Premier Romano Prodi on Friday shrugged off a growing tax protest, saying that a boom in tax revenue demonstrated the public's confidence in the government and its actions.
Speaking after Treasury figures showed State coffers swelling by a projected 6% this year over the last, Prodi said that "this means citizens are behaving responsibly and have faith in the government".
"The increase in the amount of revenue at the State's disposal to invest and help the needy is a sign of maturity and mutual trust," added the centre-left leader, who came to power in April 2006.
The Treasury said revenue from income and corporate taxes jumped 21% in January-August compared to the same period last year, with an extra 7.8 billion euros pouring in.
Looking at the entire year, it said the State would see some 4 billion euros more in revenue than previously expected.
While Prodi attributed the rise to the government's crackdown on chronic tax evasion, the centre-right opposition put the result down to an increase in taxes.
The opposition said the Treasury figures reinforced its claim that the government was overtaxing the country.
Berlusconi's Forza Italia party said that "the government has robbed Italians of this money by raising taxes and is now pretending that it is all due to the fight against tax evasion".
The devolutionist Northern League, a Berlusconi ally which has already called for a 'tax strike' to protest against taxation levels, said that "all this revenue boom triumphalism is misplaced given that it is due entirely to an increase in fiscal pressure".
Maurizio Gasparri, a top member of the rightist National Alliance, said it was a "duty to rebel" against any further tax hikes, referring to a government plan to lift the tax rate on capital gains and bond yields from 12.5% to 20%.
The opposition says that lifting the tax rate on financial investments, a measure contained in the government's election programme, would target family savings.
But only 16% of government bonds are owned by small Italian investors while 55% are held by foreign investors, 20% by banks and businesses and 9% by investment funds.
The current tax rate on financial investments is far below the European Union average of 20-22%.
But the idea of raising it fuelled opposition calls for a coordinated protest against taxation levels.
GOVT CRITICS URGE TAX REVOLT. Northern League leader Umberto Bossi has suggested that Italians pay taxes only to their own regions instead of the State in what he has termed a tax strike.
Bossi told reporters on Wednesday that he was sure his call for a tax revolt would win popular support.
"Every day, taxes go up. New formulas are being dreamed up to make those who have no money left pay more. Anger is mounting and the people will follow us on this (the tax strike)," Bossi said.
The government's popularity has already been dented by the 2007 budget, a 34.7-billion-euro package which contained extensive tax hikes and spending cuts.
The budget extended the highest income tax rate of 43% to all those earning 75,000 euros per year or more. At the same time, those earning between 55,000 and 75,000 euros annually saw their tax rate lifted from 39% to 41%.
Prodi defended the reforms and other tax-raising measures as essential for straightening the country's wobbly public accounts and meeting European Union budget targets.
The premier said on Friday that "it's all too easy to regard the taxman as the enemy, forgetting that taxes guarantee services and democracy at a central and local level".
He stressed that the government's determination to root out tax evasion was a "battle for civil justice".
Tax dodging remains rampant in Italy. More than 270 billion euros of taxes go unpaid each year - the equivalent of almost 20% of GDP, the tax office says.
Of the country's 40 million taxpayers, 95% claim to earn less than 40,000. A quarter declare an annual income of less than 6,000 euros.
The figures contrast with consumer spending indicators, which show disposable income at significantly higher levels.
The government says taxes can come down only when everyone starts to pay them.
According to the tax office, Italians currently shoulder one of the highest tax burdens in Europe.
The agency said recently that Italy's official fiscal burden of 41-42% of GDP was far below the "real" figure, which was above 50%.
