The independent authorities are critical of the economic maneuver. The most recent alarm comes from the Court of Auditors, which yesterday put the government in default for the delays in the plan to improve nurseries, for which the European Commission is allocating 4.5 billion. Accounting magistrates write that, if there is no gear change, this money will be lost. Together with the Bank of Italy, the Parliamentary Budget Office and ISTAT research center, the Court of Auditors is one of the major independent institutions which have recently been convened by Parliament to express an opinion on the most significant aspects of the economic maneuver. They have promoted the basic choices – deficit, debt, measures against expensive energy – but have instead rejected the so-called "identity-producing" measures, such as the amnesty, the increase in the cash cap, the flat tax. On the amnesty, the Court of Auditors notes that, in this way, the idea that "avoiding the payment of taxes can be considerably advantageous" may spread from there. The Bank of Italy, on the other hand, recalls that, according to the studies, more cash is equivalent to a more underground economy and adds that, among theft, transport and insurance, digital payments cost merchants less than cash. The Parliamentary Budget Office adds that this is contrary to the explicit recommendations of the European Council. The new tax system for the self-employed, which is halfway between flat-rate and flat-rate taxation, is also the subject of unanimous criticism. For the Bank of Italy this is "a less progressive and less equitable tax"; for the Court of Auditors "the IRPEF is turning into a tax on pensions and wages"; for the Parliamentary Budget Office there are equity problems within the same category of self-employed workers. And with the independent authorities the Meloni government has a problem.
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