• Conte: "VAT Vat avoids price increases from 542 euros". The industrialists: for tax cuts 2 billion are not enough
  • Bank of Italy cuts GDP estimates: + 0.1% in 2019
  • Istat: high evasion weighs on the country's growth and equity

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08 October 2019 "In the long run, a comprehensive and organic tax reform seems to be necessary, based on a careful analysis" that "cannot consist in breaking down all taxes. In defining the measures to be adopted it will be necessary to take into consideration the instruments in a comprehensive manner available, including indirect taxes ". This was stated by the deputy director general of Bankitalia, Luigi Federico Signorini, in a hearing on the NaDef.

"Arduous quantification of measures to combat evasion"
On the subject of tax evasion and the warning issued by Istat on the impact it has in terms of growth, Bankitalia observes: "For interventions concerning the recovery of evasion, a precise quantification is arduous. In order to ensure compliance with the "It is desirable that it is desirable to define moments of monitoring of the accounts during the year and prompt corrective mechanisms in the event of deviations. Advances in the fight against tax evasion - explains the deputy dg - require time" and "we cannot fail recommend a cautious approach to their quantification within each budget maneuver ".

"Minus sign of debt is the minimum"
The debt-to-GDP ratio growing this year "would marginally decrease next. For a country where public debt is one of the main factors of fragility, ensure that the variation has at least the right sign is the minimum. The situation of these years is historically exceptional - said Signorini - The nominal rates are the lowest to be remembered. This situation must be exploited to put the relationship between debt and product on a path of lasting descent ".

"Good card incentives but with safeguards"
The Bank of Italy sees "with favor" incentives for traceable payments that help to combat evasion and "other illegal behavior; without prejudice to the necessary safeguards to avoid undue intrusiveness in the private sphere and to protect those who still have difficulty in using" electronic money. We need "adequate technical reflection, to minimize its cost, conceptual and operational complexity" and "any distortive effects, and therefore to maximize its effectiveness", said Signorini.

"Not irrelevant stimulus wedge cut but VAT limitation limits resources"
On the possible intervention envisaged in the government's economic maneuver, regarding the cutting of the tax wedge, the Bank of Italy emphasizes that "even the reduction of the tax wedge can give a not irrelevant stimulus, albeit gradual, to the economy, increasing both the competitiveness of companies and the "Real incomes and therefore household consumption. The decision to fully disactivate the clauses in 2020 - said deputy general manager Luigi Federico Signorini - limits the amount of resources that can be devoted to reducing the wedge".