Budget bill: a summit is set for Monday with Meloni and Giorgetti, with IRPEF, the flat tax and the banks on the agenda

Now that the framework for the figures that will shape the measures under the Dpb (budget policy document) has been established, the focus is entirely on the measures themselves. This is another reason why the Government and the ruling coalition are trying to close ranks. Consequently, a majority summit is set to take place on Monday (as previewed in an article by Marco Mobili and Gianni Trovati on ‘Il Sole 24 Ore’ on 17 October) featuring Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Deputy Prime Ministers Matteo Salvini and Antonio Tajani, the leader of Noi Moderati, Maurizio Lupi, and the Minister for the Economy Giancarlo Giorgetti. The announcement of this summit, which comes from centre-right circles, should provide an opportunity to outline decisions on the main outstanding issues, on which the majority must find common ground or at least reach a compromise.

The room for manoeuvre set out by the Dpb is very limited, which is why the extension of the second IRPEF tax band (33 per cent) up to 60,000 euros has been met with some scepticism. There is a desire to send a signal of support to what is more commonly referred to as the ‘middle class’, but the figures need to add up. So, it is a question of choices, as the Minister for the Economy pointed out, Giancarlo Giorgetti, on the sidelines of the IMF summit in Bangkok: ‘We may decide to take measures regarding young people’s wages, measures focused on the elderly, or generalised measures concerning personal income tax.’ However, Giorgetti also emphasised that the decision-making process will always be a collective one: ‘We will assess the situation together with the political parties, their leaders and President Meloni.’

The call for a ‘strong signal to the middle class’ came from Deputy Prime Minister Antonio Tajani: ‘A further reduction in personal income tax – as the Prime Minister also stated in the Chamber – must be one of the priorities, just as sending a signal to young people must be a priority.’ The problem, however, is determining what resources are available: ‘We’ll see in what form; we need to work out how much funding will be available.’

Another sensitive issue is that of the flat tax on VAT-registered individuals. The League has no intention of backing down on its stance to raise the revenue/remuneration threshold from the current 85,000 euros to 100,000 euros. There are two obstacles here: funding, as with everything else, but also European regulations, which set the threshold for preferential tax regimes for VAT-registered individuals at 85,000 euros.

Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini lists the flat tax among the priorities of the budget and reiterates that, in this case, the impetus for increased revenue must come from the banks. In his view, “asking for a contribution of at least 5 billion euros from one of Italia’s wealthiest and most protected sectors will be a measure of absolute common sense”. Banks, which highlight the revenue they have already contributed to the Treasury in recent years, point out that the levy is not shared. On this point, even Forza Italia within the majority is raising a procedural issue regarding how to go about requesting the levy. Both Tajani himself and Stefania Craxi, who leads the ‘Azzurri’ in the Senate, support the approach of dialogue.