Today the new income meter comes into force. The tool, which should guarantee the tax authorities more reliable checks and at the same time introduce greater guarantees for honest taxpayers, was tested in recent months and will now analyze data from the Ministry of Revenue and 128 other related databases.
For taxpayers for whom it will result a at least 20% gap between declared income and spent income, the red flag will fire (the red flag of the controls). At that point, the ministry will send the reported taxpayers a notice and they will have to present themselves to the revenue agency to justify the excessive expenses. The formal assessment will start only in the absence of convincing explanations from the taxpayer and after a more in-depth discussion.
The first incomes to be checked will be those of 2009 (declared in 2010) and the first letters could already go out today.
Here's how the new synthetic assessment works. In the preliminary phase, the new income meter compares the total and effective expenditure of the taxpayer with the declared income. To do this it takes into consideration:
– certain expenses incurred directly by the taxpayer or by the fiscally dependent family member resulting from the Tax Registry or indicated by the taxpayer himself in his tax return;
– expenses for certain elements, obtained by applying the valorisation to certain data (the expenses for maintaining the assets present in the Registry: housing, means of transport, etc.);
– the portion relating to capital increases;
– the portion of savings created during the year.
Only in the event that the taxpayer does not provide the necessary information in relation to the expenses listed above, the office will also take into consideration the current expenses, quantifiable on the basis of the Istat average, which will contribute to the synthetic determination of the income.
The new method doubles the moments of confrontation with the citizen. The taxpayer can provide clarifications on the expense items identified and on his or her income. In other words, he can prove that the expenses incurred during the year were financed with exempt income or subject to withholding tax, or with income legally excluded from the formation of the tax base. Furthermore, it can provide elements for rectifying data and for integrating the information present in the Tax Registry, demonstrate with direct evidence that the certain expenses attributed have a different amount or that they have been incurred by third parties.
