Local authorities in Italy are set to receive greater tax powers, after a new ruling was passed by the Government granting them ability to retain some tax collections and alter their local business tax rates. In an attempt to improve efficiency in tax collections and revenue expenditure, the Italian Government approved new legislation that will grant local authorities greater tax powers. The new legislative proposal was announced by Giulio Tremonti, Italy's Minister of Economy and Finance, on October 8th at a press conference, ... Read More

Silvio Scaglia, the thirteenths richest man in Italy, among 35 other high-profile individuals have been given a court date to defend themselves in the largest tax fraud case in Italian history, after months of legally dubious detention. On November 2nd thirty six individuals will begin trial proceedings in front of the Italian courts, facing allegations of tax fraud, conspiracy to commit tax fraud, and money laundering. The state prosecutor is contesting that the illicit actions were carried out by or under the approval ... Read More

An agreement has been reached by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the Council of Europe to amend the Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters (CMAAT). On April 6th the OECD and Council of Europe released a media statement announcing that the CMAAT will be updated in order to bring it up to currently agreed upon standards of international tax transparency. The Convention, opened for signing in 1988, is an international framework which provides facilitation of multinational exchange ... Read More

In excess of €95 billion of previously undeclared assets, almost €15 billion more than initially anticipated, have been disclosed to the Italian government in the country's latest tax amnesty. Assets worth nearly 6 percent of the national GDP have been declared by Italian nationals during the tax amnesty, and 98 percent of the amount has already been transferred back to Italy, mainly from offshore tax havens. The successful result of the controversial tax amnesty was announced in a statement of Economy Ministry ... Read More

The Swiss Government has put a halt on Double Taxation Agreement (DTA) procedures with Italy. Following Italy's raid on Swiss banks located in Italy, the Swiss government announced on November 1st that it has suspended its negotiations regarding their DTA with Italy. In retaliation, Giulio Tremonti, Italy's Finance Minister, threatened to “dry out” Lugano, Switzerland's most prominent financial center after Zurich and Geneva. Hans-Rudolf Merz, Swiss President and Finance Minister, said "The accord was ready for ratification from our side. But now the ... Read More

The Italian branches of Swiss banks were raided by the Guardia di Finanza on October 30th. According to Italian authorities, the operation was aimed at ensuring that all relevant taxation data was being provided by Swiss banks to the Italian tax authorities. In total, 76 branches were visited across northern Italy by the Italian Financial Police, Guardia di Finanza, and tax inspectors from the Agenzia delle Entrate, Italy's Inland Revenue Services equivalent. While no banks opted to comment on the raids, the ... Read More

The newest Italian Tax Amnesty Program has been written into law, yet is judged to be a risk to the country by Fitch Ratings. Italy, which according to an Associazione Contribuenti Italiani and Klrs Network of Business Ethics survey has EU’s highest levels of tax evasion, has approved its third tax amnesty program in eight years. The 2nd of October saw the Italian parliament pass the tax amnesty proposal with 270 affirmative and 250 negative votes. It was signed into law by ... Read More