With the approval of the Council of Ministers for the draft law, the procedure officially begins tax reform. Twenty-two articles that aim to revolutionize the Italian tax system, introducing important changes on Ires, VAT and Irpef, cutting the deductions and deleting the criminal penalties for tax evasion linked to objective causes, independent of the will of the tax payer. The provision also contains a "save-accounts" clause, set up by the State General Accounting Office.
The reform "is an integral part of the economic and social recovery that we intend to launch also thanks to European resources" of Pnrr, can be read in the text which also includes among the objectives "the stimulus to the birth rate by reducing the tax burden and increasing the efficiency of taxes”.
Irpef: from 3 rates to the flat tax
The provision establishes "an organic and comprehensive revision" of personal income tax with the aim of arriving at "a single tax system". It starts with the reduction of rates, which will drop from 4 to 3. An incremental flat tax is also envisaged for employees, which will initially translate into a reduced rate applied to additional income compared to that of the previous year and then arrive at flat tax for everyone, over a five-year horizon.
Ires at 15% for companies
On January 2024, 15, the global minimum tax will come into force, the global tax for multinationals with a rate of XNUMX%. The tax reform of the Meloni Government in turn plans to reduce the'Ires, the corporate income tax, by cutting therate from 24% to 15%. However, there are two conditions to be respected: companies will have to use the profits to carry out innovative investments or for new hires. Furthermore, the profits must not be distributed or destined "for purposes unrelated to the exercise of the business activity".
Reorganization of VAT rates
Changes also on VAT with the aim of introducing a “basically homogeneous system for similar goods or services which could therefore be subject to the same rate. A revision of the four existing rates is also envisaged, with the introduction of a zero rate.
The “save-accounts” clause
The clause put in place by the State General Accounting Office establishes that they must not derive from the implementation of the delegation increases in tax burden. It is also envisaged that the various draft decrees will have to be accompanied by technical reports containing the calculations relating to the effects that the measures could have on the public finances. In case of higher charges, compensations will have to be foreseen or recourse to the Fund fed by the fight against tax evasion. If neither of the two paths will be feasible, then the government will first have to adopt a legislative decree to indicate the finding of financial coverage.
Cutting tax deductions
To get a handle on the Italian tax system, resources are needed which, according to the Government, can be found by carrying out a cut between 5 and 10 billion of tax deductions. The deductions will reduce as your income increases.
Anti-evasion sanctions
The enabling bill provides an easing of tax penalties, in particular those related to the crime of misrepresentation, for companies adhering to the “coperational compliance”, and who have engaged in non-malicious behavior and promptly notify the tax authorities. It is one of the "reward effects" envisaged by the tax reform delegation for taxpayers who adhere to thespontaneous fulfillment.
In the review of tax penal sanctions, specific emphasis will be given to the hypothesis of “arrival inability to meet payment of the tax, not dependent on facts attributable to the subject himself", is indicated in the text that establishes the principles and criteria for the revision of the tax sanctioning system, both administrative and criminal. Furthermore, for criminal sanctions, it is indicated that specific importance should also be attributed "to the definitions reached in administrative and judicial proceedings for the purpose of assessing the criminal relevance of the fact".
Times
After the go-ahead from the Council of Ministers, the draft enabling law will have to be examined by the joint conference. Then it will be up to the Head of State to authorize the presentation of the bill to the Chambers. At this point the parliamentary process will begin and should be completed by May. When the delegation is published in the Official Gazette, the second phase of the reform will proceed, that relating to implementation.
"The Department of Economics" is born
The Government has also approved a dpcm which provides for the creation within the Mef of a "Department of the Economy with competences" in the field of financial interventions in the economy, state company shareholdings and enhancement of public assets. In detail, it is a Regulation amending the decree of the Prime Minister of 26 June 2019.
