(Tiper Stock Exchange) – Rationalization and systematization of VAT legislation through a work of recasting in a Consolidated Text of the provisions currently not placed in the law and revision of the administrative and penal sanctioning regime: these are the proposals of the National Council of Accountants put forward during the conference “1973-2023: 50 years of VAT”, which took place today at Rome.
“Despite the fact that the “golden anniversary” of the tribute is being celebrated in these weeks – declared in his speech the President of the National CouncilElbano de Nuccio – the process of adapting the internal discipline to the fundamental principles of the Union matrix which are the basis of the tax and the corresponding sanctioning regime cannot be said to be fully completed yet. On more than one occasion, the principles of neutrality, effectiveness and proportionality have in fact been sacrificed by the legislator and by jurisprudence on the altar of the sacrosanct purposes of combating VAT fraud and evasive and elusive phenomena, but sometimes without adequately safeguarding taxpayers in good faith. Think, first of all, of the split payment mechanism and some applications of the reverse charge mechanism”. “There are several cases in which the internal regulation fails to fully implement the aforementioned principles of neutrality, effectiveness and proportionality of the tax – he added – such as, for example, the case of the remedies for the recovery of undue VAT, erroneously indicated on the invoice, or, again, of certain forfeitures of the right to carry forward the credit balance of the annual return. The Government is working hard on a new enabling law to reform the tax system. As far as VAT is concerned, the reform should first of all rationalize and systematize the legislation on the matter through a work of recasting in a Consolidated Text the provisions currently not included in the VAT law: starting from those relating to intra-Union trade and the margin regime of used goods, works of art, antiques, collections.
No less important, for accountants, as underlined by the National Treasurer delegated for taxation, Salvatore Regalbuto, “the complete revision of the administrative and penal sanctions regime on the matter, ensuring its greater proportionality with respect to the seriousness of the violations committed and a better coordination of the same”. To this end, he explained, “it is necessary to intervene as a priority by eliminating or greatly reducing the accumulation of penalties for unfaithful declarations with those envisaged for prodromal violations of omitted billing or undue deduction, also eliminating the criminal relevance of the omitted payment of the declared tax and rewriting the penalties for incorrect application of the reverse charge mechanism”.
For Renato PortalPresident of the VAT and Indirect Tax Commission of the National Council of Accountants, “the entry into force of VAT 50 years ago certainly represented a watershed not only for companies called upon to apply the tax, but also for accountants who have assisted them and who, today more than ever, must be protagonists in the process of evolution and reform of the tax”.
The President of the Order of Accountants of Rome, Giovanni Battista Cali, stated that “based on the estimates of the European Commission, in 2020 the “VAT compliance gap”, i.e. the VAT not collected as a result of fraud or evasion but also due to the debtor’s insolvency or other phenomena, was equal in the Union European at 9.1%. In Italy, the index was instead 20.8%, in third last place after Romania and Malta. A sign that in our country there is still a long way to go on this front. There is a generalized interest in having legislation that is as clear and stable as possible to prevent fraud or evasion which can also alter competition between operators. VAT concerns a very large number of citizens, it is applied by businesses – individual and corporate – and to all professionals: in 2020 there were 4.2 million VAT numbers. Also, as a result of his application mechanism, which transfers the charge downstream, affects all consumers”.