Maneuver, a new six-month postponement is coming for Sugar and Plastic taxes

A new extension of another six months is coming for Plastic and Sugar taxes. The hypothesis on the table of the maneuver (anticipated by «Il Sole 24 Ore» on 22 October) was also confirmed by the deputy prime minister and secretary of Forza Italia, Antonio Tajani a few hours before the majority summit scheduled for 6.30 pm in view of the finalization of the Budget Bill which should arrive in the Council of Ministers as early as Tuesday 27 October.

«Since plastics is a sector in which you are also involved, there will be no plastic tax, we will postpone - explained Tajani speaking at the public meeting of Federchimica, underway in Milan - the introduction of the Plastic tax and Sugar tax for at least another six months, then we will see. I am in favor of postponing it for a year, so in six months I believe that if we are in government, we will postpone it further", meanwhile, "for the next six months the Plastic Tax will not exist".

The postponement of the application to July 2027 would represent the ninth extension (eight counted by the Catholic University Observatory on Italian Public Accounts) for the two "virtuous" taxes introduced in 2020 by the Conte government on the one hand to discourage the use of sugary drinks and combat obesity and on the other to contain the use of disposable plastic products. However, it will be an extension of six months: their entry into force, in fact, would be deferred from 1 January 2027 to next 30 June. With the prospect of putting the tithe in our sights, also considering in light of Tajani's words which will then come into force during the year.

The two associations of Confindustria Assobibe (national trade association representing companies that produce and sell soft drinks in Italy) and Unionplast (trade association representing the Italian plastics processing industry) had requested the definitive removal of the two taxes from the next budget law. In their opinion, a horizon of just six months only prolongs devastating uncertainty for businesses, holding investments, production and jobs hostage.

But it's not just the Sugar and Plastic Tax on the budget table. One of the possible measures strongly sponsored by Tajani is the revaluation of corporate assets. «We will try to make some choices, for example the revaluation of the capital, I think I have also convinced Minister Giorgetti on this. It's not always easy, he tries to keep the purse strings tight", Tajani said during the Federchimica assembly, referring to the possibility of revaluing real estate capital assets in company balance sheets. The minister gave as an example the value of the warehouses used by chemical companies.