Energy, extra-profits: investigation by the Rome Public Prosecutor’s Office

The profits collected by energy companies, thanks to the increase in the cost of energy. They are the so-called extra profits taxed by the government to raise approx 10.5 billion euros, but which ultimately yielded only a tenth of the estimated figure. The legal action comes following a exposed presented by Verdi and the Italian Left, in which crimes of tax evasion and fraud are hypothesized.

In the last year, the profits of large energy companies are up by as much as 3,870% in just one quarter, thanks to a rise in prices due to strong speculation. For this reason, the Draghi government, among the measures allocated to stem the surge in bill prices, introduced a 25% tax on extra profits generated by these companies, through the law decree number 21 of 2022.

In detail, the measure requires companies producing, reselling and importing electricity and gas, as well as those active in the oil sector, to pay a extraordinary contribution of solidarity. A 25% the increase in the balance between assets and liabilities, achieved from October 1, 2021 to April 31, 2022, compared to the same period between 2020 and 2021.

However, at the end of August 2022, the tax on extra-profits brought to the state just one tenth of the estimated total, equal to approximately 10.5 billion. In fact, if some companies have paid what they owed, many others have filed appeals appealing to the unconstitutionality of the law or to formal defects, delaying payments and making taxation inapplicable.

The non-payments therefore triggered the complaint of Verdi and the Italian Left, which resulted in the opening of an investigation by the Rome Public Prosecutor’s Office. “It is scandalous that the tax on extra profits made by companies was not paid into the state coffers: if he had been an ordinary citizen, he would have already been sanctioned by the Guardia di Finanza and the Revenue Agency “, we read on press release spread by the two parties.

In the meantime, the Aid bis decree, approved on 13 September in the Senate, has tightened on late payments and unpaid squeeze, eliminating the halving of the sanction for payments with a delay of no more than three months and the industrious repentance for those who have not paid, also bringing the sanction envisaged for those who overstep deadlines to 60%. Finally, the extra profits also ended up under the blows of Brusselswhich proposed a cap on the revenues of companies that produce energy from sources with low environmental cost and a solidarity contribution for companies that use fossil fuels.