Flat tax on earnings up to 100,000 euros: Meloni on the offensive – the Left is confusing turnover with salary

The issue of raising the threshold for the flat-rate scheme (flat tax for VAT-registered individuals) to 100,000 euros continues to fuel political debate. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has personally come out in defence of the measure included in the Budget Bill (currently under consideration by the Chamber of Deputies) and has gone on the offensive against the opposition’s criticisms in a video posted on her social media channels. In the video, she describes the increase in the revenue or remuneration threshold as ‘a common-sense measure to help those who take risks in their own businesses to create value and refuse to give up’. This official defence comes in the wake of criticism regarding tax disparities that emerged during parliamentary hearings.

‘Until now, a plumber, an accountant or a physiotherapist – if they worked hard and exceeded a turnover of 85,000 euros – would be excluded from the flat-rate scheme; in other words, they would lose the 15 per cent flat-rate tax and be subject to the standard tax regime. And so, paradoxically, a year that had gone well ended up becoming a penalty, and those who were productive were forced to slow down rather than grow. That is why, from 2027, the threshold for the flat-rate scheme will rise to 100,000 euros for personal income tax (IRPEF), whilst for VAT an agreement with the European Union is required, and we are working on that.”

“Now,” adds the Prime Minister, “the Left claims that a self-employed person who turns over 100,000 euros is privileged, but they are confusing – and often deliberately so – turnover with salary; in other words, they fail to mention that from those 100,000 euros, the self-employed person must deduct business expenses, the social security contributions they pay themselves and taxes. Furthermore, the self-employed person does not have paid holiday, a thirteenth-month bonus or severance pay; when they fall ill or become a parent, they have much weaker safeguards than an employee, so the comparison with an employee does not hold up, because they are two completely different situations.” “The truth is that, for the left, the self-employed are second-class workers, whereas for us, all workers are equal, whatever contract they have. And we respect and want to help those who take risks on their own to create value and who do not give up,” concludes Meloni.