Law no. 130 of 31 August 2022, in force since 16 September 2022, has initiated the reform of tax justice and the tax process with the aim of improving the quality of tax rulings and reducing litigation in the Court of Cassation, bearing in mind that an efficient tax justice system can only be a driving force for the economy of our country. The latest news on the subject is explained to us by Angelo Stefanori, lawyer and owner of the tax law firm of the same name in Rome.
by Roberta Imbimbo
Lawyer Stefanori, what are the main novelties affecting tax law?
Tax law governs everything we do, from the purchases we make every day, with their different VAT rates, to the various regimes applicable to entrepreneurial activity or self-employment. Issues concerning employment are then addressed in the press on an almost daily basis. On all these issues, the change of governmental structure inevitably leads to new features, introduced by rules that then require often very articulate application instructions, which are the daily bread of both tax lawyers and lawyers.
Has the NRP also brought about novelties in the tax sector?
Yes, it has led – at last – to the reform of tax justice, with Law No. 130 of 31 August 2022: it finally provides for judges employed full-time, for whom the expression ‘fifth judiciary’ has been coined in addition to the civil, criminal, administrative and accounting judiciary. The strengthening of tax mediation and the introduction of testimonial evidence are major innovations that will impose a new way of working also on lawyers, who will have more incisive tools to prove their clients’ actual ability to pay.
What does this mean in concrete terms?
The new regulatory framework allows the Judge a deeper analysis of the dispute: this requires a greater awareness on the part of both the taxpayer and the professional, who must promptly identify the most suitable procedural solutions, based on robust documentary and/or testimonial allegations, as happens in most other processes. To this must be added the need to verify the definitional institutes recently introduced in order to settle disputes introduced many years ago and still pending, especially in the Court of Cassation, as well as the verification of the possibility of taking advantage of the ‘rottamazioni’ of the payment demands notified at the time.
Will the legislator’s interventions in the tax field continue?
This is one of the few certainties that a tax lawyer can have: there have always been and certainly will not be in the future. In fact, there is a need to get to grips with substantive tax legislation, especially with a view to simplification as well as the reduction of rates. Add to this the ever-increasing desire of the legislator to keep up with the times, to ‘intercept’ all the new economic phenomena, as demonstrated by the recent intervention on cryptocurrencies.
