Italian taxpayers who are loyal to the tax authorities weigh a "real" tax burden that stands at 48,3 per cent: 6,1 points more than the official one. And although it is falling from the 2014, the threshold reached this year still remains unjustifiably high. To say it is the Study Office of the CGIA.
"If too many taxes - says the coordinator of the Office of the CGIA Paolo Zabeo - we add the oppressive bureaucracy, the inefficiency of a part of our Public Administration and the infrastructure gap that separates us from our main economic competitors, not c 'it is surprising, as has emerged in recent days, that there is a certain malaise especially among entrepreneurs in the Northeast. Among other things, because of all these problems we continue to remain the bottom-up in the EU with regard to foreign direct investment ".
According to the OECD, in fact, the stock of foreign direct investments in Italy in relation to GDP was, in 2017, 21,4 per cent. No other European country registered a result lower than ours. In other words, we continue to be non-attractive.
However, according to the Secretary of the CGIA, Renato Mason, there is something else:
“In addition to the massive economic effort that taxpayers are called upon to support again this year, Italians must also bear an additional cost linked to the difficulties in fulfilling tax obligations. According to the latest data from the World Bank, in fact, in Italy it takes 238 hours a year to pay taxes, against 139 required in France and 110 in the United Kingdom. A gap that makes us understand how much the bad bureaucracy in our country has unjustifiably stretched its tentacles ".
The CGIA Studies Office, which has been monitoring the trend of "real" fiscal pressure for years, has reached this level (48,3 per cent), recalling that our national GDP also includes the non-observed economy related to activities irregular that, not being known to the tax authorities, at least theoretically they do not pay taxes, taxes or contributions.
According to ISTAT, in fact, in the 2015 the economy not observed amounted to 207,5 billion (equal to 12,6 per cent of GDP); of these, almost 190,5 billion were attributable to the undeclared economic and the other 17 to illegal activities.
In this calculation methodology, however, the whole criminal economy is not included, but only those activities that are consumed through a voluntary exchange between economic subjects (such as drug trafficking, prostitution and cigarette smuggling).
For the years 2016, 2017 and 2018, the CGIA Research Office has hypothesized that the underground economy and illegal activities affect GDP to the same extent as in 2015 (the last year in which the data is available).
Recalling that the official tax burden is given by the ratio between tax / contribution revenues and the GDP produced in a year, in 2018, gross of the Renzi bonus, this is destined to drop to 42,2 per cent.
However, if we "remove" from the wealth produced the share attributable to the economic flooded and illegal activities that, at least theoretically, do not produce any revenue for the treasury, the GDP decreases (thus decreases the denominator), increasing the result that emerges from the report.
Therefore, the "real" tax burden on employees, self-employed, pensioners and companies that pay taxes correctly is higher than the official one of 6,1 points: for the current year it is destined to stand at 48,3 per cent . Although falling compared to previous years, the overall weight of the tax remains at an unbearable level.
The CGIA also states that the official tax pressure calculated by Istat (in the 2018 scheduled for 42,2 per cent) faithfully complies with the methodological provisions laid down by Eurostat.
Finally, for 2019, the tax burden could increase again both because GDP growth is slowed by all international organizations and as a result of a possible increase in the tax levy. If, in fact, 12,4 billion euros were not found, from 1 January 2019 the VAT rate, currently at 10 percent, would rise to 11,5 percent; likewise, the current 22 per cent would even jump to 24,2 per cent.
As for the requests made by Brussels, it is very likely that for 2019 we will have to raise our public accounts for almost 10 billion, after which we will have to find about 2 billions of euros for the renewal of the state labor contract, more 500 millions of "non-transferable" expenses and other 140 million to avoid the increase of excise taxes on fuels starting from 1 January 2019.
Given the difficulties encountered with the dignity decree - conclude by the CGIA - it cannot be excluded that at least a part of these 25 billion euros can be financed through an increase in taxation. A hypothesis that the executive has long since discarded, but which could be forced to resort in the absence of alternatives.
