Superbonus cost so far: €2.100 per Italian

The idea wasn't bad, but its implementation, without effective controls, turned it into the scam of the century. In the midst of the Covid-19 crisis in 2020, the Italian government led by Giuseppe Conte invented the Superbonus: a massive incentive to stimulate the construction industry, a traditionally cyclical sector highly responsive to offers of subsidies and financial aid to both businesses and families, to redevelop buildings (not only in terms of aesthetics)energy efficiency) and make them earthquake-proof. The name, Superbonus, came from a previously unseen mechanism: the subsidy was equal to 110 percent of the expected costs, even just on paper. As if the more you spent, the more the state reimbursed you.

The calculations were wrong from the start, and the waste was already enshrined in the measure. The government, in fact, projected a total expenditure of no more than €35 billion over the entire Superbonus period. This money, according to this fanciful forecast, would be recovered through an increase in overall tax revenue, and VAT in particular. This never happened.

Another sore point of the Superbonus, which made it an ideal super-scam, was that the bonus could be transformed into a tax credit, which could be sold to banks or financial intermediaries, without having to spend a cent or even do any work. The banks happily accepted the credit, as it was covered by the state, and therefore did not assume any risk of insolvency.

Since the bloodbath began, the governments that administered the Superbonus (led by Mario Draghi and Giorgia Meloni) have only managed to stem the financial hemorrhage associated with abuses of the law, without ever stopping it. The result is in the accounting updated, with absolute precision, by ENEA: up to December 31, 2025, the superbonus has cost €124 billion (€123.993.967.173,33 to be precise), equal to €2.100 for every Italian.

This frightening figure, equal, to give an idea of its scope, to more than six times the sum of the 2025 budget, has been inflated by a more than consolidated practice of interpreting the superbonus as an opportunity, not to be wasted, to defraud the State, and therefore the taxpayers, in a country where, speaking of waste of public money and scams, tax evasion is on the agenda.

The interventions involved 139.645 condominiums, 245.480 single-family buildings, and 117.419 other types of buildings, including five castles. However, these numbers do not include one of the most critical aspects of the Superbonus: fake work, financed and collected through credit transfers. In just a few months, 24 Italian cities have opened cases of aggravated fraud, false ideology, and false invoices, for fake work that was only scheduled on paper.

The mechanism of this super-scam has always been very simple: the grant recipient, the company, and the compliant technician submitting the application all come together. Inflated work is planned, and the construction sites are faked, while the expenses are invoiced, creating a tax credit that is then sold to collect cash. At that point, everything is dismantled, and whoever received the money is already off to the Caribbean to enjoy it!

The Superbonus super-ruffle has thus been reduced to a sea of processes which, considering the times of Italian civil justice and the substantial tendency towards'impunity, will largely end with the usual statute of limitations. Meanwhile, the bloodletting isn't over; no one can stop it, and it will continue until 2028-2029, yet it could have been avoided.

The super bonus has so far cost each Italian 2.100 euros

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