Building bonuses, Ruffini (Revenue): “Scams for almost a billion, even butchers who billed for work on buildings”

Quasi one billion euros. This is the amount of damage done to the state coffers by scams scored on building bonuses. The confirmation arrived on November 14th directly from the director of the Revenue Agency, Ernesto Maria Ruffini, which speaking to Half an hour more on Rai 3 it had to update the fraud balance upwards from the 800 million euros counted ten days earlier. A figure that, for Ruffini, also justifies the disservices caused to the beneficiaries of the facilities starting from Friday, when due to the anti-fraud decree the taxman’s platform to communicate the assignment of credits and invoice discounts has become inaccessible. However, this is a problem, explained the number one of the agency, which is destined to be solved starting from start of the week.

“The total amount of fraud on home bonuses, including the Superbonus, amounts to 950 million euros, almost all monetized, ”Ruffini declared. Who added: “We have received reports from citizens, we have made a series of checks and verified the most diverse things: jobs billed but only left on paper, invoices issued by non-construction companies, really butchers who issued invoices for construction works “. “Precisely for this”, he stressed, “it was urgent to intervene” and so the government opted for the practically obligatory path of the decree. The problem was in fact born on Friday as an effect of the sudden extension, with the dl on preventive checks, of the visa for compliance with all building bonuses: not only the super bonus (as it had been until now) but also the renovation bonus, the facade bonus and the eco-bonus. A maneuver considered necessary to prevent abuse and fraud which, therefore, also had the side effect of obliging the financial administration to temporarily suspend operation of the platform through which the sale of discounts is managed, together with all the related options. Now Ruffini reassures all those entitled to the service that the service will be restored: “Sogei is working to update the IT systems to meet the new requirements, starting with the presentation of the compliance visa for all bonuses, no longer just for 110%. Then everything will go back to normal, ”he said.

In the meantime, the parliamentary examination of the decree promises to be already lively, with the political forces that, starting from 5 Star Movement, demand corrective measures to avoid a slowdown in the works. The parties will therefore be occupied simultaneously on this game, on that of tax decree but also on maneuver and in particular on the distribution of 8 billion for tax cuts. As the number one of the Revenue Agency, Ruffini did not express an opinion on the destination of the ‘treasure’, limiting himself to mentioning only one of the most popular options on the table: reduction of the steps of the personal income tax rates, which according to the official cause a leap even “by earning a single euro more”. However, there was an invitation on his part and he aimed not to waste the available resources: only in this way can the intervention really be felt on the taxpayers’ portfolios. No fear for the pockets of citizens must instead derive from the announcement land registry reform. An operation, assures Ruffini, which will be carried out only to clarify, for example also useful for the Civil Protection to have a true picture of the buildings in the seismic areas.

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