The flat tax will surely make the tax system simpler, but it won't help tax evasion and it won't lower taxes in a responsible way.'Ĭriticisms of the flat tax programs is that the disproportionately hurts self-employed workers, and gives more savings to higher income earners who earn money from investments. 'Taxes are too high, the tax system is too complex with tens of thousands of tax rules, and there is too much tax evasion. 'Italy needs tax reform,' Francesco Tundo, a tax law professor at the University of Bologna, told Xinhua.

dollars), exacerbating the deficit issue.Įconomists say switching to a flat tax could do more harm than good for Italy. Economists estimate the flat tax would reduce government revenue by as much as 30 billion euros (33.6 billion U.S. The proposal comes at a time when Italy is facing the possibility of sanctions from the European Commission over the size of the government's budget deficit. The Five-Star Movement, which had previously opposed a flat-tax, now says it is willing to consider the measure. Salvini has brushed aside speculation that he wants to form a government without the Five-Star Movement, though he has said that if the Five-Star Movement does not back the flat-tax plan he would consider pulling support from the government, making it collapse. Now, Salvini says it will be tax reform: charging income tax to a flat 15-percent on all income. The League's strong showing in the latest vote has tilted the balance of power in its direction, after it earned almost double the votes of the populist Five-Star Movement, the League's coalition partner.ĭuring the first year of the government of Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, Salvini made the closure of Italian ports to would-be asylum seekers his central issue. Matteo Salvini is Italy's deputy prime minister and head of the League, the nationalist political party which was the top vote getter in Italy in the recent election for members of the new European Parliament. ROME, June 3 (Xinhua) - The head of Italy's largest political party says a plan to introduce a flat tax will be the government's top priority going forward, even if he has to make the government collapse to make it happen.

Flat tax think tanks