From Tasi to the Rai license fee, from the bonus for new hires to voluntary disclosure. The technicians of the Ministry of the Economy clarify some points of the Stability Law by presenting a document in the Senate Budget Committee. “The system outlined by the 2016 stability bill ensures in 2016 the invariance of financial resources for the Municipalities compared to the current year", explains the text which then underlines that "the provision of reimbursement" for the Municipalities of the Regions with ordinary statute, Sicily and Sardinia "of the lower revenue through the municipal solidarity fund makes it possible to reduce the ” of this fund and paid by the Municipalities of approximately 2 billion in 2016 compared to 2015: this entails “positive effects in terms of greater liquidity for the municipalities concerned".
However, the document specifies that "the relief mechanism is based on an estimate of the revenue at 2015 rates and obviously does not consider the maximum potential rates". In this case there would have been a need for a "significantly higher coverage": considering only the Tasi prima casa in the case of a rate of 6 per thousand for all Municipalities, “the related proceeds can be estimated at over 10 billion euros”.
As for the amount of the average contribution relief of the bonus for new hires, MEF experts explain that “it is equal to about 2.150 euro and not about 1.700 as indicated by the Senate Budget Offices”. The document confirms that “the numerical hypothesis of permanent contracts beneficiaries of the incentive for 2016 (about 1.000.000) can in any case be considered prudential. Just as the safeguard clause of the voluntary disclosure has a "purely prudential purpose", "aimed above all at giving a further guarantee to the competent bodies at European level, taking into account that the revenue in question contributes to ensuring the balance of the 2016 stability law".
The standard of the stability bill which provides for the payment of the Rai license fee in the bill "it is instead aimed at increasing the number of taxpayers compared to those who currently pay the subscription fee". The MEF offices reiterate this in the note prepared to respond to the findings of the Senate Budget Office. “In support of this statement – it is added – just think that ad today the Rai fee is paid by around 16 million tax payers and that Italian families, as shown by Istat data, amount to around 23 million”. Therefore, the offices conclude, it is "more than prudential" to consider that the law can produce more revenue and that the revenue can be "at least equal" to that implemented deriving from the license fee, government concession tax and VAT.
The minister also spoke on stability today Pier Carlo Padoan, who, answering journalists' questions about the green light awaited by the European Commission, replied as follows: "I expect that the reasons for which we ask for flexibility clauses will be accepted because these requests and the general draft of the stability law are absolutely at the within the European rules". Padoan added that Italy “is doing a lot for growth, the debt goes down, the deficit goes down, there is an absolutely legal use of all possible spaces for flexibility: I am convinced that Italy clearly demonstrates the validity of the requests made, then the Commission will decide”.
Asked to indicate what the European Commission's concerns are about the Italian stability law, the economy minister said he had clarified to Dombrovskis (Vice-President for the Euro) e Moscovici (Economic affairs) "the reasons why Italy indicates the possibility of making use of the clauses for structural reforms and for investments and that there are excellent reasons why this possibility is recognized in addition to the flexibility already granted in April for the 0,4 .XNUMX% of GDP. There are no other points under discussion with the European Commission to which I also clarified what is the logical economic basis behind the choice of tax reduction".
As for the ongoing discussions, Padoan rejected the idea that a market is being made between one clause and another: “There is no exchange, giving something in exchange for something else: on the migrants clause, the Commission takes note of the very detailed documentation justification of the figures, but given that it is a horizontal decision that concerns all countries, it will decide in the next few days, in the next few weeks, it is up to the Commission to decide”.
