La land registry reform is at the center of yet another clash within the majority. On the one hand there is the Government's position, explained yesterday during the discussion in the Finance Committee in the Chamber by Maria Cecilia Guerra, undersecretary of the MEF, according to which article 6 of the text "is decisive and if it is not approved, it is considered concluding government experience“. On the opposite side is the League which, on the contrary, is pushing for the removal of the provision from the fiscal delegation which represents a fundamental step in achieving the objectives of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, together with the Competition Bill and the reform of the Procurement Code.
Land registry reform: what article 6 provides
The now famous article 6 concerns the changes to be applied to the real estate registration system through new tools made available to the Municipalities and the Revenue Agency. Changes considered necessary by the Government to better understand the real value of Italian real estate assets. To date, in fact, many houses do not have a cadastral income while for still others the value of the cadastral income is almost totally unreliable.
In short, new data is needed, which will have to be collected through the new system. It will take 4 years to put them together. The information, in fact, must be available starting January 1, 2026.
Article 6 itself, however, clarifies a fundamental point: the information collected will have no tax impact. Translated: they will not be used to recalculate real estate taxes. An aspect also clarified several times by the Prime Minister, Mario Draghi"The land registry reform is not a patrimonial one – reiterated the Premier- This government does not touch the homes of Italians, nor does it increase taxes. The cadastre is an operation of transparency: why hide behind opacity and calculate taxes on the basis of numbers that make no sense? Isn't it better to shed some light? Then the decision whether to charge or not is a different decision, but we have decided that absolutely nothing is touched, that is people will continue to pay what they pay today"on real estate.".
The disputes in the majority on the land registry reform
Despite the reassurances contained in the text and the Premier's clarifications, friction within the majority on the land registry reform is stronger than ever. In fact, the Government is not willing to take steps backwards, while the League has even presented some suppressive amendments which, if approved, would wipe out a provision that the Executive considers fundamental.
"It's unbelievable that in Italy there is an ultimatum on the land registry, on fiscal delegation, on the government, that they say we leave the government, we block everything - said the secretary of the Democratic Party, Enrico Letta - It is surreal that in Italy there are parties politicians who think we are in a normal phase of dialectic. We are in a situation where priorities need to be in the right place and now the priority is the unity of the country around the Draghi government and the unity of European countries. This is the moment when politics must be united”.
The distances between the parties prompted yesterday, Wednesday 2 March, the presidency office to suspend the discussion waiting to find a common ground.
Negotiations will resume this afternoon, but the vote promises to be more uncertain than ever. Hopes are all pinned on a proposal by Forza Italia, not yet officially presented, which provides for a modification of the much contested article 6.
The compromise on the cadastre proposed by Forza Italia
According to rumors the compromise proposed by Forza Italia it would provide for a further parliamentary passage, the involvement of the Anci and the trade associations. There would also be a stronger emphasis on the fact that the alignment between cadastral value and commercial value will only represent a snapshot, but will not be subject to reform. The latter will be the prerogative of another government, if and when it wants.
"What Forza Italia is doing in the Chamber - explained the Minister for Regional Affairs, Mariastella Gelmini on "The Breakfast Club" on Radio Capital - is making a proposal for mediation which will be presented today (Thursday 3 March, ed ) is that I hope it's resolved, also because with these winds of war we need everything except tensions and conflicts”.
