And so it begins..... tax bill for Spain's churches

[KichigaiNeko]

http://www.npr.org/2013/01/25/170267884/...s-for-cash

The Catholic Church is Spain's largest and richest landowner, though its nonprofit status means it is exempt from paying most taxes.

But amid the current economic crisis, that may be changing.

One college town just outside Madrid is leading an effort by some Spanish municipalities to serve the church an up-to-date property tax bill.

Alcala de Henares is re-evaluating the status of hundreds of church holdings that have been exempt from paying property tax for hundreds of years.

Charity Or Taxable Business?

Off a cobblestone street in Alcala de Henares, an ancient Roman town about 20 miles from Madrid, there's a 400-year-old convent, El Convento de Clarisas de San Diego.

If you ring the doorbell, one of the nuns calls out from behind a wooden shutter.

"Ave Maria Purissima!" (in English, "Holy Mary the most pure!") she yells, by way of answering the bell.