摘要：The article provides an overview of the institute of tax exemption of churches and religious congregations in the light of the judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union in Church Congregation against Municipality of Getafe (2017). The case involved a long tradition of tax relief which is still universally applied today and which is strongly defined by the relationship between the state and the church both regarding the financing and the role of religion in a society. New social and economic circumstances facing the church, such as the growth of church property and lack of public income have placed the issue of tax exemption of church property into the centre of interest in many countries. The European Union does not call into the question the status of the church in member states based on national law. However, while discussions on the role of religion and religious congregations in modern European society continue, it seems that the Union is drawing a clear line of admissibility regarding tax exemption. Regardless of national reasons and specific features, a new legal framework on tax exemption on property of religious congregations is being established, subsuming the question of exemption under the EU rules on state subsidies and inquiring into the nature of activities of religious congregations. In this way, tax reliefs are being abolished or considerably revised in spite of their ancient foundations and special relations.
关键词：religious congregations; church; tax exemption; rules on state subsidies; property taxation
