“Taxes, so we’ll cut the wedge on wages. The taxman? Become a friend»- Corriere.it

What timing will the tax delegation that has recently arrived in the Chamber have?
This country – observes Alberto Gusmeroli (Lega), chairman of the Productive Activities commission of the Chamber and rapporteur of the delegation – has reached an unsustainable level of complication and bureaucracy, with more than 1,500 annual deadlines and unrivaled tax pressure. The latter to be seen, in fact, as a combination of taxation and complication. We have to be quick.

The government has given itself 24 months for the implementing decrees, but could some measures, such as the reorganization from 4 to 3 tax rates, already be brought forward in the Budget law?
The Lega proposes the abolition of micro-taxes with revenues lower than the management cost, the installment of the advance payment for the month of November from January to June of the following year, to finally pay the taxes on a final balance and not in advance, without costs for the State and thus helping the liquidity of the companies. And again our proposals are the reduction of the withholding tax, the reduction to three Irpef rates, the abolition of Irap. Now some implementing decrees could see the light in a few months, allowing some of these measures to enter the manoeuvre.

What changes will Parliament make to the reform drawn up by the government?
Everything that is useful to citizens and businesses, and that helps simplify a tax system so cumbersome that it “feeds”, with all these complications, tax evasion. This is why I say that, in addition to controls, simplification and reduction of the tax burden are needed, to remove food from the undeclared.

The objectives of the tax reform are the simplification, the rebalancing of the relationship between citizens and the tax authorities and the reduction of taxes. Which of the three is more important?

In the short term, simplification is easier and faster to implement. Tax compliance, accounting bureaucracy and deadlines represent a real hidden tax, which costs citizens and companies, subtracting time and money from their activities and, therefore, from growth. The complication also drives away foreign investment.

And of the three objectives, which is the most difficult to achieve?
Nobody. In the medium term, a better citizen-tax relationship, preventive agreements, the gradual nature of the sanctions are indispensable, so that you are not treated as a dangerous tax evader if you declare taxes, but are temporarily unable to pay them, as well as fiscal stimuli for growth, employment and investment. These are interventions which, together with the controls, serve to achieve both the reduction of the undeclared economy and economic growth, with an increase in revenue which will be destined to reduce taxes. If we add to this the review of waste in public spending, a significant reduction in taxes is absolutely feasible, indeed a must.

The 4-point reduction in workers’ contributions will be expected until the end of 2023. How will it be financed after that?
Last October, no one believed in a budget law that confirmed the cutting of the wedge by the Draghi government and, instead, the Meloni government and Minister Giorgetti succeeded. Let us remember that the increase in prices due to inflation generates higher VAT revenues, which it is right to give back to families even with the decrease in the tax wedge, so as to also support the birth rate. We must give our country a future of sustainable economic growth which, freed from complications, has all the credentials and potential to excel. A challenge that we must take up.