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In reply to the discussion: Catholic Church To Lose Historic Property Tax Exemption In Italy [View all]Yo_Mama
(8,303 posts)The law here is pretty well understood and pretty broadly applied.
Local taxing authorities can give exemptions on commercial property, but they normally do so to attract businesses in. In other words, they give an exemption for five or ten years (or a lower tax rate) in order to get a convention center built, or a business complex built, or move in a factory.
That's the use of local tax exemptions with which I am familiar. It's possible that some such arrangement could be made with a non-profit, but they rarely have enough money to make it worthwhile for the locality.
Technically, if a local tax authority were to decide to exempt commercial use property from taxation if it were owned by a church on a wholesale basis, it would be unconstitutional, and a suit would remove the exemption.