“Good reasons” and bad intentions. And that karst river that resurfaces, that is, the desire to deal a fiscal blow to the house. Let’s specify: no one in the government or in the majority has this idea. But yesterday an article appeared in La Stampa, with a front-page entry, by Elsa Fornero who proposed an idea: «There could be many good reasons why our country could consider a tax on wealth (in fact on real estate assets, given that the financial sector is already overburdened by this) and in fact many European countries have it”. Then he added: «The underlying reasons, often combined, are mainly two: serious difficulties in public finances and serious social inequalities». It seems like an agreement: Elsa Fornero was a minister in that government, led by Mario Monti, whose care for horses was also based on the introduction of the IMU in the first homes in 2011. A devastating effect not only for the pockets of Italians, but also for real estate itself, which also devalued due to this tax offensive. So, we returned to discussing patrimonial issues, an old desire of the left. A nightmare for the center-right.
Silvio Berlusconi, convinced as he was – rightly taking into account the private wealth of Italians – that the real estate and construction sector was the engine of the entire economy, made the abolition of the then ICI (municipal property tax) on the first housing was a “nail” of the electoral campaign for the 2006 political elections. He showed it live on television during a face-to-face meeting with Romano Prodi and recovered – it was calculated at the time – 5 percentage points. He then lost the elections by a narrow margin, but kept his promise two years later, in 2008, when he returned to Palazzo Chigi. Not raising property taxes is therefore part of the center-right’s DNA. Where did the outcry come from yesterday? From Forza Italia, starting with the national secretary and vice-president of the Council Antonio Tajani. «As long as Forza Italia is in government, as long as Forza Italia is in Parliament, there will never be a patrimonial – thunders – We want to reduce taxes for Italians and we do not want to increase them. The citizen’s heritage, acquired with a lot of effort, cannot be touched.”
The leader of the group in the Senate, Maurizio Gasparri, sinks in: «We find the mere hypothesis of a tax on wealth absurd and provocative. For Forza Italia we need to reduce taxes, cancel the most unfair ones and completely remove them from a basic necessity like a first home.” Spokesperson Raffaele Nevi notes: «A house, especially in Italy, is not a luxury, but the fruit of work and family savings. President Silvio Berlusconi taught us this and we will never change our mind.” Criticism also from Fratelli d’Italia, where the group’s leader in the Chamber Tommaso Foti defines Fornero’s text as a “manifesto from the left in favor of heritage.” Representative Ylenja Lucaselli attacks: “Just the idea of presenting a heritage bill already indicates a disconnection from reality.” According to my colleague Manlio Messina, it would be a “wrong and unfair choice”.
From the League, leader and deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini is clear: «Italy has had enough of this lady’s disastrous “recipes”. Hands off Italians’ homes and savings.” From the opposition, Nicola Fratoianni, leader of the Italian left and author of more than one proposal in this regard, supports Fornero’s proposal: “What doesn’t surprise me is the uproar that the right does every time he hears about heritage issues.” Then there are the categories. Like property owners, with their representative acronym, Confedilizia. “It’s disconcerting,” said Giorgio Spaziani Testa, president of the association, about Fornero’s proposal. ” He was a government minister who in 2011 established the heaviest real estate tax in Italian history (FYI, it’s called Imu.) And the news – once again for the teacher, not for those who have been paying her for twelve years – is that no one eliminated the assets, still costing it a good 22 billion euros per year.”
Source: IL Tempo
Emma Fitzgerald is an accomplished political journalist and author at The Nation View. With a background in political science and international relations, she has a deep understanding of the political landscape and the forces that shape it.
