MILAN. Fringe benefit for everyone and not just for those with children with the threshold that would rise based on the number of children. The hypothesis is on the table of the government and the majority, who are trying to revise the norm of the work decree, which greatly raises the non-taxation threshold of company benefits but limits the audience only to employees with dependent children. However, the stumbling block is the coverage, on which the MEF’s evaluations are underway. And the Treasury is always looking for another hot topic, that of the possible extension of smart working, which expires at the end of June.
The amendment node
The two changes could come with the examination of the amendments to the labor decree, on which the social affairs commission has just begun to vote. And that they are the two most sensitive changes is confirmed by the fact that the amendments on the subject were immediately set aside, pending the conclusion of the checks on the coverage. In particular, on fringe benefits, the idea under study is to remodulate the intervention defined by the government in the work decree, which raises the tax-free ceiling from the current 258 euros to 3 thousand euros, but only for employees with children. The intention is to make it more effective and the solution being thought of is to raise the threshold a little less, but by expanding the audience: the hypothesis under study is therefore to bring the ceiling to 1,000 euros for everyone, adding 660 euros for each child, up to a maximum of three. In this way, for those with one child the ceiling would rise to 1,660 euros, while for those with 3 it would reach 2,980 euros, thus touching the original 3,000. The crux, however, is the coverage: this solution would cost around 250 million, compared to the 142 million envisaged by the decree to raise the threshold to 3 thousand euros only for employees with children.
The other front
The other front on which we are working is that of smart working, which expires on June 30 without intervention. The idea that is making headway, however, would be to extend it only for fragile workers, and not also for parents with children under 14. “We are no longer in a pandemic, so I don’t think there is any more urgency to intervene on parents with children under 14. I hope instead that there will continue to be the right attention towards the frail”, said the Minister of Public Administration Paolo Zangrillo in an interview with Il Messaggero. However, the obstacle, even in this case, is economic. “We are doing in-depth studies”, explains the Undersecretary for Labor Maria Teresa Bellucci: “The covers must be checked – she specifies -, there will be in-depth studies”. Meanwhile, the work in the Senate committee continues, with the aim of closing this week. The text is expected in the Chamber at Palazzo Madama between Tuesday 13 and Wednesday 14 June. It is an “important” provision and we want to “help improve it”, explains the president of the social affairs commission Francesco Zaffini (FdI), assuring that “the spirit is good” and that “something from the opposition will also be incorporated”.