Rome - Italy's conservative government on Friday won final approval for a controversial tax amnesty, but only after a closer- than-expected parliamentary confidence vote. The lower house, or Chamber of Deputies, passed the proposal by 270 votes for, with 250 against. There were two abstentions.
The vote followed a rowdy debate in which opposition lawmakers held up placards denouncing the bill as a favour to tax dodgers and mafia money launderers. It allows citizens to repatriate savings stashed abroad illegally.
Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's centre-right coalition enjoys a comfortable majority in both the Chamber of Deputies and the upper house, the Senate, which has already approved the tax amnesty.
However, with 31 members of the premier's People of Freedom party failing to attend the Chamber of Deputies' voting session, the government proposal only passed thanks to the absence of more than 20 opposition lawmakers.
"Immediate sanctions," would be taken against those centre-left Democratic Party members whose absence cannot be justified, party officials said following the vote.
The so-called "tax shield," also includes an amendment - approved in a separate confidence vote earlier this week - removing the obligation to report bank clients suspected of money laundering, extinguishing possible charges of false bookkeeping, and extending the amnesty to shareholders in foreign companies.
The government says the amnesty - which involves charging a 5-per- cent fee for those who declare their foreign savings - will boost growth and revenue, which can then be spent on state universities and health care.
Officials estimate that as much as 300 billion euros (437 billion dollars) are currently held abroad. The government has said that, even if only a third were to come back to Italy, it would still produce some 5 billion euros in revenue.
However the opposition have charged that the measure will encourage tax evasion and aid organized crime groups - including the Calabrian 'Ndrangheta, the Neapolitan Camorra and Sicily's Cosa Nostra, all of which are believed to be involved in money laundering.
Britain and Germany have also launched similar tax amnesties in an effort to plug holes in their respective budgets.
