A bloodbath. The day after the government decree that taxes the profits accrued thanks to the increase in interest rates, the shares of the banks collapsed on the Stock Exchange. The listed companies lose 9 billion of capitalization, in a black day for Piazza Affari which, driven by the sales of bank shares, marks a drop of 2.12%. While the parent company of Forza Italia Paolo Barelli stands apart and asks for changes in Parliament, no one has yet managed to understand the real extent of the provision on the income statements of the banks. Analysts’ estimates range from 2-3 billion to 5, but some dare to go much further.
A cap on the tax
In the evening, the Ministry of the Economy clarified the outlines of the new law a little better, which are still being profoundly reworked at Palazzo Chigi. Meanwhile, according to the Mef, there is a ceiling on the tax equal to 0.1% of assets (according to Bank of Italy it is equal to 3,300 billion overall, therefore with a theoretical maximum of 3.3 billion), and 25% of the heritage. According to the ministry, in any case, the banks that this year have accepted the invitation to adjust rates on deposits “will not have a significant impact”.
Forza Italia asks for changes
The many uncertainties about the law also explain Forza Italia’s caution within the majority, while the League and the Brothers of Italy applaud the provision with conviction, and the opposition itself appears divided. “I wouldn’t want the collapse in the stock market to have depended on a provision that the government probably should have evaluated better”, declares Barelli who adds: “In Parliament we will put our heads on this provision and if necessary we will propose amendments. There are controversial opinions. Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani who is also vice premier and secretary of Forza Italia had already told Corriere: “The tax is valid only for one year and can be examined in depth during the examination of the Chambers”.
Reduced tax
The measure introduced to the Council on Monday evening, in any case, was much tougher. The tax applied to 2022 interest margins 3% higher than those of 2021, and to those of 2023 6% higher than those of the previous year. Percentages which, after a discussion with the accounting technicians, were adjusted during the meeting to 5% and 10%, making the pill less bitter for the credit institutions.
You will go to 27.5%
The premier’s party and the League strongly support the tax on extra profits. “This is the only government that has the power to tax the banks, because it’s the only one that doesn’t have privileged relationships with the banking system,” says Giovanbattista Fazzolari, undersecretary to the Prime Minister. Forgetting, however, that for years, and still now, banks have been paying an additional Ires of 3.5%, as the president of the Banking Association, Antonio Patuelli, now entrenched in silence, always complains. Even on the left, the choice of government creates divisions. The M5S secretary, Giuseppe Conte, rejoices, the Democratic Party, with Andrea Orlando, approves the decision, but waits to see the text of the provision. Carlo Calenda, from Action, is instead very cautious. «The taxation of extra profits is legitimate only in the event of extraordinary events. Here a very dangerous precedent is being established» says Calenda, who has doubts about the compatibility of the measure with European standards.
Mortgage fund already full
Even the CISL judges the government’s decision positively, which according to the union should be extended to other multinationals in logistics, digital and energy, where, however, attempts have already been made to tax extra profits, with poor results. Against an expected revenue of 11 billion, 2.8 billion have arrived, and the government has just extended the payment of the second installment for 2023. The revenue from the tax, according to the government, should be used both to finance the tax cut and to replenish the First home mortgage fund, which pays interest on installments suspended due to difficulties, and grants guarantees of up to 80% on mortgages for young people up to 36 years of age. Except that the Fund is already full of money: since 2007 when it was created it was financed for 480 million euros, but at the end of 2022, there were still 330 million euros in the Fund.