Washington Post,
Financially Troubled Parts of Europe Consider Taxing Church Properties:

Cash-strapped officials in Europe are looking for a way to ease their
financial burden by upending centuries of tradition and seeking to tap
one of the last untouched sources of wealth: the Catholic Church.

Thousands of public officials who have seen the financial
crisis hit their budgets are chipping away at the various tax breaks and
privileges the church has enjoyed for centuries. …

Once an untouchable institution in some parts of Europe, the Catholic
Church has come under fire for its government subsidies at a time when
the continent’s economies are faltering and the population is subject to
painful cuts in jobs, benefits and pensions.

Political groups
have seized on the crisis as an opportunity to open up a larger debate
about whether it is time to unwind some of the deals struck generations
ago between church and state in predominantly Catholic countries in
Europe. …

The issue of church tax payments has been simmering for several years.
In 2010, European Union regulators launched an investigation into the
Catholic Church and the taxes it pays in various countries. The E.U.’s
competition czar, Joaquin Almunia, has said the tax breaks could be
considered state aid and illegally distort competition in the market.
But the issue wasn’t at the forefront of the debate until earlier this
year when Monti, the Italian prime minister, called for assessing taxes
on church properties.

(Hat Tip: Bob Kamman.)