The Catholic organization doesn’t want to pay the Wisconsin unemployment insurance tax, which is usually mandatory for private employers. (CN) — A Catholic nonprofit umbrella organization and its subordinate businesses went before the Wisconsin Supreme Court on Monday, arguing the groups ought to be exempt from paying the state’s unemployment insurance tax. The tax is typically mandatory for private employers in Wisconsin. But the nonprofits organized under the Catholic Charities Bureau, itself a part of the Catholic Diocese of Superior, argue state law makes an exception for organizations "operated primarily for religious purposes." This phrase is at the heart of the dispute between the bureau and Wisconsin’s Labor and Industry Review Commission, which wants the nonprofits to pay into the tax system. The bureau argued it is exempt from the tax, since it operates under a religious "motive or reason," while the state claims that exemption questions are dependent more narrowly on an organization’s religious "activities." The four Wisconsin nonprofits party to the suit who operate under the Catholic Charities Bureau — Barron County Developmental Services Inc., Diversified Services Inc., Black River Industrie, Inc. and Headwaters Inc. — all provide vocational training for people with developmental disabilities, and also […]
