If our SMEs have a total tax burden of 59,1 percent of profits, the multinationals of the web present in Italy, or rather the subsidiaries of these economic giants located in our country, record a tax rate of 33,1 percent. Both data refer to 2018. Says the coordinator of the CGIA Studies Office Paolo Zabeo:
“Given that the data are taken from different sources, therefore not comparable from a strictly scientific point of view, it is however likely that the tax burden on small businesses is almost double that of the technological giants present in Italy. An injustice that cries out for vengeance, not so much because the latter have a relatively low tax burden, but because our SMEs have one of the highest taxes and contributions in Europe ”.
In fact, among the countries of the euro area, the data of the World Bank tell us that only France (with 60,7 percent) has a higher tax burden on corporate profits than ours, against an average of 19 countries who use the single currency equal to 42,8 percent. This figure is more than 16 percentage points lower than the average figure in Italy.
"If with the maneuver approved last week we have avoided the increase in VAT - the Secretary Renato Mason declares - by the end of this year the Government will have to find another 20 billion euros to avoid that from 1 January 2021 an upward adjustment of both VAT and excise duties on fuel. In other words, the next financial one is also largely bound by this important commitment and, therefore, it will be very difficult to recover other resources to reduce taxes on households and businesses in an equally significant way ".
On the horizon, therefore, it seems extremely difficult to hypothesize a reform that heavily cuts the tax burden, especially for businesses. An operation that would be appreciated by most, especially those entrepreneurs who export their products around the world and every day are called to compete with foreign competitors who can benefit from levels of taxation and bureaucratic oppression significantly lower than ours.
Returning to the initial comparison, what are the reasons why the Italian subsidiaries of the main multinational companies on the web can benefit from a tax rate of 33,1 percent? For the simple reason that half of the pre-tax profit is taxed in subsidized tax countries which provides tax savings which, in the period 2014-2018, reached a total of 50 billion euros.
However, it is not only the foreign giants of the web that take advantage of the advantageous taxation granted by many countries. Even the great Italian players have for years moved the main registered office, or a subsidiary, abroad. We are talking, for example, of FCA, Eni, Enel, Ferrero, Telecom, Saipem, Luxottica Group, Illy, etc.
Many holding companies in our home have decided to move to the Netherlands, for example, because in this country it is possible to benefit from both very favorable corporate legislation - which allows historic shareholders to have double the votes at the meeting, a way that allows them to defend themselves. better from possible climbs from foreign investors - both from the very generous tax treatment that the Dutch government reserves to every big company willing to open its tax office in Amsterdam.
With these operations, formally flawless from a fiscal-corporate point of view, the tax base of those who pay taxes in Italy has, however, reduced, particularly penalizing small-sized entrepreneurial realities which, unlike large companies, do not have the possibility to leave weapons and baggage and move elsewhere.
As we have seen above, in addition to having the tax burden on the companies among the highest in Europe, Italy is the country, together with Portugal, where paying taxes is more difficult. Also from the data presented recently by the World Bank (Doing Business 2020), we need 30 days a year (equal to 238 hours) to collect all the information necessary to calculate the taxes due; to complete all tax returns and to present them to the tax authorities; to make the payment online or with the competent 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.
