For the purposes of Article 43 (1)(b), the competent authorities may include within the concept of regional governments and local authorities non-commercial administrative bodies responsible to regional governments or local authorities or authorities which, in the view of the competent authorities, exercise the same responsibilities as regional and local authorities.
The competent authorities may also include within the concept of regional governments and local authorities, churches and religious communities constituted in the form of a legal person under public law, in so far as they raise taxes in accordance with legislation conferring on them the right to do so. However, in this case the option set out in Article 44 shall not apply.