Casa Monal's activity

  My ‘frugal’ tip is to continue to buy Heinz Baked Beans by the caseload to keep my OH in his job!  If you don’t, just think what you will have on your conscience…

  Thanks very much for clarifying that Ram   Yes hubby and I are joint owners (he tends to leave these issues for me to sort out). We each have a F24 and our English/Italian friends will pay the amount at the bank tomorrow morning on our behalf.  And they are quite happy to wait for reimbursement until August considering the amount! It does seem a bit absurd to replace ICI with a new tax which is lower! It must cost millions to introduce IMU and to administer it Ah yes the rubbish tax…almost double the IMU and we’re only there maximum 8 weeks a year.  I tried to apply for a rebate but no luck I’m afraid.

  Thanks everyone for all you advice and help.  Without all the fantastic and valuable information that I read here, I would never have understood IMU. The links are great, lots of information but in the end we called into the local ‘commercialista’ in our village when we there in May and with the help of our Italian/English friends, she sorted it out for us. We now have the amount that we have to pay and the F24.  We probably have to pay her more than what the IMU is but still worth it! We have enough stress in ‘real life’! Just double checking  does the IMU replace ICI or do we still have to call in to the commune when we are there in August?

  The austerity package foresees 59.8bn euros in savings from a mixture of spending cuts and tax rises, with the aim of balancing the budget by 2014. Measures include:

• An increase in VAT, from 20% to 21%
• A freeze on public-sector salaries until 2014
• The retirement age for women in the private sector will gradually rise, from 60 in 2014 until it reaches 65 in 2026, the same age as for men
• Measures to fight tax evasion will be strengthened, including a limit of 2,500 euros on cash transactions
• There will be a special tax on the energy sector

The Italian president has made Mr Monti a senator for life. He was welcomed into the chamber at the start of Friday's session but then left for a meeting with President Napolitano. If the lower house completes its vote on Saturday, Mr Napolitano could accept Mr Berlusconi's resignation as early as Saturday evening. He could then formally ask Mr Monti or another candidate to form a government of technocrats. On Wednesday, the interest rate on 10-year Italian government bonds touched 7%, the rate at which Greece, Ireland and Portugal were forced to seek bailouts from the EU. An EU team has begun work in Rome, monitoring how Italy plans to cut its crushing debt burden, 120% of annual economic output (GDP). The Italian economy has grown at an average of 0.75% a year over the past 15 years. Extract -Full article here  

Analysis

Alan JohnstonBBC News, Rome All that Mario Monti has said publicly is that there is a great deal to do and there has to be an end to privilege - a reference, really, to the way the political class here is seen as getting too big a share of the national cake. The idea that politicians will have a lot of their benefits squeezed will play very well publicly, but Italy's problems go deeper than that. Everyone agrees the economy needs to be reformed, but the big question is how. If there is to be austerity, who should feel the pain most? In the street, they would tell you it needs to be the rich: the financiers, the bankers, the tax-evaders. On the other side of the debate, there are people who would say the public sector workers have had it too easy for too long - that employers must be allowed to hire and fire people more easily if business is to be given a freer hand.

  The secret of Silvio Berlusconi's success 9 November 2011  

He says he hates to be hated, but I think he will be remembered as a great corrupter”

Professor Giovanni Sartori,Political scientist   Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi has signalled that his days in power are coming to an end. Despite repeated gaffes and scandals, he won three elections and set a postwar record for the length of his premiership. The BBC's David Willey, who has covered Italian politics for four decades, asks how he did it. Over the past century Italy has had no lack of troublesome leaders. Silvio Berlusconi, who has been the dominant figure in Italian politics for the past 17 years, is the latest on the list. He has been the object of at least 23 judicial investigations, mostly for corruption. He has been heard speaking on YouTube, giving sex advice to a prostitute, Patrizia Addario, who had a hidden tape recorder under her breakfast napkin after a night of group sex. Article continues here  

  I forgot to write down the address  Please pm it to me. Link to Facebook page

Good for you!  Wish we had the courage...and the knowledge Look forward to reading your posts.

  Great idea Joy   May I suggest that you remove the address and ask people to pm you instead? The community pages are open for everyone to read and you never know….    

Do you work for Italy Powered hivoltageLots of discussion about IP here  and another thread here

  Forgot who said these great quotes:  ‘’the quality of an individual is reflected in the standards they set for themselves’’ and ‘’Power Corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.’’ Or in the words of Franklin D. Roosevelt -‘’when you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on’’…no perhaps not applicable for SB  Profiles: Potential Berlusconi successors With Italy under pressure to stimulate its economy by passing unpopular reforms, one proposal is to form a new, unelected, technocrat government. Similar cabinets enacted reforms and overcame economic crises in the 1990s. Another scenario sees Silvio Berlusconi's coalition government remain in office but under a new leader. Here, the BBC News website looks at some of the names being mentioned as a potential new prime minister. CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE