Tourism in Puglia makes the incorrect entrepreneur rich, but only until he is caught by the Guardia di Finanza or the Revenue Agency. This type of tourist operator rents villas by the sea, trulli in the countryside, rooms on the coast on the black market and hopes to escape taxation forever, thus contributing to the mountain of tax evasion ever growing. The latest operations, a sign of a much larger phenomenon that is also spreading to luxury tourism, took place yesterday.
In sixteen companies (mostly tourism) there are illegal workers
In the Tarantino area, financiers have identified 16 employers who used illegal workers. Many activities are tourist. One hundred cases of failure to issue tax receipts were also discovered. The inspection activities were of interest Taranto, Martina Franca, Massafra, Manduria, Castellaneta, Laterza and Ginosa. Grill shops, butchers, bakeries, hairdressers and barbers, fishmongers, ice cream shops and clothing shops have ended up in the crosshairs. Two citizens, both from Salve, lower Salento in the province of Lecce, were subjected to a tax assessment by the Guardia di Finanza. They were owners of three properties, two villas and a trullo, rented out illegally to touristsand would have failed to declare revenues of approximately 200 thousand euros. The financiers have identified the two luxurious homes and the trullo in the Salve marina, overlooking the sea of Torre Pali and Pescoluse. The properties had recently been renovated and equipped with every comfort: relaxation area and swimming pool. The owners were identified thanks to some inspections carried out by the Guardia di Finanza soldiers with the support of the many databases available to the departments.
But in the last three months similar operations have also been completed in the Brindisi area, in the Taranto area, and again in the Lecce area on the Ionian coast. In Ostuni, 200 thousand euros of undeclared revenues emerged from owners of farmhouses and B&Bs; in Taranto a non-profit company organizing nautical tourism failed to declare 140 thousand euros; between Ostuni, Fasano, Mesagne Francavilla Fontana hotels, holiday homes, B&Bs have hidden proceeds of half a million. And again between Porto Cesareo, Ugento, Torre Lapillo and other centers on the Salento coast, 110 thousand euros reappeared after the intervention of the Guardia di Finanza.
Entrepreneurs: «Luxury tourism is almost always traceable»
Giuseppe Serafino, president of the Tourism section of Confindustria Lecce, comments on the Salve case: «It is sad to hear this news because in first place in a tourism operation, in addition to professionalism and a quality product, there is undoubtedly legality. However – he points out – I am surprised because luxury tourism travels on traceable booking channels and transactions are made mainly with credit cards and through specialized portals with people who organize trips”. He concludes: «If today Salento is an international destination even in the luxury segment, it is also thanks to capable entrepreneurs who operate with transparency in compliance with the rules».
