ROME. The tightening of the superbonus is coming: this is foreseen by a law decree approved by the Council of Ministers currently underway at Palazzo Chigi. The measure, which was not on the agenda, was presented by the Minister of Economy Giancarlo Giorgetti and would have the aim of keeping costs under control.
The objective of the provision is to contain the costs of the measure. According to the latest data from ENEA, in February the expenditure borne by the State for deductions accrued for completed works amounted to 114.4 billion euros, with an increase of 7 billion compared to the previous month. In February, works worth 104.4 billion were eligible for deduction. The works involved 480,815 buildings, including 8 castles.
The minister’s statements
«These measures are aimed at definitively closing the excessive generosity of a measure which, as is known, has caused serious problems for public finances and whose effects we will be able to definitively count in a few days when the window for uploading all the works closes, and the invoices, executed by 31 December 2023″, said the Minister of Economy. «The government has approved a decree regarding building bonuses which eliminates any type of discount on invoices and credit transfer for all types that still provided for it», he then added. «The measures relating to building bonuses were created in a reckless way for public finances», attacked Giorgetti.
«We have eliminated the Institute’s provision of bonus remittance which would have allowed the corrections – with the payment of a minimum penalty – of all communications already made until 15 October 2024. Furthermore, for all new cases we have provided preventive communication, at the moment in which the presentation of the work begins, in order to have preventive monitoring with respect to the phenomenon and not at the moment in which the invoices are uploaded onto the Agency’s platform. Come in. We are certainly waiting for the definitive data, unfortunately there was no shortage of surprises, always in a negative sense. The bill is already very high, even if someone is enthusiastic about it, the price for public finances and the debt will weigh heavily for several years to come. The objective of this decree is to put an end point with respect to the impact on 2023, without prejudice to Eurostat’s definitive assessments. The fact that we are introducing monitoring rules testifies that these rules were created in a reckless way and have produced devastating results for public finances, I said it from the beginning, I continue to support it, someone smiled about stomach ache, I confirm that it is very bad for me to all Italians.” «As far as the State Accountant General is concerned, I don’t think it’s worth discussing here», the minister then concluded.
«In order to guarantee adequate and timely knowledge of the economic and financial quantities connected to the facilitation measures covered by the decree, the introduction of measures aimed at acquiring more information relating to the implementation of the eligible interventions. Furthermore, a set of sanctions is foreseen. In particular, the failure to transmit this information, if relating to interventions already started, determines the application of an administrative fine of 10,000 euros, while for new interventions the forfeiture of the tax relief is foreseen”.
What changes
The intervention was also necessary in light of the latest data certified by Istat, which led to the revision of the deficit for the year 2023 reaching the measure of 7.2 percent, an upward revision that follows that already occurred for the years 2021 and 2022. The decree provides, among other things: the elimination, for interventions subsequent to the entry into force of the new rules, of the remaining cases for which the exercise of the options for the so-called discount in invoice or for the assignment of credit in lieu of deductions; in order to acquire, upon the ordinary expiry of the deadline set for the aforementioned benefits (4 April 2024), the amount of the total amount of options exercised and transfers stipulated, the application of the institution of remission into bonis which would have allowed, with the payment of a minimum fine, the functional communication for the use of the benefits until 15 October 2024; in order to guarantee adequate and timely knowledge of the economic and financial quantities connected to the subsidized measures covered by the decree, the introduction of measures aimed at acquiring more information relating to the implementation of the subsidized interventions. Furthermore, a set of sanctions is foreseen. In particular, the failure to transmit this information, if relating to interventions already started, determines the application of an administrative fine of 10,000 euros, while for new interventions the forfeiture of the tax relief is foreseen; in order to avoid the use of construction bonuses also by subjects who have debts towards the treasury, as already provided for in our legislation in other cases, the usability of the credits is suspended, up to the amount due of tax relating to construction bonuses in the presence of registrations on the roll or loads entrusted to the collection agents relating to state taxes as well as documents issued by the Revenue Agency for total amounts exceeding 10,000 euros, if the payment terms have expired and provided they are not in be suspension measures or there are no ongoing installment plans for which no forfeiture has occurred; the introduction of measures aimed at preventing fraud regarding the transfer of ACE credits, reducing the possibility of transfer to one and extending the joint and several liability of the transferee to cases of complicity in the violation, as well as expanding preventive controls regarding suspicious transactions.