“Crackdown on False VAT Numbers: Over Half a Million Under Scrutiny”

The squeeze starts VAT matches open and close, those that disappear from the radar after a few months And so they escape the tax return and do not pay contributions, causing serious tax damage to the State. More than half a million VAT numbers are under scrutiny: many could be false, according to an estimate by Unimpresa.

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The crackdown, envisaged by the budget law, required the go-ahead from the Revenue Agency to become definitively operational. The director Ernesto Maria Ruffini gave way to the new controls (and the maxi penalties) on abusive VAT numbers with a provision signed on 16 May last.

Half a million false VAT numbers

What changes? The owner of a VAT number deemed suspicious will have to demonstrate the entrepreneurial soundness of his business in person. Those who do not pass the exam will not only have their VAT number canceled, but will also have to pay a hefty fine of three thousand euros. And if he later wants to reopen the VAT number, he will have to sign a three-year bank guarantee for an amount of no less than 50,000 euros.
The provision that sets in motion the new controls of the Revenue Agency defines the criteria, methods and terms for risk analysis and control of VAT numbers. At the end of 2022 there were almost 5 million VAT numbers in operation. During 2022, 501,500 new VAT numbers were opened, with a decrease of 8.7% compared to 2021. Thus the national councilor of Unimpresa, Giovanni Assi: «The growth of the phenomenon of false VAT numbers does not slow down. The number of these bogus positions, according to an estimate by Unimpresa, exceeded 500,000 in the last three years, with an increase of over 100,000 units compared to previous surveys».

In short, more than one VAT number out of ten would be false. The goal, from here on out, is to stem the phenomenon upstream, by carrying out, before assigning the VAT number, automated checks in order to identify elements of risk, as well as physical inspections in shops and companies. “These activities – reads the provision signed by the director of the Revenue Agency – will be aimed at verifying that the data provided by the subjects for their identification are complete and accurate”.

THE PRIORITY
Contrasting the phenomenon of open and closed VAT numbers is a priority of the Meloni government. Already during the electoral campaign, the prime minister had warned: “We will no longer allow the open-and-close game played above all by non-EU citizens, that of companies that do not pay a single euro in taxes and act illegally”. Now something is moving. Treasury data shows that about 20% of VAT numbers opened last year by a natural person belong to foreigners, about a third of which are Asians. But Covid and the effects of the war in Ukraine have caused the number of self-employed workers to collapse from 2020 onwards. According to the latest Observatory on VAT numbers published by the Ministry of the Economy, 177,725 new VAT numbers were opened in the first quarter of this year, down by 6.4% compared to the same period in 2022. 75.1% of new openings is attributable to individuals, 19.1% to corporations, 3% to partnerships. Just under half of the new openings, 48.9%, are located in the north, 21.1% in the center and 29.8% in the south and on the islands. As far as natural persons are concerned, the share of new VAT numbers opened by women has reached 40.7%.

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