For years Italy has been seen as a place of lazy regulation. Italians seem to pay little attention to their tax obligations and rely on a mixture of over-bureaucracy and lack of interest on the part of those appointed to enforce the law. Non-Italians often see this as one of the many attractive aspects of life in Italy.
The Italian tax authority is tightening up further on the possibilities of money-laundering and tax evasion. As of 6th December 2011, the limit of cash that can change hands in any transaction was reduced to € 1000. The previous limit was € 2500.
Here it is! Fruit of our long experience with non-Italian clients striving to understand the ins and outs of their obligations to the Italian authorities: the 3 things all property owners in Italy should know (but don’t know who to ask).
“And what is that?” you may ask. The P.E.C. (posta elettronica certificata) is a certified e-mail address. The intention is to allow companies (and others) a cheap and secure method of sending information by e-mail and is expected to be of particular assistance when dealing with public bodies.
The Italian tax authority is coming to the aid of those who “forget” to pay their taxes. In an unusually generous move, late payers now have an extra 14 days to pay any Italian tax due (IRPEF, VAT, INPS non mutuati), provided they also pay a “mini-fine” of 0.2% for each day of delay.
There are scammers in every country and Italy is no exception. Here at the Studio Del Gaizo Picchioni we keep a constantly updated list of scams notified to us by our clients. We’re sharing the top ones with you below.
If you’re a tax payer in Italy then you’ll be used to hearing many Italian accountancy terms used by your commercialista. Some of these unknown expressions can be confusing to a non-Italian and you may not always want to ask, so we’ve written a series of articles to help you.
More news is filtering through about the replacement for the Italian tax ICI. The general timetable for payments is similar to that for ICI, with payment due in two equal instalments.
It’s so rare to find something positive to talk about these days, we have to make the most of it. A new “social card” is being experimented in the major Italian cities. The card is given to the very poorest families with a credit which they can use to buy groceries and pay utility bills.
For those of you who don’t know, RW is the section of the Italian tax return which requires you to declare all assets held overseas, both property and investments. The penalties for failing to declare are extremely punitive, resulting in extreme cases to confiscation of the property itself.