IMU: A hypothesis of strategy to help small shops

In an electoral campaign that, up to now, has not shown particular cues for economic innovation, something has moved. Matteo Di Benedetto, a young candidate for the city council of a large city, had a good idea that could lead to a small, but useful, improvement in the economic prospects for small shops and offices.

It is useless to deny that small businesses are in crisis, especially in the more peripheral or less frequented areas. The desertification of city centers is under everyone's eye, and this phenomenon has three victims: the merchant, who ceases his business and no longer has an economic income; the owner of the property, who often loses an indispensable source of income and who, in many cases, is just a previous retired owner of the business; the population, which sees its safety reduced especially in areas of the city often reduced to dormitories with few commercial – professional surfaces present. An issue that should be addressed above all by the central government, but about which something can also be done by the municipalities. Let's see Di Benedetto's proposal:

"We consider as a preliminary point that currently the IMU rate, deliberately approved by the Municipality of Bologna, for the cadastral categories A 10 and C 1 is the maximum possible by law, namely 1.06% (which could increase to 1, 14% for a variety of reasons).

We add that in the leases of shops and offices the owner of the walls will have to pay the IMU without being able to deduct it from his personal income (whose tax base is fixed at a flat rate of 95% of the rent, thus paying the IRPEF also on the IMU already paid); he will not be able to pay the extraordinary condominium expenses to the tenant; may not freely withdraw from the contract for at least 12 years; it will not be able, except in a particular case, to adjust the rent to 100% of the change in the inflation rate as defined by law.

We therefore take note of the fact that the IMU strongly contributes to increasing the rent that the owner is forced to ask the tenant, sometimes setting it at too high figures, especially for the suburbs, with the consequential risk of vacancy.

We add that often the owner of the walls cannot be the professional trader who, especially for new activities, cannot bear the costs of buying the property.

That said, we believe that intervening on the IMU can contribute to the development of commercial and professional activities by either the owner of the premises or third parties who will thus rent the walls at reasonable rates.

Therefore, within the limits of what the current legislation seems to allow the Municipality, without prejudice to any supervening restrictions and reserving the possibility for us to proceed with further changes in the rate or categories based on the areas of the territory in which the properties are located, we propose:

1. the elimination of the IMU rate for properties in category A 10 or C 1 with a cadastral area of ​​less than 35 m² (excluding appurtenances) located in the municipal area outside the walls;
2. the lowering to 0.5% of the rate for properties with the above characteristics located within the walls ",

for all premises falling into these categories that are either leased or used for the professional or business activity of the owner, with the aim of combating vacancy ".

The Idea is good in itself, and it could also be further developed with a more careful "zoning" of the city and the analysis of the areas where small businesses or professional activities are most in distress. In this way, both small businesses and small property owners could be helped, giving breath in a historical period marked by great difficulties. We like the proposal and we also invite small traders, professionals and small real estate owners in Bologna to 'listen'. They could really benefit from it.

Matteo, good luck for the elections. For those curious, Matteo is a candidate in Bologna for the League

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The IMU article : A hypothesis of strategy to help small shops comes from ScenariEconomici.it .

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This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/imu-una-ipotesi-di-strategia-per-aiutare-i-piccoli-negozi/ on Mon, 27 Sep 2021 09:45:51 +0000.