'The Irpef cut for the middle class is at risk, there is no coverage'

The menu of the maneuver could lose the hypothesis of a cut in Irpef for the middle class, the reduction of the rate from 43 to 33% foreseen on the bracket of 50 thousand to 60 thousand euros of income.

The idea would instead be to use the limited resources of the budget to direct them towards interventions to help the elderly and the frail on the healthcare front, as well as to support the salaries of young people.

These are the indications that - according to what the newspapers Il Sole 24 Ore and La Repubblica reported - emerged in a discussion of the majority held at the Ministry of Economy in view of the finalization of the maneuver.

On the Irpef cut - writes Il Sole 24 Ore - "the dossier is not closed, because a majority and the Government will continue to push to keep it in progress. But at the moment it appears frozen: because the coverage is not there, unless we give up on alternative ideas such as that of the bonus for the vulnerable, a paper released yesterday at the meeting to intercept a wider audience, and focused once again on the lowest income groups".

For them, "the technicians are studying a way to put into practice at least partially the desire to advance the Irpef deductions for healthcare expenses, which only take effect the following year, with the declaration, and only for those who are not incompetent. Anticipating them for everyone is impossible for cash reasons: for this reason we are working on a lump sum bonus, the value of which will depend on the income threshold of the beneficiaries. First of all, the expenses for services incurred outside the national healthcare system would come into play, starting from those dental".

On the labor front - again according to Il Sole 24 Ore - "help for salaries could then be offered by the repetition of the tax relief on contractual increases. The tax discount on thirteenth wages, however, has been postponed to better times: it could be discussed again at the end of 2027, accounts and political will permitting (there are also elections in the middle)".

Repubblica also writes that "the margins are very tight" for the Irpef cut which however - the newspaper recalls - "prime minister Giorgia Meloni has indicated several times as the priority objective of her fifth budget".

"The issue that now fuels the doubts is entirely political - the article claims - It concerns the effectiveness of the measure. The fears are linked to the number of beneficiaries of the tax reduction. The simulations speak of around 3 million taxpayers, an audience considered 'contained' compared to the much broader needs of the vote".

In this context - in addition to the elderly, frail and young - we are also thinking about extending the flat tax for VAT numbers.

"It is better to concentrate - argues the article in La Repubblica - on something more usable at the polls. It is around this reasoning that the possibility of raising the flat tax threshold for VAT numbers emerges. After having raised it from 65 thousand to 85 thousand euros, the aim is now to place the bar around 100 thousand euros. In this sense, the executive intends to relaunch the negotiations with Brussels given that for enlargement it would be necessary to intervene at the same time on VAT regulations".