Cgia of Mestre Offers one hypothesis as to why the two-year deterrence agreement was not adopted as widely as the government had hoped. The Association of Craftsmen and Small Businesses actually believes that the state figures that estimateTax evasion The number of self-employed workers is inaccurate and in reality VAT numbers are saved much less than one might think.
In fact, the “tax gap” calculates that the most evaded tax, the Irpef for self-employed workers, is left at around 70% of its value. It will be almost removed from the state. 30 billion euros annually. The CGIA criticizes these figures, but the analysis presents some problems, mainly related to the reference period of the available data.
Two-year precautionary contract flop
Over the past year, the government has advertised a two-year withholding contract for self-employed workers and entrepreneurs whose annual income is less than this. 5.1 million euros. It is an agreement between the taxpayer and the tax payer, in which the former shows an estimate of their income and agrees with the state on the tax to be paid for the next two years. In return, the state promises to significantly reduce tax controls.
The purpose of the government with this rule was twofold. On the one hand, some members of the majority wanted to facilitate the payment of taxes to a category that comprised their electorate, viz. self-employed workers, They also guarantee less tax controls. On the other hand, the agreement was intended to bring forward undisclosed income of the past, thereby temporarily increasing the revenue of the exchequer.
According to preliminary data, there will be around. 500 thousand VAT nobetween those who were able to access another flat rate for two years with the general regime, who had to limit themselves to annual arrangements. The potential audience was 4.5 million people. Given the estimated benefit to the state of 2 billion euros, the revenue, as Vice Minister Liu pointed out, only 1.3 billion.
A tough decision Cgia of Mestre On this principle: “No other compliance measure presented in the past was as ‘tailor-made’ as this one, especially for those who systematically Bad habit of paying less tax. Clearly, the ‘deal’ proposed by the tax authorities was based on these assumptions: the taxpayer declares a bit more for the biennium 2024-2025 and consequently the amount he paid in the past. paid slightly more than, allowing the treasury to accumulate. “Liquidity needed to meet the immediate Irpef rate cut for the so-called middle class,” the association’s study center writes in its report.
Criticism of Ministry Accounts and CGIA
According to the Ministry of Economy, which publishes a report every year on the underground economy and therefore on the level of theft in Italy, the theft of Irpef from self-employed workers and businesses is equal. 29.5 billion euros. However, the data is from 2021 and therefore heavily affected by the CoVID-19 pandemic. In 2019, the estimated theft by the self-employed for Irpef alone was 32.5 billion euros and has been falling over the years at a rate of about 500 million euros for each survey.
Miscalculations according to CGIA: “If, as MEF technicians claim, these activities escape about 70 percent of Irpef, how much will they have to declare if they comply with Treasury requests? 120 percent more, or only 74 thousand euros per year. Now, how can they actually reach such a high income threshold, if, as we just said, the majority work alone, so they are little more than an employee, and at most they make 10 a day. -Can work 12 hours. ” asks the study center.
Cgia study center is limited to accounting. The income of northern artisans and traders, As stated in the same report: “According to the tax returns of self-employed workers (mainly artisans and tradesmen) in simplified accounting in the north, in the tax year 2021 they declared a total of 33 thousand euros. .We state that 70 percent of these VAT numbers are comprised of sole proprietors (in other words, self-employed from Irpef declarations in 2021). National data on income from was approx. 53 thousand euros gross per annum.
However, the data with which he compares these figures is national and not limited to traders and artisans. As can be read in the note which explains the methodology used by the Ministry, which the CGIA explains. arzigogobvflata: “The reference group of taxpayers for self-employment and business under IRES and IRPEF is assumed to be the sum of subjects required to pay territorial tax on productive activities (IRAP),” explains a selection note, Because of the type. of available data.
Why did the deal fail?
From this reasoning, the Cgia concluded that the reason for the low enforcement of the safeguard agreement was the State’s overestimation of tax evasion from self-employed work on Irpef: “Considering that business and self-employment Workers are not stupid, you want. To see that, although the Cpb was particularly ‘beneficial’, the membership was much lower than expected, because according to the CGIA, tax evasion would tend to occur in these categories. much less than estimates, Even those produced by Mef? The report said.
One of the main criticisms of the Concordat is that it does not offer an attractive alternative for those who do not already pay all or part of their taxes. Indeed, according to several commentators, the idea dI pay more to avoid checks. If, from the outset, there are relatively few controls and no risk of the taxman discovering your tax evasion, this is not very inviting. However, CGIA also has an answer to this topic.
In 2023, in compliance letters (2,681,147), reviews, checks and controls carried out by the Revenue Agency and the Guardia di Finanza in tax matters 3,510,000 VAT number and business. In the same year, the activity carried out by the contract matters, safety or insurance at work, labor inspectorate, INPS and INAIL reached 260,440 checks,” the report said.
