A free zone, extra-customs, with tax exemptions, concessions and benefits: a twenty-year help for the depressed Susa valley.
They are already operational in Italy extra-customs territories, free zones and free warehouses: the best known are Campione of Italy, Livigno, part of the province of Gorizia, the national waters of Lake Lugano, special regimes in the neighboring municipalities of Gorizia and in the Aosta Valley. And now a bill which is beginning its process in the Finance Committee of the Senate, proposes the establishment of a mountain free zone for the development of the Susa Valley, in Piedmont.
Susa Valley: the rebirth of the “gateway to Italy”
Yes, because this valley which was the main "door of Italy” towards north-western Europe and which experienced a flourishing economic period then had to face the deindustrialization over the last thirty years which has produced very harsh effects: the large companies in the area have closed, thousands of workers and technicians have left the job market and over time the large settlements have been partially replaced by small companies which, in turn, have closed or relocated.
According to the research office of the Industrial Union of Turin, the Pro-capite GDP in the Susa Valley is less than 15 thousand euros, as has already been recognized for some time: in fact in 2001 the municipalities of the Susa Valley were recognized as depressed areas of the Piedmont region.
Hence the proposal to establish a Mountain duty-free zone for at least the next twenty years, with the aim of relaunching the development of the entire valley and the municipalities that are part of it, including – to name a few – Bardonecchia, Chiomonte, Moncenisio, Claviere, Sestriere, Sauze d'Oulx, well-known centres for those who practice the mountains and even a little skiing.
Susa Valley: tax breaks and incentives for the next twenty years
For companies operating in the free zone, we propose concessions and benefits: a) exemption from income tax for the first 10 tax periods b) exemption from the regional tax on productive activities, for the first 10 tax periods, up to the amount of 300 thousand euros, for each tax period, of the value of net production; c) exemption from the share reserved for the State of the municipal property tax (IMU); d) exemption from the payment of contributions on wages from employment, for the first 10 years of activity, e) 60% reduction in excise duties on energy products, tobacco and alcohol; f) exclusion from taxable persons of the value added tax on essential goods, for the first 10 tax periods; g) exemption, for the first 10 tax periods, from customs duty on values imported within the free zone and exported from the same to the outside; h) exemption from stamp duties relating to deeds, documents and registers connected to business activities.
There is also something for the Municipalities of the Susa Valley. For a period of twenty years, they are entitled to: a) 30% of the revenues deriving from the collection of tariffs relating to the provision of the integrated water service; b) 30% of the electricity produced by the plants located within the mountain extra-customs free zone itself, or the equivalent monetary compensation.
