Rai license fee, defaulters are increasing even if it is in the bill

In the Italy of tax contradictions, the Rai license fee is not missing. The inclusion in the electricity bill has contributed to reducing the area of ​​tax evaders, but there is a problem that emerges: the increase in arrears. This is highlighted by the 2026 report on the unobserved economy and on tax and contribution evasion 2026 attached to the Public Finance Policy Document (DPFP) presented in Parliament. An increase in so-called tax collection evasion can also be explained on the basis of the difficulties in meeting the payment of taxes due to the socio-economic context.

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The report highlights how the inclusion of the Rai license fee, i.e. the tax on the possession of a television set, in the bill has reduced the number of evaders from over 7 million in the period 2011-2015 to around 1.7 million in 2016. However, in the following years the number of evaders "started to increase again until 2020 and then showed a decrease between 2021 and 2023". According to the report, this reduction "is the result of the increase in registered members, especially those for whom the fee is included in the electricity bill".

However, there is another figure to report: the "net decrease in the rent actually paid, which goes from over 2 billion euros to around 1.96 in 2023". It should be considered that 2023 is the last year considered by the report and that the reduction from 90 to 70 euros in the fee has been foreseen for 2024. However, the report explains that "the significant decrease in income and the corresponding increase in arrears is most likely a symptom of families' growing difficulty in coping with the payment of taxes in a complex socio-economic context". Users who pay the fee decreased between 2022 and 2023 by over 300 thousand units, going from 22.3 million to around 22 million.

2023 then marks a growth in the gap, in contrast to the improvements recorded in the previous two years. «If we consider, in fact, the gap (given by the product between the average annual rent and the number of tax evaders and defaulters), with the detail of missed payments, we note how overall it has grown from 208.6 million in 2022 to over 239 million in 2023 and that missed payments have gone from 68.7 million to over 102 million».

In 2023, defaulters will increase by over 380 thousand compared to 2022: 1.14 million subjects in 2023 compared to 764 thousand in the previous year. "Furthermore, the value recorded in 2023 is - the report states - significantly higher than the values ​​recorded in the entire period examined and for the first time since 2018 the threshold of one million defaulting users was exceeded".