What is the Italian Tax Agency? Italian Tax Agency Review

The Tax Agency is the tax agency of the Italian public administration, attached to the Ministry of Economy and Finance, and performs functions related to tax assessment and control, and tax administration.

It was established in 1999 to guarantee compliance by tax-paying citizens with their tax obligations, and also carries out services related to land registration, geographic mapping services and the Immovable Property Registry, with the mission of establishing the existing registries of real estate assets on the national territory, while developing the integration between information systems related to tax functions and those for records and registrations related to property rights, in order to simplify relations with users.

history

The agency's predecessor was the Finance Office, which was established in each provincial capital in 1869 with the task of controlling personnel and coordinating the activities of the Finance Office.

In 1999, the Bassanini government reformed the Taxation Office, one of the four major taxation offices, which, together with the Customs Office, the Territorial Office and the National Property Office, was responsible for carrying out the previous technical business activities. It is under the responsibility of the Ministry of Economy and Finance and began operations on January 1, 2001.

Before the reform, there were several offices dedicated to specific tax aspects (direct tax offices, registration offices, VAT offices, finance offices). Also for the public administration, this reorganization has brought advantages and savings in terms of rationalization of resources, space and personnel. At the operational level, the introduction of this agency has brought benefits to taxpayers, who now face a single entity that manages their entire tax situation (except for local taxes and taxes falling within the jurisdiction of customs and monopolies).

On December 17, 2015, the Director of the Department unified the Provincial Departments with the Provincial Territorial Offices in almost all provinces. The latter are now internal departments of the Provincial Departments, but Rome, Milan, Naples and Turin remain autonomous offices. From January 1, 2016, the integration of the services and tasks performed by the abolished territorial bodies was completed, following a process that began in 2013.

Features

It is supervised by the Ministry of Economy and Finance, responsible for political direction, and is granted regulatory, administrative, patrimonial, organizational, accounting and financial autonomy.

The relationship between the Ministry and the Agency is governed by a three-year agreement which specifies the services to be ensured, the objectives to be achieved and the resources to be allocated for these purposes.

Functions and capabilities

The Tax Service is assigned all functions related to taxation that do not fall within the competence of other bodies, autonomous state administrative bodies, entities or agencies and its mission is to achieve the highest level of compliance with tax obligations by assisting taxpayers and through control measures aimed at combating non-compliance and tax evasion.

The agency is responsible for:

• Services related to the administration, collection, tax litigation related to direct taxes and value added tax and all taxes, duties or revenues or local revenues, including non-tax revenues, for which the revenue department of the Ministry of Finance is responsible, either financially or under fiduciary management, in accordance with legal provisions or specific agreements with tax authorities and creditors;

• Providing information and assistance to taxpayers, also through telematic services, in order to simplify relations with them and facilitate tax compliance;

• Verification, control of errors or tax evasion aimed at combating tax evasion (the core business of the institution), with the support of financial police inspections and/or checks;

• The Tax Committee handles tax disputes.

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