Among the withholdings of employees, self-employed persons and collaborators, the VAT / IRES / IRPEF / Irap advances and the additional municipal / regional personal income tax, the Italians are called upon to pay 55 billions of euros this month.
Also this year the tax month is confirmed. The CGIA Research Department recalls that, for example, in the 2018 the total tax revenue had exceeded 500 billion. This imposing monetary mass has flowed into the public coffers respecting precise fiscal deadlines which, as always, are concentrated mainly between June / July and November / December.
The 2018, however, was a special year: the 30 June deadline was "dropped" on Saturday and, consequently, caused a postponement of the summer payments. The coordinator of the Paolo Zabeo Research Department declares:
“An important part of the taxes to be paid by companies this month is actually a tour, like VAT or the deductions of their employees; however, few entrepreneurs, especially those of small size, will find themselves in difficulty in order to honor these deadlines. The economic slowdown that has emerged in recent months has lengthened payment times even in commercial relationships between private companies, causing not a few financial imbalances to many small companies that have always been short of liquidity and undercapitalised ”.
The total amount of revenue for businesses is now felt by everyone as a problem that must be addressed very quickly. However, the need to simplify the regulatory framework of our tax system should not be forgotten either.
"With a simpler and more transparent tax system - declares the secretary Renato Mason - even the financial administration could work better and be more efficient to counter tax evasion / avoidance. The multitude of laws, decrees, regulations and explanatory circulars present in our tax system, on the other hand, complicate life not only to the experts, but also to the tax operators who, however, continue to be one of the most virtuous sectors of the whole our public administration ".
Returning to the numbers of the research, the most burdensome tax that businesses and self-employed workers will pay this month will be VAT, which will involve a collection for the 15 Treasury billions of euros. The Ires down-payment to the joint-stock companies follows (Spa, Srl, Cooperative companies, etc.): the latter will anticipate the 13,3 tax bill of euro. Employees and employees, through their respective employers, will "give" tax to the tax authorities for an amount equal to 11,9 billion. The IRPEF advance, on the other hand, will cost companies and recipients of different incomes (rent, capital gains, occasional work, etc.) 6,2 billions of euros, while IRAP will involve a withdrawal of 6,1 billions. The regional additional tax Irpef will guarantee the Governors 1 billion, while the deductions of the self-employed will weigh on the latter's pockets for 950 million. The additional municipal income tax, finally, will allow the Mayors to collect 413 million euros and from the deductions of the transfers of the income tax deductions, the Treasury will forfeit 190 million euros.
It is worth noting that the revenue from each tax defined in this elaboration was estimated on the basis of the trend recorded in recent years. In addition, the main legislative changes that have occurred in the meantime have been taken into account. The researcher of the Andrea Vavolo Research Office specifies:
“In this estimate, in fact, we have taken into account the different structure of the advances which, starting from November 2019, will interest the tax payers subject to the Synthetic Tax Reliability Indicators (ISA). In particular, the advances will be made up of two installments each equal to 50 per cent of the total to be paid, instead of the current distribution which sees the first installment equal to 40 per cent of the tax due for the previous year and the second of the 60 per cent ”.
In fact, starting from November of this year, the application of this provision amounts to a reduction in the deposit (only for taxpayers subject to ISAs) at 90 per cent (as confirmed by the illustrative report to the aforementioned provision ). Finally, the Research Department would like to point out that the social security contributions to be paid by the next 16 November have not been counted in this analysis. Being Saturday, this payment is postponed to Monday 18 November.
- In Italy the tax burden on businesses is at 59,1 per cent. In the EU only the French are more harassed than we are
Although it is a comparison that must be analyzed with great caution, according to the latest data presented in recent weeks by the World Bank (Doing Business), only France (60,7) has a tax burden on companies (as a percentage of commercial profits) higher than the Italian figure (59,1). If the average of the Euro Area is equal to 42,8 per cent (16,3 points less than here), Germany records 48,8 per cent and Spain 47 per cent. For each country examined, this processing refers to a medium-sized company (limited liability company) with approximately 60 employees and taxes paid in the year 2018, in the second year of the company (ie born in 2017). The incidence of total taxes on commercial profits recorded by Italy in the 2018 (59,1 per cent) is quite in line with the figure of 2015 (62 per cent). In the two intermediate years (two-year period 2016 and 2017) there was a significantly lower incidence (respectively of 48 and 53,1), attributable to the effect of the introduction of some temporary measures that have lightened labor costs, in particular of the newly hired with a permanent employment contract.
- The few remaining holdings pay taxes elsewhere: the corporate tax effort is entirely up to the SMEs
If up to 35 years ago even large companies made an important contribution in terms of revenue, for some decades this contribution has practically run out. Until the first half of the 80, for example, Italy was among the world leaders in chemistry, plastics, rubber, iron and steel, aluminum, information technology and pharmaceuticals. Thanks to the role and weight of many large public and private companies (Montedison, Eni, Montefibre, Pirelli, Italsider, Alumix, Olivetti, Angelini, etc.), economic and employment development revolved around these sectors and the tax authorities drew a great benefit. At a distance of almost 40 years, instead, many of these realities have become extinct and a part of the few remaining big players, moreover, has decided to move where they pay less taxes. Although we cannot speak of evasion, there are not a few Italian holding companies (FCA, ENI, Enel, Ferrero, Telecom, Saipem, Luxottica Group, Illy, etc.) that for some years have transferred the main registered office, or of a subsidiary , in the Netherlands to also benefit from the tax advantage offered by this country. If to these specificities we add the unacceptable behavior of some large multinationals of the web, which make important profits in our country but the taxes pay them elsewhere, we can affirm without the risk of being denied that the fiscal effort of Italian companies is at the top almost exclusively at pmi.
- Penultimate in Europe for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)
Will it be a coincidence that our country is at the bottom of the European ranking as regards the investments made by large foreign companies? Obviously not. But it is equally true that due to the bureaucratic oppression that weighs on companies, the slowness that characterizes civil justice, the general inefficiency of the Public Administration and the chronic lack of social and economic infrastructures, the great international investors look good to " commit "in our country. Italy, with an FDI stock equal to 20,5 per cent of GDP (equal to 361,1 billion) is in the penultimate place in Europe. In the EU only Greece has a stock of investments lower than ours (16 per cent of GDP) and this trend has unfortunately also been confirmed in the four-year period 2014-2017. The distances with our main European competitors are significant: if in the 2018 Germany recorded a total amount of IDE of 23,5 per cent of GDP, France marked 29,7 and Spain even 48,3.
- So many taxes and 30 days to pay them
In addition to having the tax burden on companies among the highest in Europe, we are the country, along with Portugal, where paying taxes is more difficult. Again from the data recently presented by the World Bank (Doing Business), in Italy 30 days per year (equal to 238 hours) are required to collect all the information needed to calculate the taxes due; to complete all tax returns and to present them to the tax authorities; to make the payment online or at the appropriate authorities.
In France, the only EU country with a tax burden on companies that is higher than ours, only 17 days are required to carry out the bureaucratic duties deriving from the payment of taxes, while the Euro Area average is 18 days. Also in this comparison, the data are from the World Bank, which for each country examines a medium-sized company (limited liability company), in the second year of life and with approximately 60 employees. The reference year is the 2018.
