Aldo Cazzullo, in parallel with the celebrations for one of the greatest Italian sporting successes of all time, that of Jannik Sinner, the controversy also arose over his tax residence in Monte Carlo.
I already reported this when Sinner was 19 years old, in 2020, given that I already respected him at the time, like all tennis fans to whom it was clear that he was a champion. But since at such a young age he had made the choice to go to Monte Carlo, as a person who loves sport and loves Italy he disappointed me.
Sinner is not the first nor will he be the last to do so. Let’s think of other tennis colleagues who, like him, live in the Principality: Matteo Berrettini and Lorenzo Musetti. Even the doyen of Italian tennis Nicola Pietrangeli lives there.
Obviously it’s not a personal matter on Sinner. This is a widespread malpractice, which does not only concern sport. The Monte Carlo case, then, is sensational because it is twenty kilometers from Italy. Doubly sensational because the French, unlike the Italians, can go and live there but still have to pay income taxes at home by virtue of an agreement signed between the two governments. The reasoning I make is this: I think that the tax issue is a big issue of our time – much bigger than sport – which also calls into question social and national cohesion, the democratic stability of our country and of the West. Dubai’s glittering wealth is not oil, but Western tax evasion. We must have the courage to say it. If two hundred billionaires, including three Italians, launch an appeal in Davos – “Tax us more! Because our life doesn’t change if we pay more taxes and can lend a hand to others” -, if the richer you are, the less taxes you pay, then a global reflection must be made.
Of course, it’s a global issue. But then it is also an entirely national problem: the complicated relationship between Italians and the tax authorities…
The fact that having a residence abroad does not affect a person’s reputation in the slightest is significant in how we continue to think of the State as other than us, as the enemy. The building of the Supreme Court of Cassation, the most important court, is the “Palazzaccio”. The policeman is the cop. The tax collector is the hated Sheriff of Nottingham. Of course, sometimes the State behaves so badly that it confirms our prejudices towards it. But the problem remains.
Which is what you write in today’s Posta del Corriere, when you state that “if Sinner has tax residence in Monte Carlo perhaps we must start to doubt not so much about him but rather about ourselves”.
Here it is not a question of sporting judgment but of moral judgement. That Sinner is an extraordinary champion and that he is a good boy, kind and polite, no one disputes. But if the judgment is not sporting but moral, if we treat it as Italian pride, an example for society etc. etc., then the fact that this boy will be the standard-bearer of Italian sport in the coming years without contributing fiscally to the life of the community of which he is part is a problem.
The issue of tax havens – which have existed for decades – is proof that, having entered the era of globalisation, the meaning of the national state – with its fiscal impact – has partly evaporated. It was once impossible to pay taxes abroad. Today global and technological dynamics allow this on a large scale.
And who pays for healthcare? The school? The security? In an aging society, expenses will increase more and more. We cannot accept that those who can afford it should pay their taxes in the Cayman Islands or Luxembourg. The European Union, after giving itself a common currency, should also give itself common fiscal rules. At least unfair competition within the European Union would be avoided. Let’s think about Big Tech, the owners of the Internet, who plunder the work of us journalists every day. They are the largest publishers. They rake up advertising but are not accountable for what they write. Because on social media you can offend anyone, but the owners of social media are not responsible for what is written. And they pay taxes in countries where taxation is symbolic, I’m thinking of Ireland for the European Union. This is ridiculous. Regarding welfare, let me tell you something else, more strictly personal.
Nail.
I have just returned from two months spent in and out of hospital to assist my father and I have seen first-hand how we work in the Italian healthcare sector paid for with our taxes. I’ve been lucky. It is a very well managed public hospital where I was struck by the courtesy, dedication and humanity of everyone: doctors, nurses and other employees. In two months in that hospital I didn’t hear a single rude word or gesture towards us. This struck me a lot. I think of the many letters I receive at the Corriere in which many people complain about public health. This makes me think that every country has healthcare that it can finance. And if people wait months for an exam this happens because there are not enough resources to finance staff and machinery. And this applies to schools, security, courts, roads and so on. Do you know why this happens?
Why?
The tax issue is little felt because the Italians who maintain the tax machine are few. We have almost twenty million people who don’t file their tax returns. Another eight million file a tax return but fall into the no-tax area. Almost half of Italians pay no taxes. And they are not all children or poor. Over 80% of Irpef, I add, is paid by employees or pensioners. Not only that: for the State the highest rate starts at 50,000 euros of income, as if earning that amount meant being among the richest. But is not so. Usually, someone who earns 50,000 euros a year is an employee who is doing well, but who certainly isn’t making money. This is a distortion that should be indignant.
An indignation that at most is directed towards companies rather than individuals…
True, but the situation is different there. It would be right to standardize corporate and tax legislation across the EU. Many Italian companies have moved their tax residence to Luxembourg or the Netherlands. In the case of natural persons, however, the issue is even more serious. That companies, which create jobs, pay less taxes is fine. Shareholders who enrich themselves lawfully and rightly on company profits, however, must pay taxes. Otherwise the paradox of Warren Buffett, one of the richest men in the world, arises.
And that is?
His words: “I pay a lower rate than my secretary pays”.
