(supersedes previous)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.
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