V. ITALY: AN INCENTIVISING SYSTEM, WHICH REMAINS TO BE ADOPTED
A. A SPECIFIC BILL TO ADDRESS THE CHALLENGES POSED BY THE COLLABORATIVE ECONOMY
It is estimated that in 2015 there were 186 collaborative platforms, a 35% increase in one year . Around 25% of the Italian population is reported to have already used them. The most important sectors are crowdfunding, transport, services for the exchange of goods and tourism, all together constituting a total of EUR 450 million of added value.
In Italy, as in France, income collected through collaborative platforms does not benefit from any specific treatment in relation to taxation or social contributions . It is subject to the ordinary law of income tax on natural persons (IRPEF), and therefore taxable from the first euro. Self-employed workers, in addition, must have a VAT number ( partita IVA ), which has an equivalent function to the French SIRET number.
Italy also has a micro-entrepreneur status similar to that of France , the minimi system, which is based on a tax rate of 10% after application of a proportional tax-free allowance to the gross income, equivalent to the French micro-tax allowance, and variable depending on the nature of the activity. This system is open to independent workers not exceeding certain thresholds, again depending on the nature of the activity. It is always possible to opt for the real charges and benefits income system.
T he MPs of the Partito Democratico in January 2016 presented a bill regarding the discipline of digital platforms for sharing goods and services and provisions for promoting the collaborative economy 115 ( * ) . According to the explanatory statement, the purpose of the bill is to provide a framework for the development of the collaborative economy, by establishing the instruments to ensure fair competition in this market, transparency, tax fairness and consumer protection .
This bill shows an awareness of the need to adapt existing law to the specific characteristics of the economy of online platforms, in particular in the area of taxation , in order to foster the development of these new forms of trading without causing distortions of competition or compromising tax revenue.
Article 12 provides for a tax advantage associated with automatic reporting or usersincome .
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The 12 articles of Bill No. 3564 Article 1: Purposes of the Act. Article 2: Definitions: Collaborative economy : any activity generated by the optimised and shared allocation of spatial, temporal or material resources and services, via digital platforms; the managers of these platforms act as intermediaries between users and can offer value-added services; the goods that generate the value via the platform belong to the users, between the platform managers and the users no relationship of subordination exists; platforms which operate as intermediaries between professional operators registered in the commercial register are excluded; Platform operators : public or private person who manages/operates the digital platform; Operator user : a public or private person who, by means of the digital platform, offers a service or offers to share his own good; Consumer user : public or private person who, by means of the digital platform, uses the service provided or the good shared by the operator user. Article 3: powers of the national competition authority (new powers of the AGCM to regulate this sector). Article 4: company policy document (obligation for companies of the sector to adopt a document, subject to the AGCMs approval, laying down all the provisions governing relations between the company and the users of the platform). Article 5: tax provisions (see below) . Article 6: annual measures for the development of the collaborative economy (every year, in the annual law relating to the market and to competition, measures shall be provided aimed specifically at the collaborative economy sector, in particular to lift barriers to its development and adapt to the new challenges of a sector that is highly dynamic by nature). Article 7: protection of the personal data of platform users Article 8: guidelines for the local authorities (establishment of guidelines by the State for local authorities in order to promote best practices within the economy collaborative to the public administration sphere). Article 9: monitoring of the sector (the National institute of statistics is responsible for producing statistics on the development of the sector). Article 10: control and sanctions. Article 11: transitional provisions. Article 12: financial provisions. Source: General directorate of the Treasury, Rome regional economic unit |
*
115
Proposta di legge
C. 3564, Disciplina delle piattaforme digitali per
la condivisione di benie servizi e disposizioni per la promozione delleconomia
della condivisione, 27 January
2016.
http://documenti.camera.it/Leg17/Dossier/Pdf/AP0065.pdf