Cacophony within the Italian government. Two weeks before the European election, the reestablishment of tax control suspended in 2018 has parasitized the campaign of Fratelli d’Italia, the far-right party at the head of the government coalition. Worn by the Deputy Minister of the Economy Maurizio Leo, a member of the post-fascist party, this tool, nicknamed “Redditometro” (for wealth indicator, Editor’s note) by the Italians, was finally put on the shelf by the President of the Council Giorgia Meloni two days after its publication in the Official Journal. Story of a political-media frenzy.
The controversy begins this Tuesday, May 21. In an interview given to the transalpine daily Corriere della Sera, Maurizio Leo announces the big return of the redditometro, an instrument used by the tax authorities to flush out the “false poor”, these well-off Italians whose lifestyle does not correspond to their declared income. From the outset, the operation is quite simple: the system measures the consistency between the lifestyle of individuals and their income. Thus, if the amounts spent exceed the declared income by 20%, the tax administration could ask the taxpayer to demonstrate their probity.
To justify the return by decree of the redditometro, the Deputy Minister of the Economy then mentions in his interview with Corriere della Sera a series of arguments. First, the Court of Auditors would have warned of the risks of “possible damage to the Public Treasury due to the non-adoption of the calculation criteria”. Then, the “fiscal hole” would still be gaping. In the order of “80 to 100 billion euros per year”, announces Maurizio Leo who drums: “we cannot abandon the fight against (tax) evasion”. Finally, according to him, the suspension of the use criteria has created a regulatory vacuum, resulting in “a permanent and limitless mechanism”: “the tax authorities can make summary assessments as they see fit, […] without having certain elements”. And to summarize: “It is therefore a question of reestablishing guarantees for taxpayers”.
Meloni’s allies are on the rise
As soon as it was announced, the rebirth of Redditometro aroused the ire of a large part of the Italian political class. “They raise taxes, they enter into people’s lives, they lie in official documents. And yet, they blame others. But they are not bad: they are simply incompetent”, thus criticized the former President of the Council, Matteo Renzi.
Daily the StampaDemocratic Party senator Antonio Misiani mocked: “They are ridiculous. For years they have been blasting the Redditometro and now, after reintroducing it, they have gotten themselves into this surreal controversy with the Lega and Forza Italia (members of the government coalition, Editor’s note) who talk about ‘big brother’ and ‘inquisition’, while FdI representatives try to defend Deputy Minister Leo”.
Adversaries in the European campaign, Giorgia Meloni’s allies did not fail to target Fratelli d’Italia, whose list led by the Prime Minister is leading the polls. “The Redditometer is an outdated tool, we have always been against it,” asserted Forza Italia. Same story on the Lega side of Matteo Salvini. “The inquisition has been over for a long time and will certainly not return with the League to government. Controlling Italian spending, in Big Brother mode, is certainly not the best method to fight against evasion.”
Meloni’s about-face
On the side of the head of the Italian government, the initiative of her vice-minister was little appreciated. In a message posted from her X account (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday May 22, Giorgia Meloni disagreed, assuring that her government “will never introduce a ‘Big Brother tax'”. has always been opposed to invasive redditometer mechanisms applied to ordinary citizens”
According to our colleagues at Corriere della Sera, the President of the Council “had still not vented her anger after the slip-up of her vice-minister” on Wednesday morning. “Giorgia Meloni and Maurizio Leo locked themselves in a room to try to reverse a narrative that the leader considers disastrous: that of a government which, because of a double error of timing and communication, would be transformed in government which suddenly picks the Italians’ pockets.
In a video posted on Instagram late Wednesday, Giorgia Meloni announced a moratorium on the application of the decree. “After meeting with the deputy minister, Leo and we came to the conclusion that it would be better to suspend him pending in-depth studies.” Unsurprisingly, her allies immediately took credit for the choice of Council President. “I am very satisfied, Meloni accepted our proposal,” said Antonio Tajani, boss of Forza Italia and Minister of Foreign Affairs.
If Giorgia Meloni reaffirmed her confidence in Maurizio Leo, her decision to suspend the tax system is no less a public disavowal. And a perfect opportunity for the opposition in the middle of the campaign, to shed light on the dissonances of a government coalition which seems to be crumbling.