Italy's centre-right government yesterday proposed a tax amnesty aimed at repatriating billions of euros - the bulk believed to be held in Swiss bank accounts - on the most favourable terms yet offered to tax evaders by a European Union member state.
The proposed amnesty will be the third offered by a centre-right government led by Silvio Berlusconi, following similar packages in 2001 and 2003 that brought €46bn back to Italy and earned tax revenues of €2.1bn.
A government official said Rome was waiting for the final green light from the European Commission, which had been closely involved in drawing up the plan.
Brussels blocked a proposal to make a more favourable tax rate conditional on buying state bonds or shares in state-controlled companies.
A key issue is whether Brussels approves an obligation to repatriate untaxed money from non-EU states in order for tax evaders to benefit from the generous terms of the amnesty, said to amount to a tax of one per cent for each year the capital has been outside Italy.
"The true benefit of this measure is that it will close Ali Baba's cave," Giulio Tremonti, Italy's finance minister, told reporters, stressing that the amnesty was aimed at undermining tax havens. "Measures are useless if they leave tax havens open," he said.
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