Berlusconi throws flat tax plan into election campaign

SHARES

BY Unknown Saturday, January 13, 2018 0

Berlusconi throws flat tax plan into election campaign

Italian former Prime Minister and leader of center-right party Forza Italia (Go Italy), Silvio Berlusconi speaks on the set of the broadcast "Porta a Porta", a programme of Italian channel Rai 1, on January 11, 2018 in Rome. / AFP PHOTO / Alberto PIZZOLI

A promise of a flat tax by former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi Friday sparked sharp reactions from opponents ahead of a general election and head-scratching among economists.

Campaigning ahead of a general election on March 4 at the helm of the conservative Forza Italia movement, Berlusconi said on TV late Thursday that such a tax would start at the current minimum rate of 23 percent, before being brought down to below 20 percent.

The remarks by Berlusconi -- who never sought to introduce a flat tax during his three terms as prime minister -- immediately drew criticsm from centre-left former prime minister Matteo Renzi who said he wondered where the money to finance the move would come from.

"The flat tax at 15 percent would cost 95 billion euros ($115 billion), and at 20 percent 57 billion," Renzi said Friday.

A 15-percent flat tax proposal has been part of the platform of far-right Northern League, allied with Forza Italia, for years.

Its supporters says it would replace the current progressive tax rates which run up to 43 percent.

Forza Italia parliamentary chief Renato Brunetta called a flat tax "a revolutionary measure that will relaunch the country after the (current) disastrous government is gone".

Lost tax revenue would be offset by less tax evasion and higher spending power for households, supporters say.

"The crazy people who pay (taxes) now will pay a bit less, and those who don't pay at all will pay in the future," Northern League chief Matteo Salvini said.

But Luigi Marattin, an economist and former Renzi aide, called the flat tax "a colossal joke" and "deeply unfair" because it would benefit mostly the wealthy.

Capital Economics analyst Jack Allen, said imposing a flat tax "wouldn't be quite that simple", possibly violating the Italian constitution which calls for a progressive tax code.

He also said that any positive impact on economic growth "would be negligible" because the government would have to accompany the tax cuts with spending cuts "to avoid a blow-out in the budget deficit".

At any rate, Allen said, it was not certain that Italy's current tax regime is really a constraint on economic performance.

Instead, the government may be better advised to strengthen the business environment by making it easier to start a business, obtain credit and enforce contracts, he said.

Berlusconi Is $2 Billion Richer as He Makes a Political Comeback

SHARES

BY Unknown Tuesday, December 19, 2017 0

Berlusconi Is $2 Billion Richer as He Makes a Political Comeback

The tide may be turning for Silvio Berlusconi.

A year ago, the 81-year-old billionaire politician was out of power and locked in battle. Banned from public office after a 2013 conviction for tax fraud, the former four-time prime minister was campaigning against then-Prime Minister Matteo Renzi’s proposed reforms while his fortune languished near a five-year low. Then a fight over control of his broadcaster Mediaset SpA broke out with French billionaire Vincent Bollore. 

Silvio Berlusconi

Photographer: Alessia Pierdomenico/Bloomberg

The struggle spurred investor interest in Mediaset, driving up the share price, and Berlusconi got a further political boost last month when his Forza Italia party won a center-right coalition victory, positioning him for a potential return to power.

With help from a rally in Italian equities, the self-described “most persecuted man in history” has seen his net worth rise 36.9 percent from Nov. 28, 2016, when Vivendi’s chief content officer touted the company’s possible alliance with Mediaset as a way for European media companies to compete with U.S. rivals.

Berlusconi, who’s appealing to the European Court of Human Rights against the ban on holding office, has seen his net worth rise to $8.4 billion, the best performance in the period among the five Italians on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, a daily ranking of the world’s 500 richest people.

A spokesman for Berlusconi’s Milan-based investment firm, Fininvest SpA declined to comment on his net worth.

Closely held Fininvest has stakes in media, biotechnology and finance, including his two largest holdings, Mediaset, which had a total return of 43 percent since Nov. 28, 2016, and Mediobanca SpA, which rose 62 percent. Italian equities are up 42 percent in the same period, despite an economy that’s still struggling with high unemployment, rising poverty and a strained financial system.

Berlusconi, who sold Serie A soccer team AC Milan to Chinese investors in April for 740 million euros ($788 million), faces a new trial in February, ahead of Italy’s national elections. Last month he was indicted for allegedly bribing a witness to give false testimony about allegations he held “bunga bunga” sex parties and hired an underage Moroccan prostitute. He denies wrongdoing.

“We have been arguing that this was his last time so many times that we must be very careful,” said Giovanni Orsina, a professor of political history at Rome’s Luiss-Guido Carli University. “He’s 81 so I assume this is his last election, but he’s resilient. The odds are to bet against him but I would be very careful with any prophecy regarding the man.”

— With assistance by Jack Witzig

FG meets Italy over 26 Nigerians’ burial, demands victims’ identities

SHARES

BY Unknown Monday, November 27, 2017 0

FG meets Italy over 26 Nigerians’ burial, demands victims’ identities

FG meets Italy over 26 Nigerians’ burial, demands victims’ identities

Politicalnewz24

The Federal Government has met with some officials of the Italian government in its attempt to investigate the burial of 26 Nigerian women who died in the Mediterranean Sea three weeks ago.

The FG, through the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, met Italian officials including the President of the Italian Chamber of Deputies, Laura Boldrini; the Chief of Italian Police, Franco Gabrielli; and the General Commander of Italy’s Carabinieri, Tullio Del Sette, in Italy.

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, was one of the Nigerian delegates at the meeting.

According to a release by NAPTIP on Sunday, the agency’s Director General, Julie Okah-Donli, condemned the “hasty burial of the 26 women,” noting that a report was being awaited from Italy on the identities of the deceased.

The forum was titled, ‘Women empowerment and the fight against trafficking in persons: the partnership between Italy and Nigeria” and organised by Boldrini, the head of the Italian lawmakers.

The remains of the women believed to be crossing the Mediterranean were recovered from a Spanish warship, Cantabria, which docked in Salerno, a coastal area in Italy on Monday, November 6.

The ship was reportedly found to be carrying 375 rescued migrants and the dead women.

Okah-Donli, asked the Italian authorities to ensure that those involved in the incident were properly prosecuted.

She said, “To stem the tide of such dangerous journeys, the Nigerian government has introduced a number of economic and social measures to reverse this unfortunate trend.

“We frown on the haste with which the 26 girls were buried without full disclosure of their identities and nationalities. We express sadness that the remains of the girls were buried on Friday, November 17, just a day after the Italian Embassy in Nigeria communicated to us through an email that the remains would be buried on November 26.

“We convey the anger and sadness of the Nigerian people over the news of the death of the young girls, especially with the unavailability of their proper identities and how they died. We demand that those who are involved in the gruesome death of these girls be properly identified and prosecuted.”

The DG asked Italy to implement the “Palermo Protocol especially with victims’ care and support rather than treat victims from Nigeria as criminals.”

The statement added, “As of the time the DG left Italy, the Nigerian Embassy was still awaiting a formal response to the request for a proper report on the matter from the Italian authorities, especially with regard to the number of identified Nigerians and their identities.”