Goodbye to the "joint liability on tenders", ie the rule introduced by the Monti government which provides for the joint liability between contractor and subcontractor for the payments of withholding taxes and VAT in relation to the services provided as part of the subcontract relationship.
According to the draft of the simplification provision that the new Executive intends to launch within the week, the provision will be abolished because it is "useless for the purposes of combating tax evasion, costly and discriminatory for businesses". Also canceled the fine from 5 to 200 euros "if the client pays the consideration for the contract without having obtained suitable documentation regarding the correctness of the payment of withholding taxes on employee income and VAT due by the contractor and subcontractor" .
The draft has already received the favorable opinion of the Treasury, the report explains that "the discipline of fiscal joint responsibility, while pursuing the objective of combating tax evasion, with attention to the phenomenon of the use of illegal workers, proves to be ineffective and at the same time it places heavy administrative burdens on honest businesses. The verification of the existence of undeclared employment relationships can never be ascertained by the professional, but only by an effective control on the territory by the Financial Administration".
And the self-certification mechanism "confirms the uselessness of the fulfilment" because "those who systematically evade VAT or employ illegal workers have no qualms about making false declarations". The rule therefore had the practical effect of obliging companies that stipulate tender and subcontract contracts to introduce "expensive internal procedures", especially on VAT and "of no use for the purpose of combating tax evasion or the use of undeclared work", while it caused the suspension of payments by customers to contractors and subcontractors, aggravating the situation in which companies find themselves.
The old rule is also in contrast with the European orientation and "discriminates against Italian contractors and subcontractors as it makes it more favorable for customers to entrust orders to foreign contractors".
