The Council of Ministers at the beginning of the week is not only dealing with bills – with the expected extension of the protected electricity market. In fact, the advancement of the Fiscal delegation is on the table, the director of which – Maurizio Leo as deputy minister – anticipated the contents. According to the drafts, it is a legislative decree of 26 articles.
Speaking late last week at national congress of accountants at the Lingotto in TurinLeo explained that “the revision of the taxpayer statute and the revision of obligations and payments are coming”.
De Nuccio “On the Irpef spot cut, the intervention must be confirmed” by Diego Longhin 20 October 2023
A new agenda is therefore expected for relations between tax authorities and taxpayers, with major professionals interested: “It is necessary change the schedule of obligationsboth the times in which to make the forms available to taxpayers, and the times in which payments will be made”, explained Leo. And a few days earlier he had promised a “certain calendar with certain times”, explaining that in the summer and during the Christmas period there will be breaks for everyone, administration and citizens.
Advance tax returns in October
The basic logic is therefore to bring forward the tax return calendar, so as to be able to free up August from commitments. In the draft we talk about bring forward from November 30th to September 30th the deadline for submitting declarations regarding income taxes and IRAP, while for IRES subjects the deadline is brought forward from the last day of the eleventh month following the closing of the tax period to the last day of the ninth month following the end of the tax period. To make this advance possible, Revenue forms should be made available from April 1st already next year.
The advance allows any refunds to arrive sooner and, “except in cases of indeferrability and urgency”, suspend from 1st to 31st August and from 1st to 31st December the sending by the Revenue Agency of communications relating to automated checks, formal checks and settlements of taxes on income subject to separate taxation and of compliance letters.
A theme that is intertwined with other aspects. From 2024 in fact, the pre-compiled form also reaches taxpayers with incomes other than those from employment and pensions, including VAT numbers. And then there’s the preventive agreement, or the tax “proposal” that the tax authorities will make to taxpayers based on the calculations of the algorithm and which can be received in a first phase by the month of July. At this point, there would be 30 days for a dialogue between taxpayers (or rather, their accountants representing them) and the administration to iron out the details. And therefore arrive at the declaration by October.
Among the expected aspects, also a new way of issuing the Revenue implementation circularswhich would have 30 days to be distributed following regulatory innovations and with a consultation phase between administration and professionals, to whom the contents would be anticipated for ongoing sharing and correction.
Payments in installments over time
A new calendar for tax payments in installments also emerges from the draft circulated before the Council of Ministers, with a greater extension due to the addition of a further deadline of 16 December. The obligation to indicate the desire to make use of payment installments by 16 November ceases and it is specified that “payments in installments are made by the sixteenth day of each month for VAT holders and by the end of each month for other taxpayers”.
Reduced and simplified sanctions
Among the issues raised by Leo, also sanctions. “While in the European Union it is argued that it is not possible to go beyond two sanctions for the same violation, we have 5 types of sanctions: criminal, administrative, accessory, those provided for by law 231 (administrative/criminal liability burden of companies for administrators, ndr) and confiscation due to disproportion”, said the deputy minister. Which also put the quantum, underlining that it is out of line with European standards: for VAT in Italy it goes up to 120-240% while in Europe it reaches a maximum of 60%. The deputy minister’s intention is also to rethink the collection mechanism: we need “a truth operation”, he said, given that the stock of tax bills has reached “abnormal” levels, around 1,153 billion euros, which cannot be collected because the subjects are largely deceased or bankrupt. That load should therefore be removed from the collection warehouse and redistributed.
Changes to the Taxpayer Statute
As for the Statute, one of the most trampled laws according to accountants, the objective is to strengthen it by ensuring that the provisions become general principles of the system, and therefore reference will be made to them when there is an interpretative doubt in the tax rules. The Revenue will always be asked to justify the documents it sends to the citizen, which must, therefore, be based on certain data and elements, indicating the evidence of the assessment. And not, as happens today, on elements of simple presumption of incorrect behavior.