"From the Ministry of Finance's website we learned of the forthcoming publication of the revision decree of the Imu exemption areas for agricultural land envisaged by Legislative Decree 66/14 which will oblige millions of owners of land located in over 4 thousand Italian municipalities to pay the Municipal tax by 16 December 2014”. This was underlined by Agrinsieme, the coordination that represents the companies and cooperatives of CIA, Confagricoltura and the Alliance of Italian cooperatives, contesting the tax increase for farmers.
“There are just 14 days left until the deadline, there is still no official decree and we have to learn from the site that in any case the payment must be made without fail by the 16th – continues Agrinsieme -. If it were confirmed with the publication of the provision in the Official Gazette, it would be - stigmatizes the Coordination of CIA, Confagricoltura and the Alliance of Agri-Food Cooperatives - an act of unheard-of gravity by the government and the competent ministers, of Economy and Finance, of the Internal Affairs and Agricultural Policies, in violation of the most elementary rights to the most elementary rights recognized to each taxpayer by our legal system, of certainty of the tax, sustainability of the tax, temporality of the payment of taxes".
Most of the higher Imu tax of 350 million - according to Agrinsieme - would fall on farmers, with amounts in many cases of a few thousand euros, which should be calculated and paid within two weeks, "moreover in a highly critical condition for the sector and in particular for those who have been hit by bad weather and risk, in a condition of extreme hardship, having to pay the IMU even on agricultural land affected by natural disasters”.
The coordination had asked the Ministry of Economy and Finance for the postponement, recalling that the "Taxpayer's Statute" prohibits taxpayers from providing for obligations before 60 days from the entry into force of provisions implementing new laws.
“Agrinsieme's solicitations were ignored by the State Administration – continues the note –, as were the numerous parliamentary interpellations which certified an unreasonable situation. The National Association of Italian Municipalities itself has criticized this surreal situation that has arisen, stating that it is completely unlikely that the proceeds can be paid with the necessary completeness when the IMU balance expires on 16 December. The more than 4 municipalities involved, which have 28 million inhabitants, will thus find themselves with a further cut in resources (for 700 entities greater than 5% of total revenue), not covered by a corresponding higher IMU revenue".
Agrinsieme therefore asks the Treasury to suspend the publication of the decree and to extend the terms of payment of the IMU to 2015.
