Fly-by-night companies are also under scrutiny for money laundering and fraud

The opening and closure of VAT registrations are increasingly under scrutiny by the tax authorities. This is not only to combat tax evasion but also to prevent a chain of illegal activities ranging from fraud to money laundering. The extremely close collaboration between the Guardia di Finanza and the Revenue Agency is increasingly focused on preventive intelligence through the work of the Uipar (Permanent Integrated Risk Analysis Unit). This task force enables the definition of strategies and guidelines for conducting investigative work. This strategic approach is yielding significant results: in just under a year and a half (from January 2025 to May 2026), the Guardia di Finanza has submitted 5,500 proposals to the Revenue Agency to close the VAT registrations of the highest-risk taxpayers.

Still looking at the figures, the Guardia di Finanza has been carrying out increasingly targeted operations: in 2025 alone – as also reported by the Court of Auditors in its report on the general state accounts – 11,266 criminal investigations were concluded and assets totalling 3.4 billion euros were seized in connection with tax offences. These results stem from a thorough understanding of the phenomenon.

These ‘open-and-close’ VAT numbers are, in fact, designed to have a lifespan of one or two years, but there have been cases where they have lasted for just a few months. In this way, they attempt to evade scrutiny both whilst they are operational and after they have ceased trading, leaving behind a backlog of unfulfilled tax and social security obligations and, above all, unpaid taxes and social security contributions.

This knowledge forms the basis of the strategy that the Guardia di Finanza is implementing, which is geared towards taking action ever more promptly and also towards curbing offences that are linked to, or distinct from, those of a strictly tax-related nature. First and foremost is the phenomenon of money laundering, which, in recent cases (see the other article on this page), is increasingly bringing underground banking systems (ghost banks) to the fore: the sums generated through false invoices are channelled into foreign accounts and then returned (after a sort of commission for the offence has been deducted) in cash to the beneficiary of the fraud.

Against this backdrop, the Italian Tax Police’s strategy focuses on two main areas. On the one hand, targeted and selective checks on thousands of newly issued VAT numbers to verify whether they are actually operational or not. In the latter case, a sort of ‘rapid response’ is triggered to prevent false invoicing. As mentioned, assistance in identifying operational targets comes from the risk analyses carried out by the Special Units, which are primarily directed at those with a higher tax risk profile. On the other hand, the strategy centres on inspections and investigations by the judicial police targeting those involved in tax fraud, precisely to ‘break up’ the fraud networks. When evidence emerges suggesting that the conditions for applying VAT are not met, or indicating systematic and serious non-compliance with tax obligations, the units of the Guardia di Finanza submit a proposal to the Revenue Agency offices to cancel the VAT registration and/or remove the individual from the VIES database, which identifies those carrying out intra-Community transactions.