Teoria positiva del beneficio e finanza locale responsabile

Sergio Steve was the last representative of the Italian tradition of scienza delle finanze, whose core was the ideal conception of a democratic finance based on the correspondence between citizens’ preferences and public finance decisions. In the writings of Steve, a clear example of this approach is in dealing with matters of local taxation. The benefit principle of taxation is taken by Steve in its positive meaning – following de Viti de Marco – as a principle of responsible local taxation. That is not due to a mechanism for joint determination of taxes and expenses within the market allocation scheme, nor applicable at local level as a principle aimed at avoiding the modification of a hypothesized optimal distribution of income. Steve enucleates and develops in his writings some key aspects of responsible local finance: the favour for the separation of tax sources; the delimitation of the functions of the local authorities; the correspondence between functions and autonomous revenues of local authorities; the criticism of the multiplication of local authorities and the resulting complication of local finance systems; the aversion for regions with special status. In his last years, Steve observing the condition of local finance in Italy had to acknowledge “in this poor country all are federalists, without knowing what they are doing and what they are saying”.