Superbonus has become a buzzword in Italy in recent years. It is on the lips of politicians and citizens on a daily basis and rivers of ink have been spilled about it. It refers to a tax incentive programme to modernise and improve the energy performance of buildings and infrastructure, which was introduced during the pandemic and is still in place and which consists of a series of tax deductions and refunds of up to 110% to cover the costs of work on homes. In other words, the State returns more than what the owners spend to refurbish the properties. This is a highly controversial initiative, harshly criticised by successive governments, economists and real estate experts, and which has affected the labour and construction markets, and increased the price of housing, building materials and rents, among other things. In addition to creating considerable imbalances in the state budget and contributing to increasing the deficit and public debt, in October 2020, in the midst of the pandemic, the 5 Star Government, led by Giuseppe Conte, introduced the superbonus as its flagship measure to use European recovery funds to renovate Italy's very ageing housing stock. The problem is that the impact of the measure, which has been much greater than expected, was not carefully calculated. Initially, it was estimated that it would cost the public coffers 71 billion. But the figure has ended up tripling and, despite the fact that the bonuses have been gradually restricted, until this year the State has paid out close to 220,000 million euros. The two successive Executives, the one led by Mario Draghi, who came to manage the complicated period of post-pandemic reconstruction, and the current one of Giorgia Meloni, have harshly criticized the hole that the superbonuses are leaving in the public accounts and have proposed more or less successful modifications, but neither has decided to dismantle it and they have become entangled in a labyrinth that seems to have no way out. Meloni's change of direction is significant, since when she was the leader of the opposition, during Draghi's mandate, she vehemently defended the incentives for construction and campaigned to «protect the rights of the superbonus.» But once in power she came face to face with reality and realized that the initiative is unsustainable in the long term. The far-right prime minister, fearing a high political cost, has limited herself to introducing measures, not too drastic, to reduce the enormous impact of the super-bonuses on the national economy.
Open door to fraud
Draghi's finance minister, Daniele Franco, went so far as to call the bonuses «the biggest scam in the history of the Republic.» He also set up mechanisms to prevent the numerous frauds that were encouraged by the initial lack of controls. Like a vicious circle, the more exhaustive inspection tools that have been introduced have significantly increased public spending. The super-bonus, which can also be used for second and third homes or holiday apartments, has had benefits such as stimulating the labour market or saving energy in the long term, but it has also led to serious disruptions in other areas, beyond the loss of revenue for the State in the short term. Hundreds of construction companies have sprung up in the heat of the super-bonus, with the consequent creation of jobs. However, what initially seemed like a positive element turned out to be a fiasco, because these are small, unsound companies that have been created only to access the bonuses and that will become extinct with them. In a way, the superbonus has become a microcosm that reflects the classic problems that Italy suffers from, such as excessive and inefficient bureaucracy or recurring fraud and abuse of the system. Here you can consult the latest Letters from the correspondentFollow all the information on Economy and Business on Facebook and Twitter. Xor in our weekly newsletter