The fight against tax evasion will involve all the Italian provinces: word of general commander of the Guardia di Finanza, Nino Di Paolo, heard in the Chamber, in the Finance Committee. The inspections of the last few months, from Cortina to Naples, "are nothing new" and in the coming months "inspections such as those carried out in Cortina have already been planned" in all the Italian provinces, alongside the ordinary and daily inspection action,” he said. ”We need to improve the quality and efficiency of controls – he added – but mass inspections are not an exception”. moreover, during 2012 there will be "a structural strengthening of the potential of the major Tax Police units on the national territory, as well as a greater operational involvement of the special departments in the sectors of competence".
The occasion was used to take stock and also to put forward some proposals. In the last five years, the Guardia di Finanza has carried out over two and a half million checks on the issue of receipts and tax receipts, "both in a targeted manner and as part of broader coordinated interventions on the territory", the so-called "mass controls". And again in the last 5 years, the Gdf has denounced over 5.500 people every year for false invoices, one of the "most insidious and widespread" frauds, for damage to the treasury coffers of around 2,5 billion, 40% of the total tax evaded and uncovered each year. "There is a large mass evasion – added Di Paolo – attributable to self-employed workers and small businesses". Not only evasion, but also loan sharking. "The crisis has accentuated the usury phenomenon", confirmed the general commander of the Guardia di Finanza, "the usual 'loan shark' no longer exists, there are centers that put themselves in parallel with the tightness of bank credit". Last year the Fiamme Gialle denounced 536 people for the crimes of usury and extortion and seized assets worth over 25 million euros.
In front of the members of the Montecitorio Finance Commission, Di Paolo also made some suggestions against the so-called “carousel fraud” (VAT fraud mechanisms which consist of purchase and sale of goods and/or provision of services between countries belonging to the European Community and which culminate in the request for reimbursement of the VAT paid abroad). Di Paolo suggested introducing the criminalization of attempted fraudulent declarations through the use of false invoices. Not only that: "To improve the effectiveness of the asset contrast to financial crime, the opportunity could be evaluated to include tax crimes among the predicate crimes for the application of the seizure 'due to disproportion' of assets that do not find capacity in the income declared. Thanks to this institute, already operating for a series of crimes, including smuggling, embezzlement, corruption and extortion - Di Paolo explained - confiscation is ordered, in cases of conviction or plea bargaining for the crimes specifically identified by the legislator, of the financial and patrimonial availability of which the convict cannot justify the origin and of which, even through an intermediary natural or legal person, he appears to be the owner or have the availability for any reason, in a disproportionate value to the declared income for the purposes of income tax or to one's economic activity".
Finger also pointed against the "shouldering", a phenomenon with substantial figures which "should not be underestimated: it is experiencing a very flourishing period, with a '24-hour' briefcase it is possible to easily transport up to 6 million euro in 500 euro banknotes". But Di Paolo assures: the controls against mass tax evasion "will not give anyone discounts".
