forced to close.
Maintaining that the schools do not make money and represent a public service on the part of the Italian Church, Dr Negri has asked Mr Renzi to exempt Catholic schools from the property tax with “norms that do not leave margins for unfavorable interpretations”.
