Economics
Italy Populists’ New Bone of Contention: Expanded ‘Flat Tax’
- League’s Salvini pushes plan ridiculed by coalition partner
- Room for maneuver limited as economy expected to stagnate
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Deputy Premier Matteo Salvini triggered a new dispute within Italy’s fractious populist government, pledging to expand a so-called flat tax to millions of families, a move his coalition partner ridiculed as a page out of ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi’s playbook.
With Italy’s economy expected to effectively stagnate this year, Salvini, leader of the anti-migrant League party, is butting heads with the Treasury over numbers and clashing on policy with fellow Deputy Premier Luigi Di Maio, leader of the anti-establishment Five Star Movement.