Yesterday Silvio Berlusconi seemingly got his way and the IMU property tax Berlusconi promised he would end during the February elections, was extinguished. Only the IMU is not really going to cease to exist: its simply going to change its name. Enter, in 2014, the Taser Tax.

The IMU name change has prompted much song and dance in the convict Berlusconi PdL party camp and lots of claims that ‘We’re the party which keeps our election promises” are being rammed down Italian throats. Other Italians are perfectly aware that the IMU tax will merely rise from the ashes with a new name. This fact has also been pointed out by Italian newspaper, Il Fatto Quotidiano.

Had the IMU tax’s name not been changed, Berlusconi would probably have brought down Italy’s government.

For reasons unknown, Italy’s political bigwigs have apparently decided to call the IMU replacement the Taser Tax. It’s quite an electrifying name, don’t you think? A tax with a real sting?

Even some Italians have noted their upcoming Taser Tax shares its name with that of a pistol which shoots high voltage electric darts. Tasers are used by police forces around the world to subdue the unruly but on occasion, have killed their targets.

When Taser pistols do not kill, and they don’t do so that often, they tend to leave their targets either out cold or convulsing on the floor. One wonders whether Italy’s forthcoming Taser Tax will induce “neuromuscular incapacitation” and convulsions in Italians when they find out how much they will have to fork out.

A friend paid the grand sum of €15.00 in IMU property tax, so she would probably love to pat Berlusconi on the back and say “thanks for the huge saving Silvio”. When she finds out how much the Taser Tax will sting her for, I wonder if that pat may transform into a stab. We’ll see.

Before the Taser Tax arrives, horribly indebted Italy has to find a way to make up the shortfall generated by renaming and removing the IMU tax on agricultural properties and main homes. So far, just how exactly this is to be done is not entirely clear.

Still, Berlusconi and his cronies will continue to crow that they’ve bent Italy’s leftie led government to their will. That abolishing the IMU may accelerate Italy’s bankruptcy is not seen as a problem by convict Berlusconi’s party.

One thing the Berlusconi people are keeping rather quiet is that the IMU tax which has just been renamed was drawn up and introduced by Berlusconi’s very own government in March 2011. By pushing for the abolition of the IMU tax, Berlusconi has admitted the IMU tax was a big mistake, though few realise this.

Details of the IMU replacement Taser Tax have yet to emerge. Also known as a ‘service tax’, there are rumours floating around that this new tax will be tied to the floor areas of homes in Italy.

If you have a home in Italy, you’ll most probably be tasered in 2014 too. Wearing rubber soled shoes may reduce the shock.

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