Wednesday, February 20, 2013. A massive mailshot of letters with the words "Important notice: reimbursement of [propriety tax] IMU 2012" printed on the envelope was sent to Italian voters by Silvio Berlusconi People of Freedom party, triggering queues of inquiring at Post Offices and revenue services' agency.
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| Silvio Berlusconi promising to abolish IMU (and refund the tax paid in 2012) |
“How
and when to obtain in 2013 the refund the [property tax] IMU paid in
2012 on the first house and land and farm buildings” recites the
object of the letter – sent to millions of households and duly
signed by Silvio Berlusconi – who addresses the recipients with a
warm “Dear Maria” or “Dear Giovanni”, depending if the addressed person is a man or a woman.
The
letter goes on detailing that the payment can be carried out "to
your current bank account or, for pensioners and others who
prefer this method, in cash at the Post Office counter". In a
country like Italy were almost 40 per cent of inhabitants never used Internet
and the main source of information is the television, it might be
easy to take it for granted that the tax will be paid back. Especially if you are a pensioner, and somebody is showing you the colour of money...
