La riforma del prelievo sul reddito di impresa: alcune considerazioni tra neutralità e politica industriale (Corporate Tax Reform: Balancing Neutrality and Industrial Policy)

The 2023 Enabling Law for Tax Reform aims to make fundamental changes to the system, setting out principles for the revision of almost all existing taxes. With regard to corporate taxation in particular, the enabling law focuses on the principles of neutrality, simplification, reduction of the tax burden and investment incentives, with the ultimate aim of contributing to economic growth. Neutrality refers in particular to legal and organisational forms and the choice of financing sources, also through simplification of the system and reorganisation of the system of incentives. This paper discusses the main objectives stated in the delegation in the light of the solutions announced, but for the most part not yet implemented. The only point on which rapid action was taken – the abolition of the allowance for corporate equity (ACE) – led to an increase in the effective tax rate for companies, leaving the issue of the tax advantage for debt still unresolved. Equally unresolved is the issue of investment incentives, where considerable resources have been allocated in recent years in the form of tax credits without a clear industrial policy orientation.