The 110% Super Bonus no longer exists, but its effects still put pressure on state coffers and the accounts of citizens and businesses. Tax credits provided by the benefit are an issue and, unsurprisingly, are not described as “idle.” After eliminating the famous bonus for energy efficiency, the Meloni government handed over the credit issue to the Regions. In fact, dozens of regional councils are passing laws allowing invested companies to purchase Superbonus-related tax credits. There is little information about the nature and amount of business receivables, but we know the health of these companies, and overall the situation is not good. There are two pilot cases: Basilicata and Lazio. There is data from the Court of Accounts in the background. We talked about this with Italia Viva’s deputy, Luigi Marattin.
Risk of Superbonus to the Regions: Italians’ debts are in the belly of affiliated companies
The Basilicata Region was a pioneer in terms of the transfer of Superbonus tax credits. With the law no. 20 dated July 16, 2023, the regional council determines that “regional economic public institutions and/or invested companies” […] control yourself […] Taking an active part in the circulation of tax credits”. Translation: The invested companies of the zone – except those classified under Public Administration – will purchase the “blocked” tax credits of the Superbonus and other construction bonuses.
A similar law would conflict with national legislation, the decree of 16 February 2023 excluding public administrations from purchasing tax credits. In fact, the government has the right to challenge regional laws to raise the “question of constitutionality” and then resolve this issue before the Constitutional Court. However, in this case it did not happen: after the Council of Ministers meeting on September 18, 2023, Palazzo Chigi announced that it did not intend to object to the law in question. In fact, the decision set a precedent that allowed other regional councils to follow suit.
Following Basilicata, the Puglia and Lazio Regions also approved laws allowing subsidiaries to purchase credits. The regional councils of Campania, Umbria, Calabria, Piedmont, Veneto, Lombardy, Sicily, Liguria, Calabria and Abruzzo are discussing the issue or have already approved the bill for approval by their respective assemblies.
How the purchase of Superbonus credits works in the regions: Lazio example
The Lazio Region also approved the law on the purchase of credits linked to construction subsidies. The text is comparable to the Basilicata District text, as can be seen from the comparison below.
But let’s see how the mechanism works in practice. The Lazio Region, thanks to the use and support of “banks and financial institutions”, allows entities under its control to purchase tax credits on the market under two conditions:
- Credits must be obtained from interventions with various building bonuses such as Superbonus;
- The work must be carried out by companies registered on real estate in the same region and whose headquarters are in the Region.
The Lazio Region will create a portal through which existing credits can be monitored and purchased and will “initiate a virtuous circuit that will allow companies and families to transfer all tax credits to thousands of people in an regulated way and without speculation on the number of companies that can benefit from them”.
The approved law stipulates that “regional economic public institutions that are instrumental organizations controlled by the Region and companies controlled by the Region that are not included in the list of public administrations” will purchase blocked loans. Which assets are we talking about? The table below shows the list of companies belonging to the Lazio Region and their percentages.
These include Astral, which manages 1,500 kilometers of road and rail in Lazio, and Cotral, which handles local public transport and train lines such as Roma-Lido and Roma-Viterbo. Both are 100 percent controlled by the Lazio Region. The law states that the acquisition of a loan will take place under market conditions and in any case “within a price not exceeding the nominal value of the loan.” Moreover, these measures will not impose “new or greater burdens on the regional budget.”
Marattin: “A dangerous principle emerges”
What actually happens to the investee companies that purchase the loans? Theoretically, they free up space on the balance sheet because they deduct from taxes the amounts subsequently purchased on the credit market. However, there may also be significant risks that concern society. Because these organizations provide services by basing their resources largely on public funds. “I think the opportunity cost is very high. These companies are still using the liquidity required to purchase loans. And on average they are not shining companies in terms of financial situation,” Luigi Marattin told Today.it.
An example: “Among the subsidiaries of the Lazio Region that can receive these loans are companies that manage transport services, the level of which is currently on par with developing countries, with enormous difficulties for passengers and commuters. It is therefore natural to ask: why these companies “Instead of dedicating themselves to improving the service provided to users, they are acting as loan origination ‘collectors’ of users’ and taxpayers’ money in various regions.”
There is a risk that companies invested in the regions will receive loans that have no value at the time: “Of course this is a risk, but – as Marattin points out – a dangerous principle emerges: instead of concentrating on investing, companies make every effort to improve the quality of the service they offer.” (which is often scandalous) can be used as a means of cleaning up the system. In general, if the government believes it is necessary to ‘clean up’ the system from bad loans, find a solution and don’t let investee companies do the dirty work.”
The Court of Accounts has data on the financial health of these companies: In the report on the subject, we read that the debts of the subsidiaries in total are 42.8 billion euros and their loans are 24.2 billion euros. The Lazio Region alone accounts for almost 10 percent, with over 4 billion in debt and 1.6 billion in loans.
However, it is interesting to see how much of these loans and debts of subsidiaries are directed to their participants, namely the Regions. Again, in the case of Lazio, this rate is 70 percent, as can be seen from the graph below: the highest exposure in Italy.
But besides the question of how to account for the loans collected by Eurostat in the state budget, it is also not clear how much loans are in circulation: “Only the government can make effective estimates on the real size of this problem and therefore on its real impact on the dynamics of debt – Marattin told Today.it says – but is careful not to make or publish predictions about the problem.”
How many bad loans actually exist: Mef’s answer
The lack of specific data is part of the problem: It’s unknown how many building bonus tax credits are in circulation. We are certainly not talking about figures below tens of billions of euros: the Lazio Region, for example, estimates between 4 and 6 billion euros in its territory alone. In national data, we only know the information reported by Lucia Albano, undersecretary of the Ministry of Economy.
In the table presented by the Ministry in response to a question posed to the Finance Commission of the Parliament, we read that construction premiums reached 160 billion euros in three years, 105 billion euros of which came from the Superbonus.
As can be seen from the table below shown by the Ministry of Economy at the hearing, the loans used so far in compensation through the F24 form have reached 25.5 billion euros, whereas the installments in 2023 are 18.8 billion: that is, there are still installments, 135 of which remain to be destroyed.
But on the issue of deadlocked construction loans, Mef acknowledged that “it is not possible to determine with sufficient reliability the ability of a particular person to receive construction bonuses as compensation to pay tax and social security debts, because this depends on specific circumstances.” unknown subjective characteristics and individual tendencies.” In summary: we do not know.
In addition, it is not possible to determine the “share of loans still classified as substandard” since the Revenue Administration does not know the reasons why a particular loan was not transferred to third parties, in other words, it is not known whether the issue is still ongoing or not. “because he took the loan by conscious choice or because he could not use it as compensation through form F24 or could not find other parties who could purchase it.”
By the way, the possibility of arranging the loan transfer after November 30 ends: Otherwise, these amounts will be considered “unaffordable” and will have negative repercussions on the state coffers. There is a risk of the system becoming even more clogged: In this context, hundreds of regional companies are about to come into play.
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Source: Today IT
Roy Brown is a renowned economist and author at The Nation View. He has a deep understanding of the global economy and its intricacies. He writes about a wide range of economic topics, including monetary policy, fiscal policy, international trade, and labor markets.
