Napolitano signs tax-cut decree

(ANSA) - Rome, April 24 - Italian President Giorgio Napolitano on Thursday signed the government's decree bringing in 10 billion euros of tax cuts for low earners, ANSA sources said. Napolitano met Economy Minister Pier Carlo Padoan earlier on Thursday for clarification about aspects of the legislation.
    Opposition parties have expressed doubts about the financing of the cuts.
    Premier Matteo Renzi, on the other hand, said Wednesday that the cuts were the start of a "revolution in the relationship between citizens and the State".
    The government's income-tax cuts will put an extra 80 euros into the monthly pay packets of people earning up to 24,000 euros per annum. The effect of the tax bonus will decrease above 24,000 euros and be null for people with incomes of over 26,000 euros per year. People who do not earn enough to reach the minimum threshold to pay taxes will not benefit either. Economy Minister Pier Carlo Padoan has said the cuts would give a big lift to Italy's recovery, which is weak after the country emerged from its longest postwar recession last year.
    "The 80-euro bonus will have positive repercussions on GDP as families will be able to spend more and companies will be stimulated to invest, creating more jobs as a consequence," Padoan told ANSA during a visit to Madrid.
    The final version of the decree also included a ban on hiring new staff for local administrations that are over 90 days late in paying bills to private-sector suppliers in 2014 and more than 60 days late in 2015.