The municipal property tax, ICI, has been the focus of Italian politics for years. Suffice it to remember Silvio Berlusconi’s promise to abolish the housing tax during the televised face-to-face meeting with Romano Prodi in the 2006 general election or the subsequent conversion of ICI to the Imu (single municipal tax). The theme, which has been shelved in recent years, now comes to the fore again for the decision of the European Commission.
Palazzo Berlaymont has instructed Italy to withdraw “illegal government aid” given to “certain non-commercial entities in the form of property tax exemptions”. In fact, many non-profit organizations engaged in economic activity benefited from the exemption, which turned out to be an illegitimate state aid.
The EU decision only concerns exemptions until 31 December 2011 and aids exceeding 200,000 euros per beneficiary over a three-year period only. The choice will affect non-profit organizations ranging from NGOs to religious organizations that benefit from the exemption when carrying out social activities related to “welfare, social services, health, education and religious activities” of a “partly commercial” nature. European Commission spokesperson.
“Organizations engaged in non-economic activities, such as religious activities, should not be affected by the bailout decision. However, if these activities are of an economic nature, the fact that they are carried out by non-commercial organizations is not affected by the takeback order. The application of state aid rules,” he said.
The European Commission’s decision comes after a 2018 Court of Justice decision partially annulling an earlier Commission decision dating back to 2012, which declared Italy’s tax exemption contrary to EU rules on national aid. because “tax and cadastral databases did not allow identification of beneficiaries”.
The Commission has now acknowledged that the Italian authorities faced difficulties in identifying beneficiaries of illegal aid, but concluded that these were not sufficient to prevent at least partial withdrawal of aid. “Italy, for example, can use data from returns submitted under the new property tax and integrate them with other methods, including returns,” the resolution states. On this basis, the Commission instructed Italy to withdraw aid.
Source: Today IT
Karen Clayton is a seasoned journalist and author at The Nation Update, with a focus on world news and current events. She has a background in international relations, which gives her a deep understanding of the political, economic and social factors that shape the global landscape. She writes about a wide range of topics, including conflicts, political upheavals, and economic trends, as well as humanitarian crisis and human rights issues.
