Supreme Court Takes Up Catholic Charities’ Unemployment Tax Case

The US Supreme Court on Friday said it will review a state court ruling that Catholic Charities Bureau Inc. and four of its subsidiaries must pay into Wisconsin’s unemployment insurance system to cover their employees because they don’t qualify for the state’s religious purposes tax exemption.

A split Wisconsin Supreme Court in March ruled that a charity only qualifies for the exemption if it provides “typical religious activities” that aren’t provided by secular groups. The charities here, which provide job training and daily living services to people with disabilities, don’t meet that definition, it said.

The Wisconsin high court majority ...