Not only Jobs act, not only tax wedge. The interventions that the Government intends to present after the Council of Ministers on Wednesday 12 March also include the Housing plan by the Minister of Infrastructure, Maurizio Lupi. A package of measures worth over 1,5 billion euros which should contain important innovations especially on three aspects: rents, mortgages and social housing.
RENTALS: CEDOLARE SECCA CUT FROM 15 TO 10%
In terms of rents, the dry coupon is a substitute tax with a fixed rate which is imposed on those who receive the rent. It is paid as an alternative to personal income tax (which would be applied to income) and also replaces the registration and stamp duty for the registration, extension and termination of the contract (only the obligation remains to pay the registration tax in case of termination).
It is optional and, to date, provides for two rates: 21% for rents with free rent (determined by the parties) and 15% for those with agreed rent (that comply with agreements defined locally). Government interventions focus on this second type of contract: the Executive led by Enrico Letta had already reduced the rate from 19 to 15% and now the new Plan aims at a further cut of up to 10%, which would be in effect from 2015 to 2018 at a cost of 29,7 million euros per year.
As far as tenants are concerned, there should be an increase in the Irpef deduction from 450 to 900 euros on rents with an agreed fee for the lowest income groups (up to 15.493,71 euros). The refinancing of the rent fund for needy families (from 100 to 200 million) and that for unwitting arrears (241 million to support those who, for example, are no longer able to pay the rent because they have lost their Work).
EASY MORTGAGES, 2 BILLION ARRIVAL
On the mortgage front, the Plan should allocate two billion euros to facilitate the purchase or renovation of the property by young couples and large families or those with disabilities. The resources - coming from Cassa depositi e prestiti - will be used as a guarantee for the banks willing to disburse the credit.
So far, 20 institutes have joined the initiative. Here is the list: Unicredit, Intesa Sanpaolo, Monte dei Paschi di Siena, Banca Carige, BNL, Banco di Credito Popolare, Cariparma, Banco Popolare, Credito Valtellinese, Ubibanca, Iccrea Banca, Extrabanca, Banca Popolare dell'Emilia Romagna, Banca Agricola Popolare di Ragusa, Banca Popolare di Sondrio, Banca Popolare di Vicenza, Banco di Credito P. Azzoaglio, Binter Banca Interregionale and Cassa di Risparmio di Ravenna.
POPULAR HOUSES
The new package of measures should then allocate 568 million euros to an extraordinary plan for the recovery of Iacp housing (the autonomous institutes for social housing). The resources should come from the Ministry of Infrastructure (500 million) and from unspent funds in the residential building sector (68 million). One of the objectives is to give tenants the opportunity to redeem the houses where they live using the rent already paid as advance installments to be deducted from the purchase price of the property.
