IRPEF, Italian Cabinet OKs correction of IRPEF advance payments rule

The IRPEF advance payments for 2025 will be calculated on the basis of the three IRPEF rates that currently govern the income tax system, and not on the basis of the previous four rates. This is provided for in the decree-law approved by the Council of Ministers, which corrects an 'inconsistency' in the legislation. A measure that lightens the IRPEF advance payments and that has also become urgent in view of the pre-compiled declarations that the Inland Revenue Agency will make available by 30 April. The decree therefore modifies the rules for determining advance payments, after the last Budget Law made the reduction of rates from four to three structural. An oversight that had been brought to light by the CGIL Cafes and on which the Ministry of the Economy had announced an intervention in a note of 25 March.

"The Council of Ministers approved a provision to clarify the rules on determining the 2025 Irpef advance payments. The new provision confirms that employees and pensioners without additional income will not have to pay any Iperf advances for 2025, thus avoiding any increase in the tax burden'. This was stated by Maurizio Leo, Deputy Minister of Economy and Finance. "The intervention was necessary to correct a coordination defect between the legislative decree of 2023, implementing the tax delegation, which provided for the reduction of the Irpef rates from 4 to 3 for 2024 only, and the 2025 budget law, which made the aforementioned rate reduction structural," explains Leo, reiterating that the goal is always "to protect taxpayers and ensure the correct application of the tax reform. We have approved the new measure in time to ensure that there are no errors in upcoming payments or in the compilation of tax returns,' the deputy minister added, expressing 'satisfaction with the promptness with which the government has resolved the issue'.

The draft decree just approved by the Council of Ministers, which comes into force on the same day of its publication in the Official Gazette, provides for an increase in resources of 245.5 million for the year 2026. For the current year, the charges, also estimated at 245.5 million, are covered through a corresponding reduction of the Fund provided by the 2024 Budget Bill and in terms of requirements and indebtedness through a corresponding reduction of the Fund for offsetting the financial effects not provided for by current legislation, also as a result of the discounting of multi-year grants.

"We welcome with satisfaction the measure approved by the Council of Ministers that clarifies the discipline of Irpef advances for 2025, excluding from the obligation to pay employees and pensioners with no additional income. This is an important measure, which goes in the right direction: that of protecting the most exposed taxpayers, who are often burdened by charges that do not reflect their real ability to pay,' Giovanni Angileri, president of Caf Uil and coordinator of the Consulta dei Caf, stressed in a note.

'It is good to see that action has been taken,' Angileri concludes, 'to correct a regulatory defect, however, it must be emphasised that the tax campaign has been underway for over a month and the absence of regulatory clarification to date has generated quite a few operational difficulties, both for Cafes and taxpayers. And 'we appreciate the attention shown towards the needs of millions of workers and pensioners: a concrete signal that goes in the direction of simplification and tax justice'.