The revenue stamps are on fire. They are the new hot topic, the last refrain of this last semester filled with economic maneuvers (4 0 5, depending on how you count). the last, that of the Monti government, was uncertain until the last minute about how to use this tool to hit current accounts. In the end, however, the innovations provided for by article 19 of the new package are only two. Here they are:
1) €34,20 stamp duty on annual account statements – already envisaged for normal bank and postal current accounts – will also be extended to ai savings accounts;
2) who has in stock less than 5 thousand euros will be exempt from paying the stamp duty. An almost due shrewdness towards all those Italians who will be forced to open a bank account by another provision of the maneuver, the one which provides for payment by bank transfer for pensions over one thousand euros (threshold which before the amendment was even set at 500 euros).
In short, one can breathe a sigh of relief: no new taxes. At least for individuals. The speech is in fact very different if we talk about companies or more generally of legal entities. For them, starting next year, the tax on current accounts will rise from 73,8 to 100 euros per year.
More substantial innovations are instead those concerning the stamp duty on financial investments, the so-called "patrimonial" or "mini asset“. Virtually all financial products will be affected: investment funds, life insurance policies, government bonds, various bonds.
From 2012, the levy will be one per thousand per year, calculated in proportion to the investment and, where possible, on the market value, rather than on the nominal or repayment value. The rate passes to 1,5 per thousand in 2013. Only healthcare funds, pension funds and interest-bearing postal savings bonds with a reimbursement value of less than 5 thousand euros remain excluded.
On this terrain the main innovation is the cancellation of the maximum limit payable to taxpayers, which had previously been set at 1.200 euros. On the other hand, the minimum threshold remains unchanged at 34,2 euros, the same amount as the stamp duty on current accounts. With a levy of one per thousand, this means that only Italians who have invested more than 34 euros will pay more than the minimum. For example, those who have invested three million euros, for example, find themselves paying 3 thousand.
Lastly, the same rate and same calculation method apply to natural persons who hold possession investments abroad. There are only two differences: the one per thousand levy will also be applied to the current year and it will be possible to deduct any assets already paid abroad. For those who have actually gone looking for it…
