The pre-filled tax return, which will debut next year, will be "a revolution for almost 20 million taxpayers". He said it in an interview with Corriere della Sera Rossella Orlandi, who a few weeks ago replaced Attilio Befera at the helm of the Revenue Agency.
“Many of these statements, a quarter – he added -, will not even have to be integrated. The others can be perfected, such as with the calculation of deductions, by resorting to intermediaries. With a novelty, however, because it will be the Cafs, the accountants who make those declarations, who will be responsible for any errors. Many Italians will finally be free from taxes”.
As for the general lines of the Agency's new action, Orlandi maintains that “the real revolution is prevent evasion, do not chase it. Estimates say that 120 billion euros are subtracted from the tax authorities every year, and we recover 12 or 13. But the real problem is that there are almost 600 billion of assessments relating to past years, entrusted to the collection of Equitalia, which are not they will never be able to collect. We should stop chasing them, and focus on the escape that is created every year. Bridging the gap between those 120 billion and the 13 we collect”.
For this reason, in his first act of address to the tax inspectors, Orlandi asked to start the checks from 2012. Not only that: the objective of the tax authorities will be primarily on the great tax evaders, "because the Agency's action must be proportional, and that this proportionality must be based on real data, using great caution in the use of presumptions, which must be reflected in the real situation and ability to pay of the controlled subjects".
The new number one of the Revenue Agency also spoke of public procurement, underlining that, “especially where there is a strong use of manpower, there are mechanisms to keep an eye on. When companies offer prices that don't even cover the cost of labour, something is wrong. Many businesses open, take out a contract, cash in, do the work, but don't pay taxes and contributions, then close. And maybe they'll reopen under another name a few days later. This is a very serious phenomenon, because in addition to tax evasion, there is enormous damage to free competition”.
