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How about a month off taxes?

• Mark Mardell
• 10 Apr 08, 08:23 AM

Italy鈥檚 economy is suffering, not so much from a credit crunch but a crisis of consumer confidence.

But could Silvio Berlusconi give it a big boost if he wins the weekend鈥檚 elections?

He鈥檚 told , that there鈥檚 something very much he wants to do: give Italy a month off taxes.

He says it would be a 鈥渕onth of freedom鈥�, without spelling out whether this is just income tax, or includes all of Italy鈥檚 many taxes from corporate tax, sales tax and tax on houses to tax to pay for the health service.

It鈥檚 perhaps not such a daft idea. Before I saw it, , was telling me that whoever gets into power needs to give the economy a psychological boost.

The credit crunch isn鈥檛 such a great problem as in other European countries or America but rates of growth are approaching zero, while food and energy prices have gone up and people are finding it more and more difficult to make ends meet after the third week of the month.

But he claims the outgoing government was being deliberately pessimistic so that taxes could be put up, but now what is needed is a burst of optimism to encourage spending.

Plus, a reason for that optimism: he muses that there must be some tax changes to take the pressure off people鈥檚 real incomes.

'Imagination'

So ? I guess we鈥檒l never know. Mr Berlusconi confesses 鈥渨e probably won鈥檛 be able to do it: it would cost too much鈥�.

But he adds 鈥渋t shows we don鈥檛 lack the imagination to solve the problems鈥�.

I rather disagree. If you know you are not going to do it, why not be really bold? Propose a tax-free year, or indeed abolishing taxes altogether while doubling pensions.

But I suppose it is some advance to see politicians abandoning their plans in their next sentence rather than after election.

Professor Secchi, however, points towards another phenomenon - also noted by Vedrana Obucina - that the dolce vita isn鈥檛 dead.

鈥淧sychological mood plays such an important part in Italy. While many people insist on the negative, how come when we have a long weekend the roads and the restaurants are full up?鈥�

Perhaps they are among the many Italians who don鈥檛 pay their taxes, whether it's freedom month or not.

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