Italian Taxpayers Suffer EUR44bn Due On December 16
In what it called the “Year-End Tax Day” for Italian taxpayers, CGIA of Mestre, Italy’s association of sole traders and small businesses, noted that, on December 16, they will be required to pay EUR44bn (USD54.8bn) to the country’s tax authorities.
CGIA’s General Secretary Giuseppe Bortolussi said that “December 16’s deadlines traditionally cause heart tremors for taxpayers … [and] the real burden on compliant taxpayers will then be on the verge of 50 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) – more than six percent above official data.”
Amongst the payments due on that date, value added tax (VAT) represents the highest amount at around EUR16bn, while individual income tax (IRPEF) costs employees EUR12bn. The final installment of unified property tax (IMU), which in large part goes into local authority coffers, is put at EUR10.6bn.
Of the smaller amounts payable, the tax on general local services (TASI), the new local tax on waste services (TARI) and individuals’ self-assessment tax reach EUR2.3bn, EUR1.9bn and EUR1bn, respectively.
Those deadlines, Bortolussi added, “could mean serious financial difficulties for many families, as well as small businesses because of their chronic lack of liquidity. The end of year is a very sensitive period for firms because, in addition to their tax payments, they must also pay the 13th month’s wage to their employees. With the continuing recession, this period risks being for many businesses a real stress test.”
Finally, he pointed out that, as against the official level of 43.3 percent, CGIA has computed the real tax burden on compliant taxpayers (arrived at by subtracting Italy’s underground economy from GDP) at 49.5 percent; a level he called “appalling.”
Source: TAX NEWS – Italian Taxpayers Suffer EUR44bn Due On December 16
