The Robin Tax is unconstitutional. This was declared by the Constitutional Court which effectively canceled the IRES surtax which weighs on companies in the oil and energy sector introduced in 2008. Good news for many companies in the sector, such as, for example, Snam, Terna, A2A and Enel Green Power, which stand out in the Italian list, dragging it into positive territory.
Less good news, however, for the Government, even if the constitutional illegitimacy is only for the future, i.e. starting from the day following the publication of the sentence in the Official Gazette, and not retroactively. In any case, the executive led by Matteo Renzi will have to find another way to cover the loss of income, given that, in the two-year period 2011-2012, the so-called Robin Tax had yielded 2,8 billion euros to the state coffers. Of this figure, documents the Energy Authority called to monitor the Robin tax, 2,4 billion came from companies in the electricity and gas sector and about 400 million from oil companies.
According to Citigroup, which has raised its opinion on Snam and Terna, bringing it to a buy and raising the share target. The consultancy firm estimates that the Council's decision will have a very positive impact on utilities and particularly on those operating in regulated activities. For Snam and Terna, Citigroup estimates a potential 10% increase in earnings per share. Shares immediately recorded a sharp rise on the Stock Exchange: +4,3% Terna and +3,7% Snam, +3,1% Enel GP and +1,8% A2a.
The question of legitimacy of the surtax on energy companies was raised by the provincial tax commission of Reggio Emilia, following the appeal presented by Scat Puntivendita Spa, a network of fuel distributors, against the Reggio Emilia Revenue Agency.
Undermining the legitimacy of the tax, according to the Court's ruling, there would also be inconsistencies in its temporal projection: "Created to deal with an exceptional economic situation - we read - the Robin Tax has instead established a structural imposition, to be applied from from the 2008 tax period, without time limits”.
"Almost seven years of useless controversies and considerable damage to companies in the energy sector and especially the electricity sector: all this could have been avoided and we hope it will serve as a lesson for the future". This is the first comment by the president of Assoelettrica Chicco Testa on the sentence of the Constitutional Court which canceled the so-called Robin Tax, the surcharge on IRES introduced in 2008 and reserved for energy companies.
