Czech lawmakers approve taxation of church restitution plan
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}FILE - In this Wednesday, April 10, 2019 file photo, the sun sets behind the St. Vitus cathedral in Prague, Czech Republic. On Tuesday, April 23, 2019, Czech Parliament's lower house has overridden a veto of the upper house to approve a proposal drafted by Communist lawmakers to tax the compensation that the country's churches receive for property seized by the former Communist regime. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek/File)
Czech lawmakers on Tuesday approved a proposal drafted by Communist lawmakers to tax the compensation that the country's churches receive from the state for property seized by the former Communist regime.
The 114-57 vote in favor of the proposal in the lower house is a further sign of the rising influence of the Communists.
The Communist Party isn't part of the center-left ruling coalition led by Prime Minister Andrej Babis, but it has provided support in a confidence vote.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The lower house first approved the proposal in January, but the Senate vetoed it a month later.
Churches in the country, including the Catholic Church and the Jewish community, have had some property held by the state returned, and they are also to receive around $3 billion over 30 years.
They oppose the tax and plan to challenge it at the Constitutional Court once it's signed into law by President Milos Zeman.