In Italy thetax evasion It is a big problem that is addressed daily by the state, which loses every year about 72.3 billion euros Because many people and companies do not pay the taxes and contributions they should. Having less money is then reflected on the problems of the growing public debt and on the inefficiency in the public services that we all use. Fortunately, the state over the years has succeeded ARheck an important part of these resources thanks to more effective checks and new strategies. Let’s see how much Italian tax evasion is, which plans are implemented to fight it and finally because it is essential that everyone pays taxes.
As far as tax evasion is amounted to Italy
From the latest official data of 2021, the Italian tax evasion would amount to 72.3 billion euros. This figure is called tax gapthat is, the difference between what the state should collect and how much it really collects. This gap is given by the fact that in Italy, as in many other states, unfortunately, some people and/or companies do not declare all the figures they earn but declare less or even none and in this way pay taxes on lower amounts or do not pay them. In Italy there are mechanisms for calculating taxes that a person should depend on how much he earns on the basis of perceived income bands (rates). If a person or a company declares to earn less than what he actually earns not only is he committing a crime, he is also impacting negatively on himself: the absence of these sums penalizes all those – including him – who use public services such as schools, hospitals, roads.
What was recovered in 2024
Taking into consideration the year just passed, the Italian state has made progress in recovering part of these sums: based on the report of the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF), they were recovered overall 12.8 billion eurosof which about 22.8 billioncome from ordinary checks carried out by the Revenue Agency and the Guardia di Finanza. The remaining part is outstanding or encounters collection procedures that rarely produce concrete results. Thus, thanks to the various agreements for the regularization of tax debts, the possibility of those who have escaped to put themselves in order through Payment plans. This method, together with other similar initiatives, to the digitization of invoices that makes it less possible to hide its earnings, and to the enhancement of the controls by the Revenue Agency, has meant that the tax gap was reduced and that it could be reduced over the years.
Why is it important to know these data?
Let’s imagine that in a big city like Rome there are few buses available to move because there is not enough money to buy new ones or keep them in operation. This is what would happen if public funds did not have sufficient resources to maintain public transport in operation. In this situation, those who need to move could be forced to buy a car and therefore to spend money that otherwise would not have spent: because of a few they would suffer from many. This is why paying taxes is important: it helps to maintain and improve the services that we all use every day.
The state needs 100 in order to carry out all the economic commitments it has, if we are 100 to pay are 1 each, but if we are only in 10 the figure to have to divide becomes even larger and perhaps unsustainable, this is a basic concept that unfortunately is not understood by everyone. What if we were 1000 to pay those 100 necessary?
One of the most incorrect popular beliefs is that the state never reduces tax rates (i.e. how much you have to give head to reach those 100 necessary). But it is good to know that Since 2014 the rates have been reduced: In fact, the IMU was eliminated on the first home, the IRES rates (which would be the tax rates for the income of the companies) were lowered, a flat tax of 15% has been introduced (which would be a fixed tax, in this case applied to the flat -rate regime for small VAT matches). Furthermore, even if they were not to directly reduce the rates, if everyone pays taxes, the state would have the sums to improve for example public transport and therefore it would be saved in the use of the most limited of their own machine, or would invest in health and schools and saved in the privatization of services.
