| REGISTRATION STATEMENT UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933         | [    ] |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------|
|                                                            |                       |
| Pre-Effective Amendment No.                                     | [    ] |
|                                                            |                       |
| Post-Effective Amendment No.  40                      | [ X ]                      |
|                                                            |                       |
| REGISTRATION STATEMENT UNDER THE INVESTMENT COMPANY ACT OF 1940 | [    ] |
|                                                            |                       |
| Amendment No. 41                                                | [ X ]                      |

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| [ X ]            | immediately upon filing pursuant to paragraph (b)                                                      |
|----------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| [    ] | on (date) pursuant to paragraph (b)                                                                    |
| [    ] | 60 days after filing pursuant to paragraph (a)(1)                                                      |
| [    ] | on (date) pursuant to paragraph (a)(1)                                                                 |
| [    ] | 75 days after filing pursuant to paragraph (a)(2)                                                      |
| [    ] | on (date) pursuant to paragraph (a)(2) of Rule 485.                                                    |
| [    ] | This post-effective amendment designates a new effective date for a previous post-effective amendment. |
|                       |                                                                                                   |

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|   | CHURCHILL TAX-FREE TRUST |
|--------|--------------------------|
|   | (Registrant)             |
|   |                     |
|   |                     |

|   | By:           /s/ Diana P. Herrmann |
|--------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|   | Diana P. Herrmann, President                                                               |

| SIGNATURE                   |   | TITLE                                 |   |
|-----------------------------|--------|---------------------------------------|--------|
|                        |   |                                  |   |
|                        |   |                                  |   |
| /s/ Diana P. Herrmann       |   |                                  |   |
| Diana P. Herrmann           |   | Trustee and President                 |   |
|                        |   |                                  |   |
| /s/ Thomas A. Christopher * |   |                                  |   |
| Thomas A. Christopher       |   | Chair of the Board of Trustees        |   |
|                        |   |                                  |   |
| /s/ David A. Duffy *        |   |                                  |   |
| David A. Duffy              |   | Trustee                               |   |
|                        |   |                                  |   |
| /s/ Anne J. Mills *         |   |                                  |   |
| Anne J. Mills               |   | Trustee                               |   |
|                        |   |                                  |   |
| /s/ John J. Partridge *     |   |                                  |   |
| John J. Partridge           |   | Trustee                               |   |
|                        |   |                                  |   |
| /s/ James R. Ramsey *       |   |                                  |   |
| James R. Ramsey             |   | Trustee                               |   |
|                        |   |                                  |   |
| /s/ Laureen L. White *      |   |                                  |   |
| Laureen L. White            |   | Trustee                               |   |
|                        |   |                                  |   |
| /s/ Joseph P. DiMaggio      |   |                                  |
| Joseph P. DiMaggio          |   | Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer |
|                        |   |                                  |   |

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| EX-101.INS |    | XBRL Instance Document                        |
|------------|--------------|-----------------------------------------------|
|       |         |
| EX-101.SCH |    | XBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema Document       |
|       |         |
| EX-101.CAL |    | XBRL Taxonomy Extension Calculation Linkbase  |
|       |         |
| EX-101.DEF |    | XBRL Taxonomy Extension Definition Linkbase   |
|       |         |
| EX-101.LAB |    | XBRL Taxonomy Extension Labels Linkbase       |
|       |         |
| EX-101.PRE |    | XBRL Taxonomy Extension Presentation Linkbase |