PALERMO (ITALPRESS) – A round table to open a discussion on the tax reform currently being implemented, with the hope that it will put citizens’ needs at the center: this is the purpose of the conference ‘The rights of the taxpayer in the tax reform’, organized by the Chamber of Tax Lawyers of Palermo at the Palermo-Enna Chamber of Commerce.
The event, which brought together experts and institutions (both political and supervisory), was attended by, among others, the president of the Chamber of Tax Lawyers of Palermo Angelo Cuva, the deputy minister of Economy Maurizio Leo, the president of the Palermo-Enna Chamber of Commerce Alessandro Albanese, the budget councilor of the Municipality of Palermo Brigida Alaimo and the interregional commander of south-western Italy of the Guardia di Finanza Antonino Maggiore.
The reflection involves in particular two newly implemented tools: on the one hand differentiated autonomy, which highlights the need to guarantee fiscal uniformity in the country, on the other artificial intelligence, in particular with regard to taxpayer privacy. Cuva explains how “we wanted to put the taxpayer’s rights at the center of the analysis of the tax reform that is being implemented, because we believe that the central figures who must guide the entire reform action are the subjects who constitute the foundation of every community: the tax contribution finds its foundation in the rights and obligations that must be fulfilled, the transversal parameter for evaluating the ongoing reform is precisely a verification of the balance between the implementation of rights and duties and the taxing power of the State. We believe we are moving in the right direction, but the road is long and we will follow it carefully.”
Leo underlines the desire to “change the relationship between the tax authorities and the taxpayer, extending a hand to those who want to get their act together with the tax authorities and be collaborative: at the same time, we must not lower our guard against those who attempt to defraud or adopt particularly insidious illicit behaviors”.
In outlining the measures implemented by the government in favor of taxpayers, the Deputy Minister of Economy explains how “we have implemented the biennial preventive agreement, through which a proposal is formulated for the world of VAT numbers. If the taxpayer accepts that income, it will be valid for two years and if there is more income, it will not be taxed. Furthermore, for more structured companies there is the possibility of presenting a Tax control framework, or a program where all the tax risks are highlighted: in that case there will be no administrative or criminal sanctions”. These measures, Leo concludes, “encourage the taxpayer to declare and act correctly: there is always great collaboration on the part of the financial administration”.
Albanese highlights the importance of the conference as an opportunity to meet companies, which “must be motivated by good practices, but also by adequate knowledge of rights and duties: very often financial deficits do not allow them to pay on time, but this happens for slowness of public administration. I ask the deputy minister if we can do as in other European states, taking investment contributions out of the regional budget and setting them aside: we often see lots of money used for political problems, while businesses suffer”.
For Alaimo, the tax issue has seen Palermo “work in synergy with the national government to apply measures that allow us to look to the future with peace of mind: today the relationship between the Municipality and the taxpayer is certainly more relaxed, after the mistakes of the past have led to considerable difficulties”. In describing the supervisory work carried out by the Guardia di Finanza, Maggiore underlines how in recent years “collaboration with the Revenue Agency has been strengthened: over time, a greater investigative capacity has been developed for the control of national and community resources, specific skills are needed with the support of effective jurisprudence. At a local level, we have stipulated many memoranda of understanding with the administrations, to intervene already on the elements of suspicion and act promptly on the field”.
Although the numbers on revenue recovery are improving, adds the commander, “83 billion are missing, of which 10 from contributory evasion and 73 from tax evasion: the data tells us that evasion is still too widespread and is needed an even more intense control action. The tax reform has already moved to recover the revenue and will simplify the action of the inspectors, as long as the risk analysis is increasingly refined: an adequate ministerial decree is needed on the use of artificial intelligence so that the taxpayer’s privacy is always guaranteed” . (ITALPRESS)
Photo: xd8
