Down with the flat tax, long live the flat tax. Whether it's a sincere rethink or a convenient swerve, the position of the Movimento 5 Stelle on the flagship provision of the Northern League program has reversed. At the end ofFriday meeting with Matteo Salvini, the grillino leader Luigi Di Maio spoke of "wide convergence on the government program", in relation to, among other things, "the flat tax".
Too bad that, less than three months ago, a post with an opposite title appeared on the Blog delle Stelle: "The five hoaxes of the Flop Tax”. Moreover, the article referred to the version of the flat tax proposed by Forza Italia, with a single rate of 23%. The variant formulated by the League is even more extreme, since it plans to lower the threshold down to 15%.
Therefore, today the grillini are ready to compromise on the most violent flat tax, while last February 7 they argued that applying the one in a forced sauce "would be pure madness". For several reasons.
First, the 5 Star Movement pointed out – rightly – that it would be an unconstitutional provision, since it does not respect the principle of progressive taxation established by article 53 of the Charter.
Second, the flat tax "breaks the state's accounts", because "it costs at least 60 billion a year" but does not guarantee certain revenue from the recovery of tax evasion and "the coverages mentioned by Berlusconi are nothing short of far-fetched".
Again: the grillini underlined that "in some versions, Forza Italia's proposal" provides for offsetting the expenditure for the flat tax "with the revision of survivor's pensions or the contribution to health care", i.e. to the detriment of welfare.
Finally, the post on the Blog delle Stelle pointed out that Berlusconi - in his three experiences as head of government - has never put into practice anything similar to this form of taxation, despite having promised it since 1994, at the time of the alleged and self-styled "liberal revolution".
The article ended with a joke: "Obviously, the former Cav has many flaws, but he's not stupid." Neither is Di Maio, so one wonders why he changed his mind in such a short time on such an important topic.
