The government is set to launch a 32
billion euro 2023 budget bill containing 21 billion euros of
measures to help struggling families and business with their
power bills amid the energy crisis sparked by the Ukraine war.
Among the other mooted measures are the cancellation of VAT on
bread, pasta and milk to help with the cost of living crisis,
government sources say.
The labour tax wedge is expected to be cut by three points for
those on low incomes.
A flat tax is set to be introduced too, and the threshold is
expected to be raised to 85,000 euros a year for the
self-employed, sources said.
The controversial citizenship wage basic income for job seekers
and the poor, a flagship policy of the populist 5-Star Movement
(M5S) when it was in power, is set to be reduced and reformed so
that claimants can no longer benefit after refusing job offers.
The government is also working on a reform to the pension system
to allow early retirement at 'quota 103', when people are 62 and
have paid in 41 years of contributions.
The government has denied that the budget will also contain a
200 euro bonus for people who get married in church, after the
League proposed the measure but then amid a furore said it would
be extended to all marriages.
"The so-called 'marriage bonus' will not feature in the
package," said the office of Premier Giorgia Meloni.
Cabinet is meeting at around five pm Monday to discuss the
budget bill, which must be approved by the end of the year and
which will be sent to Brussels for approval before it is passed.
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