The effects of deductions, tax deductions, coupons and tax credits that reduce the levy on Italian taxpayers (the so-called "tax expenditures") are 466 and cost the State 54 billion euros a year. To this amount - reports the CGIA Studies Office - must be added the deductions for Irpef purposes affecting employees and the self-employed (37,8 billion euros), deductions for dependent family members (11,3 billion) and a series of other benefits (reduced VAT rates, Ace for joint stock companies, separate taxation for certain types of income, substitute taxes on income from capital, etc.)
To all these must also be added tax expenses related to local taxes. These are measures that ensure a reduction in levies on Irap, Tari, Imu, Tasi and Tosap (tax for the occupation of public spaces and areas). Overall, the relief referred to local taxes amounts to 38,7 billions of euros per year (see Tab.1).
The coordinator of the CGIA Studies Office, Paolo Zabeo, says:
“This treasure, made up in general of over 142 billion, has ended up in the crosshairs of the electoral promises presented in recent days by the big names in national politics. The reduction of taxes, the increase of minimum pensions or the introduction of citizenship income could be largely achieved through a scissoring of these concessions which, however, will almost certainly penalize those who benefit from these measures today ”.
Focusing our attention only on the measures strictly attributable to the item “tax expenditures”, of these 466 concessions, the first 20 affect the total expenditure (equal to 54 billion per year) for 75,6%. This means that spending for this package of subsidies is strongly concentrated on a few items that could be the first to undergo a contraction.
In detail, what are the main benefits and who are the taxpayers who derive the greatest benefits? The first item is the “Renzi bonus” which affects over 11 million employees with a medium-low salary level and costs the State almost 9 billion a year. The second measure is the 50 per cent deduction of the costs for building recovery that weighs on the public coffers for 6 billion euros. In third position, however, the owners of the first home whose cadastral income does not fall within the taxable income tax. These taxpayers enjoy a tax “discount” of 3,6 billion euros (see Table 2).
“That it is necessary to clear this jungle of facilitating measures is out of the question - concludes Zabeo - it is also important not to throw the baby away with the bathwater. In fact, we would not want the middle class to pay the bill once again, which, compared to the others, has been the most affected by the crisis of the last 10 years ”.
Finally, on the tax front, the CGIA returns to reiterate a very clear concept which, however, is struggling to make itself felt in some parties even in this part of the electoral campaign.
“It is plausible to hypothesize - affirms the Secretary of the CGIA Renato Mason - that with less taxes to pay, there would be a decisive emergence of the tax base that would allow our tax authorities to concentrate the activities of contrast against the most insidious tax behaviors. It should also be pointed out that in our country the structural reduction of taxes can only take place if the unproductive public spending is also reduced by the same amount. Otherwise we risk unnecessarily deceiving the citizens. Finally, it is desirable that the reduction in labor costs on new hires with a permanent contract introduced in recent years will become structural ”.