Italy’s Meloni beneath hearth over plan to lift money funds cap By Reuters

By Alvise Armellini

ROME (Reuters) -Italy’s new right-wing authorities is planning to lift a restrict on money funds, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni mentioned Wednesday, amid opposition complaints that the transfer would profit tax cheats and cash launderers.

Tax dodging is a power downside in Italy, with greater than 100 billion euros ($100.47 billion) evaded per 12 months, in keeping with Treasury information. In 2019, some 18.5% of taxes due have been evaded.

Money is tougher to hint in comparison with digital funds, so it’s extra seemingly for use for illicit functions. But forcing folks to make use of bank cards is unpopular in some quarters, ostensibly for causes of freedom and privateness.

“I affirm that we are going to change the cap on money (funds)”, Meloni advised the Senate earlier than a vote of confidence on her authorities, standing by a pre-election pledge of her rightist bloc.

Earlier, Matteo Salvini’s League, a junior coalition ally, offered a draft invoice to hike the cap to 10,000 euros from subsequent 12 months. It presently stands at 2,000 euros and was attributable to go all the way down to 1,000 euros from subsequent 12 months.

Since 2010, the cap has been moved up and down a number of occasions, starting from 1,000 to five,000 euros.

Italy has historically been one of many European Union’s extra cash-based economies, however the development has modified lately, with card funds turning into more and more common for the reason that begin of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Senator Franco Mirabelli of the centre-left Democratic Occasion mentioned Meloni’s plan could be a “reward” to mafia teams. “It will favour (tax) evasion in addition to cash laundering,” he wrote on Fb (NASDAQ:),

Giuseppe Conte, a former premier and chief of the left-leaning opposition 5 Star Motion, additionally protested.

“We do not wish to favour crime and corruption. We’re as an alternative involved with serving to … nearly all of Italians, unusual folks. Those that don’t usually go round with 10,000 euros in money of their pocket,” he mentioned.

Meloni insisted there was “no correlation” between money funds and the scale of the underground economic system. “There are international locations that haven’t any limits and really low (tax) evasion,” she mentioned, mentioning Germany.

Nonetheless, a Financial institution of Italy research from final 12 months concluded that “elevating the edge for using money from 1,000 euros to three,000 euros, as was finished in Italy in 2016 to spice up spending, had the aspect impact of resulting in a bigger underground economic system.”

European Fee Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis, requested in Brussels about Italy’s plans, mentioned that caps within the EU presently vary from 500 to over 10,000 euros, and famous that the Fee has proposed a prime restrict of 10,000 euros.

He mentioned at a information convention he want to see “smaller money cost limits”.

($1 = 0.9980 euros)