La Italian relocation reward above all Eastern Europe: 80% of companies fleeing our borders have chosen countries such as the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Poland, Romania and Hungary. The problem involves the main European states, as evidenced by the data on the decline in the presence of blue collar workers from 1990 to 2016. In France, for example, they went from 20,25% of the active population to 13,6%. In Spain they are 13,8%, while in Italy they still represent 20%. Meanwhile, in the Czech Republic they rose to 30,6%, in Slovenia to 27,4%, in Slovakia to 27,3%, in Hungary to 24,0%, in Poland to 23,8%.
In short, it is clear that the two attempts made so far to try to curb the relocation of our businesses - the provisions contained in the stability law of 2014 and Dignity decree of 2018 – have failed to curb a phenomenon that is penalizing us. In particular, the relocations of multinationals that take advantage of public money and then abandon or want to abandon – wholly or in part – our country do not stop; from Whirlpool to Gkn, from Gianetti to Timken or Elica, just to mention current situations.
Now it's time to two bills under examination by the Industry Commission Senate, both with the same goal: to fight relocations and protect our employment levels. But with different tools. One proposal aims not so much at punishing those who relocate, but above all reward companies that remain in the area or bring their production activities back to Italy. As? By providing for the recognition of a tax credit equal to 30% on taxable business income up to a maximum amount of one million euros for each tax period in favor of two categories of companies:
- those that carry out all the processing phases of the production process on the national territory;
- those who have relocated within the national territory their production or commercial activities located in a European or non-European State or already relocated in whole or in part to a European or non-European State in the previous five years.
Furthermore, these companies are granted, with reference to permanent employment relationships established, the exemption for a maximum period of forty-eight months from the payment of 50% of social security contributions up to a maximum limit of 3 thousand euros on an annual basis.
The other bill, on the other hand, intends to make the provisions of the Dignity decree more incisive sanction companies that relocate having taken advantage of concessions by our country. In particular, it establishes that the benefits do not apply to projects of companies which, by investing abroad, do not provide for the maintenance of research, development and commercial management activities in the national territory, as well as of production activities, ensuring the safeguarding of the same levels employment and social protection of workers. And in the event that the companies had obtained benefits and subsequently relocated, the sums corresponding to the benefits obtained will be recovered through an increase in the taxable income of the tax period in which the transfer for consideration or the relocation of the assets occurs subsidized, for an amount equal to the increases in the depreciation rates or to the total tax credits deducted in the previous tax periods.
The two proposals, whose examination has begun in the drafting stage, will be composed in a unified text.
