ROMA – Unused funds for non-repayable contributions to VAT numbers remain a ‘treasure’ of about four billion. Economy Minister Daniele Franco said this last night in a parliamentary hearing during the hearing of the Budget Committee of the House. In fact, the data coming from the Revenue Agency are beginning to shed some light on the audience of shops, restaurateurs, tourism operators who have applied for the non-repayable aid of the ‘Sostegni’ and ‘Sostegni Bis’ decrees.
Franco: “Possible postponement of collections, more resources for VAT numbers”
And therefore the government outlines the summer intervention that will be focused on these categories, the most affected by the pandemic, after having qualified the latest economic decree as essential to avoid “permanent damage to the economy” and on the wave of economic forecasts that improve: “it is probable that if everything continues at the pace of the last few weeks, in terms of the economic and health aspects, the annual GDP forecast could be revised upwards”. In recent days, Istat and the Confindustria study center have also spoken of an upward revision of the 4.5% growth estimate in 2021.
Franco explained that the applications for non-repayable support from VAT numbers, expected at 3 million, were lower and “the number of applications emerged from the Revenue Agency under two million”. The estimates, progressively lowered from the initial 11 billion, would give additional availability of 4-5 billion. The Dl Sostegni Bis already plans to use additional resources to raise the number of beneficiary VAT numbers, bringing the threshold of access from 10 to 15 million in turnover.
The next intervention, with four billion that would be distributed at the end of the summer “, is that for VAT numbers commensurate with the loss:” the hypothesis that I would personally formulate is to use this margin, which we will see how large in two weeks, for the ‘summer intervention calculated on the results of the year – Franco explains to the parliamentarians listening – so the four billion should become a more considerable figure “.
A strengthening of the non-repayable component that comes while the Bank of Italy gives the ‘green light’ to government measures. In a hearing on the Sostegni bis decree, Fabrizio Balassone, Head of the Economic Structure Service of Via Nazionale, assured that the measures “seem sufficient”, with the support for production activities in 2021 increased again compared to 2020, containing less than 100 thousand the number of companies in liquidity crisis against the 140 thousand that would otherwise have found themselves in difficulty. Measures of “exceptional size” necessary to counter the pandemic shock, said Balassone, recalling that “public intervention will have the difficult task of becoming more selective, focusing on the sectors that will suffer from difficulties linked to the health crisis for the longest time, supporting and accompanying those who are still unemployed towards a new job. “Confirming the expectations of a 2021 increase in GDP over 4% already anticipated by Governor Visco, the head of Bankitalia assured that for the second half of the year a” robust growth “.
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