For professionals and businesses, the rule that obliges them to make payments by debit card for amounts exceeding 30 euros does not violate any parameter of legitimacy nor does it cause excesses of powers that justify its suspension, albeit as a precautionary measure. This was approved by the Lazio Regional Administrative Court, section third ter, with order 01932/2014 filed on 30 April and announced yesterday. The administrative judges have rejected the request presented by the National Council of Architects against the Ministerial Decree of 24 January 2014 of the Minister of Economic Development.
A bank transfer, in the opinion of professionals, costs half the payment via Pos and allows the same traceability result. The cost incurred by professionals, however, in the opinion of the Tar "is not irreparable", also considering that from next July 29 the measures launched by the Ministry of Economy will come into force to reduce commissions on transactions carried out through Pos.
The architects had expressed their disapproval of the regulation which they defined as senselessly vexatious and costly considering that its main objective, i.e. to combat tax avoidance and evasion, could be achieved through tracked payments (wire transfers or cheques) without the professionals being obliged to activate Pos expensive to install and use, considering the ban on requesting a surcharge linked to the use of a specific payment instrument.
But "the contested Decree seems to respect the content limits - declared the Tar - and the directive criteria" established by the law, which "peremptorily and in a generalized manner imposes that starting from 30 June 2014, the subjects who carry out the activity of selling products and services, including professional ones, are also required to accept payments made by debit card". Therefore, "at a first and inevitably summary assessment - the judges write - the contested act does not appear vitiated by the illegitimacy alleged in the appeal, neither in terms of the violation of the law nor in terms of the excess/misuse of power".
The president of the National Council of Architects, Leopoldo Freyrie reacted harshly by reconfirming his position and declaring that they will not stop "in the face of this ordinance" and that he is "sure that when the administrative judges enter into the merits of the provision that we have challenged they will be able to all those profiles of illegitimacy that we have highlighted.”
