Budget amended, contentious card measure removed

(ANSA) - ROME, DEC 21 - The Lower House's budget committee passed a series of amendments to the government's 2023 budget bill during a marathon session overnight, including one removing a controversial measure that would have enabled retailers to refuse card payments for amounts up to 60 euros.
    Opposition parties criticized the move, saying it would have made tax evasion easier, and the European Commission also picked fault with it.
    The amendment means shops, cafes and bars will not have the right to refuse cards and demand cash, even for the payment of small things such as a coffee. Indeed, they face fines if they do so.
    The App18 bonus that young people receive to spend on cultural items and activities, such as books, concerts and theatre shows, on their 18th birthday has been revised too.
    The 500-euro bonus will not longer be universal but will only go to teens that belong to families with earnings up to a certain level.
    Then there will also be another 500-euro bonus for youngsters who get full marks in their high-school final exams.
    Another amendment sets out a mechanism which, in some cases, enables people to switch from variable-rate mortgages to fixed-rate ones, amid the difficulties many households are facing due to the double whammy of interest-rate hikes and the cost-of-living crisis.
    The government is in a race against time to get the package approved by the end of the year.
    The bill is set to go to the floor of the Lower House on Thursday and then be put to a confidence vote on Friday.
    It should then go to the Senate next week for final approval.
    (ANSA).