“No more warm panels, we need shocking measures capable of reviving the fortunes of our businesses. When faced with a person suffering from cardiac arrest, wetting his forehead will certainly give him some relief, but the surgery will not be enough to revive him. In extreme cases, however, it is necessary to use a defibrillator to resuscitate him. Through the delivery of strong electric shocks, in fact, we can allow the heart to return to beating regularly. The same must be done with the economy of our country. After 10 months of pandemic that caused the worst economic crisis of the last 75 years, the refreshments, which turned out to be late and insufficient, are no longer of any use. Instead, we need to cancel taxes for the whole of 2021 and introduce refunds that cover up to 80 per cent of the turnover losses of companies forced to close by decree ".
This was said by the coordinator of the Paolo Zabeo Studies Office. A position that is also reinforced by the position taken by the Secretary of the CGIA, Renato Mason:
“In general, in the month of December the catering sector has a national turnover of around 8 billion euros. Well, after these operators worked only half the day in the first 20 days of this month and now, after the Christmas decree, they are forced to close practically until Epiphany, how does the government support them? Making available a first tranche of refreshments equal to 645 million euros. Virtually nothing. Are we joking ? The timeliness of resources to support businesses is crucial. These entrepreneurs cannot wait for February or March to get the rest of the aid. Or they get them immediately, otherwise the future of this sector and many other activities is irremediably marked. With all due respect to those who argue that the business support measures approved by the Executive up to now have been timely and more than sufficient ".
The CGIA recalls that the delays in the disbursement of subsidies in support of the activities penalized by Covid have almost become a rule. With the August decree, for example, the government has made a non-repayable contribution of 500 million euros available to commercial and craft activities located in the historic centers of the municipalities that have suffered a sharp drop in foreign tourist presences. This will allow the economic activities that operate in these realities to receive at least 1.000 euros of grants. Well, after 4 months from the approval of the decree, the operators must submit the application to the Revenue Agency between November 18, 2020 and January 14, 2021. In short, if all goes well, the vast majority of these activities will receive compensation after 6-7 months from the approval of the measure.
In terms of revenue, the CGIA Studies Office estimates that the possible cancellation of taxes for 2021 for all SMEs with less than 1 million turnover would make the treasury coffers € 28,3 billion divided as follows: 22,7 billion of Irpef; 4,2 billion IRES; 779 million of substitute tax paid by VAT numbers that have joined the flat-rate scheme and 500 million euros of Imu on warehouses (cat. D) 1.
According to the CGIA proposal, businesses with less than 1 million euros in turnover would no longer pay the tax authorities, while continuing to pay local taxes so as not to put the Municipalities and Regions in further difficulty. The latter, therefore, would continue to collect their amounts which would amount to 3 billion IRAP; 2,5 billion Imu; 1,6 billion regional income tax surcharge and 610 million euro municipal income tax surcharge. Overall, therefore, SMEs with less than 1 million turnover next year would thus pay 7,7 billion euros to the local authorities.