We go back to talking about Superbonus and trying to understand how to stem fraud and uncover irregularities also within the architectural barrier bonus and the facade bonus. There is a project under study to involve the Municipalities in checks on the superbonus: this could soon be extended to other benefits, with a view to identifying irregularities and fraud.
The plan to find the crafty Superbonus people
While the conversion law of the super bonus decree is being developed in the Finance Committee of the Senate, work is being done on an intervention which, according to what was declared by the rapporteur of the decree, Giorgio Salvitti (Fdi), is being further clarified in recent days.
The plan to intensify controls also involves the president of the Senate Finance Committee, Massimo Garavaglia (Lega), who presented a formal proposal together with Stefano Borghesi (Lega). This proposal suggests extend controls not only to the superbonus, but also to other benefits considered at risk of irregularitiessuch as the architectural barrier bonus and the facade bonus.
The proposal aims to combat fraudulent activities linked to the undue perception and use of deductions, not only of the superbonus, but also of the architectural barrier bonus and interventions on building facades. This intervention, if approved, could lead to a series of more rigorous controls, even with access to the construction site, to identify any fraud.
However, there are still some issues to be resolved, such as the percentage of revenue that will remain with local authorities and the real ability of mayors to implement this measure. The municipal technical offices, already under pressure due to the numerous contracts of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, may have difficulty managing further control activities. Furthermore, past experience shows that the participation of Municipalities in this type of activity has not always produced significant results, with few reports of tax evasion over the years.
Operational difficulties are accompanied by political challenges, especially in small towns, where carrying out checks could influence electoral consensus. Parliament will therefore have to carefully evaluate these difficulties to guarantee the effectiveness of legislation that aims to combat tax fraud linked to tax and construction benefits.
Involvement of traffic police in the battle against fraud
In the Senate the majority is working on a series of amendments to the super bonus decree, keeping intact the tightening wanted by the Minister of Economy Giancarlo Giorgetti. These amendments aim to correct and strengthen the control system, ensuring greater involvement of the Municipalities and their local police bodies and cadastral technicians.
Although the Revenue Agency and the Financial Police have already discovered it scams in the transfer of credits worth 15 billion euroswith a large part of the funds seized or frozen, traffic police can play a key role in physical checks on the territory, not accessible to tax authorities.
The objective is to extend the involvement of mayors in controls, guaranteeing them a share in the sums recovered, which could then be used to support territories or sections of the population in need.
Furthermore, the creation of a specific fund is envisaged to manage these resources and finance exceptions to the superbonus in territories affected by seismic events, as well as to allow the use of benefits in the third sector.
The resources available are limited, and therefore there is a need to find solutions to finance these initiatives, especially considering the economic impact caused by measures to combat tax fraud and the need to guarantee long-term financial sustainability.
