PP705
Analítico de Periódico
MASTELLONE, Pietro
Tassazione degli immobili ecclesiastici tra principio di laicità e aiuti di stato illegittimi : riflessioni a margine della sentenza Montessori e Ferracci / Pietro Mastellone
Rivista Italiana di Diritto Pubblico Comunitario, a.29 n.3-4 (2019), p.431-476
DIREITO FISCAL / Itália, BENEFÍCIOS FISCAIS, IGREJA, PROPRIEDADE IMOBILIÁRIA, SEPARAÇÃO ESTADO-IGREJA, AUXÍLIOS DO ESTADO
The relationship between religion and taxation has always been very delicate for each country and especially for Italy, where the principle of laïcité laid down in the Constitution should ensure an equilibrium with the great political influence of the Holy See. This article analyses how national tax rules have developed in respect to religious activities and focuses on the recent Montessori and Ferracci case, in which the Court of justice of the European Union has considered that Italian favourable taxation on real properties owned by ecclesiastical entities amounts to illegal State aid measures. This decision is interesting not only because it concludes that Italy cannot argue that it is objectively impossible to recover the illegal State aid granted through a lighter tax burden, but especially because for the first time a private competitor penalized for not having been able to benefit from those tax measures (so-called “non-privileged” applicant) has directly brought the case to the Court relying on Art. 263, paragraph 4, TFEU.