Against an immigrant tax

Lega Nord, the coalition partner in the conservative Italian government, has proposed the introduction of a tax of 50 euros on residency permits for foreigners as well as a surety of 10,000 euros to be paid by each immigrant who applies for a VAT number. The left liberal daily La Repubblica sees the "immigrant tax" as an "ideological excrescence" of a "populist and xenophobic party": "The Lega's proposal conveys the impression of a tawdry and anti-historical Right. ... It cynically singles out the common enemy, immigrants, and arbitrarily imposes an act of collective cruelty: a penalty duty for those who come to Italy to work or apply to be able to work in accordance with the laws of the Republic. ... This regulation is quite simply the legal implementation of a deep political ignorance and profound social intolerance. It is the juristic mask of racism. All political forces must be set in motion to counter it."

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