One of the heaviest blows ever hovers over Italian consumption, but the bogeyman serves to reassure Brussels. In the new Stability law, the government has included a safeguard clause on indirect taxes and the main risk concerns VAT: the standard rate could go up by 22 to 24% in 2016, then to 25% the following year and to 25,5% in 2018, while the reduced one of 10% would increase sooner to 12% and then to 13%. All to rake in 12,4 billion euros in 2016, 17,8 billion in 2017 and a good 21,4 billion in 2018. The increase will start in 2016 if our country fails to save as much as expected, achieving the so-called medium term".
It is a sort of insurance offered by the Executive to the European Commission to ensure that our country will keep the commitments undertaken even in the event that the current economic planning proves to be a failure. The 15 billion cuts delegated by the government to local authorities to cover the 2015 maneuver therefore assume crucial importance: it is possible that to satisfy the requests Regions and Municipalities will have to raise taxes, but if they do not do so, Italian consumers will be exposed to an automatic increase in taxes which could prove to be even more depressing.
