ROME (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti said on Thursday his government is not considering cutting income taxes, denying a newspaper report that he was looking to such a move to revive the stagnant economy.
Since taking office late last year, Monti has raised taxes and cracked down on tax evasion in an attempt to reduce the debt burden that has dragged Italy into the center of the euro zone's 3-year-old crisis.
"The tax burden on individuals and businesses in Italy is definitely excessive, but right now the efforts to balance public finances cannot be slackened," the leader of Italy's technocrat government said in the statement.
Daily newspaper la Repubblica had said in a front-page article on Wednesday that Monti was considering income tax cuts as Italy heads toward national elections, which are due within the next year.
Monti said that easing the tax burden was "a sacrosanct necessity" for taxpayers and a top objective for his government.
But "it would be premature to distribute the benefits" of efforts to consolidate public finances, the statement said.
His austerity measures have hurt his popular appeal, which has dropped to about 35 percent from more than 70 percent when he took over for Silvio Berlusconi last November.
A study by retail lobby Confcommercio last month put Italian tax rates at among the highest in the world, with taxpayers paying extra to offset tax evaders.
yahoo.com
Since taking office late last year, Monti has raised taxes and cracked down on tax evasion in an attempt to reduce the debt burden that has dragged Italy into the center of the euro zone's 3-year-old crisis.
"The tax burden on individuals and businesses in Italy is definitely excessive, but right now the efforts to balance public finances cannot be slackened," the leader of Italy's technocrat government said in the statement.
Daily newspaper la Repubblica had said in a front-page article on Wednesday that Monti was considering income tax cuts as Italy heads toward national elections, which are due within the next year.
Monti said that easing the tax burden was "a sacrosanct necessity" for taxpayers and a top objective for his government.
But "it would be premature to distribute the benefits" of efforts to consolidate public finances, the statement said.
His austerity measures have hurt his popular appeal, which has dropped to about 35 percent from more than 70 percent when he took over for Silvio Berlusconi last November.
A study by retail lobby Confcommercio last month put Italian tax rates at among the highest in the world, with taxpayers paying extra to offset tax evaders.
yahoo.com
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