Tax bonuses for electronic payments, zero commissions for merchants on digital mini-payments, penalties for those who do not have a POS and the obligation of immaterial transactions in relations with the PA. These are some chapters of the plan that the Treasury is preparing to reduce the use of cash. The goal, of course, is to bring down tax evasion by targeting undeclared work and undeclared payments.
The project is in the first stage of gestation and estimates on costs and on the amount of recoverable income have not yet been formulated. However, the ideas are there.
Let's see in more detail how the measures we are thinking about could work.
TAX BONUSES ON TRACEABLE PAYMENTS
The model on this front is Portugal, where since 2013 taxpayers who request an electronic invoice have been entitled to a tax deduction equal to 15% of the amount paid to be used in their tax return. This expedient has allowed the Portuguese Treasury to see VAT revenue grow by 13% in just one year. A similar measure could also be adopted in Italy, guaranteeing deductions or deductions to those who make payments electronically (debit card, credit card, prepaid card, smartphone app) or in any case in a traceable way (wire transfers).
DISCOUNTS AND SANCTIONS FOR SHOPS
For exhibitors, on the other hand, we are talking about two novelties: one positive and one negative. The first is the elimination of the commissions to be paid on reduced payments, for example from 5 to 25 euros (a protocol with the ABI and with the main payment circuits and debit/credit card issuers would be needed). The second is the creation of a system of penalties for those who refuse to charge customers with the Pos. This behavior has been illegal for several years, but is still widespread precisely because it goes unpunished. In fact, the amount of the fine does not exist: the Council of State rejected it as it lacks a specific rule.
ELECTRONIC PAYMENTS TO THE PA
The fourth and final idea concerns the Public Administration, which would be obliged to accept payments only in electronic form. The rule is already in force for the registry offices of many cities and could be extended to the entire perimeter of the Public Administration, also including companies supplying services.
