Who contributes more to public finance? Coops and spas compared

There is a widespread belief that Italian cooperatives pay far less tax overall than other businesses and, therefore, contribute less to government revenues. As a result, there are many who believe that the tax advantages enjoyed by cooperatives amount to situations of unfair competition.

These beliefs and related debates suffer, however, from a limitation that is as serious as it is poorly considered: no one has ever attempted to go beyond rate comparisons and empirically verify whether the contribution of cooperatives to public finances is actually lower than that of other enterprises, considering not only the types of taxes on which cooperatives enjoy some relief, but all forms of levies through which income produced by enterprises is transferred to public administrations. In other words, considering what is commonly referred to as the overall tax burden on enterprises.

This paper is part of the Third Euricse | 2015 report “Cooperative Economy. Relevance, evolution and new frontiers of Italian cooperation“.