Compliance letters: fewer letters to be sent in future thanks to fewer errors

Fewer compliance letters. The Italian Revenue Agency is considering reducing the number of informal notices – the first point of contact between the authorities and the taxpayer in the event of irregularities. This review stems from the fact that the objective of changing the relationship between the tax authorities and taxpayers has been achieved. This was revealed by the Director of the Italian Revenue Agency in response to a question during Speciale Telefisco on Il Sole 24 Ore on 24 September. In the interview, Vincenzo Carbone states that ‘around ten years after the first compliance letter was sent out, we can now appreciate the effects of a profound change in our relationship with the public’.

The agreement between the Ministry of the Economy and the Revenue Agency has set a target for the three-year period 2026–2028 of sending 2.4 million notifications . Carbone revealed that almost 1.7 million have already been delivered, representing 70 per cent of the total target. Achieving the target is therefore within reach, as was the case in 2025, when 4,095,815 notifications were reported, compared with the 2.4 million originally planned.

Just yesterday, the Director of the Revenue Agency signed the order concerning the irregularities identified in the 2023 tax year. Specifically, the anomalies relate to the amounts of electronic invoices issued and/or electronic payments duly transmitted, but not included in the business income stated in sections RF/RG/LM of the 2024 Redditi tax return.

The Director of the Revenue Agency had already raised the issue of the compliance tool back in March 2026 during the conference marking the 25th anniversary of the Revenue Agency. On that occasion, the Director had highlighted that there had been a decline in the amount recovered, measured in billions of euros, between 2025 and 2024. In 2025, the figure stood at 3.3 billion, whereas in 2024 it had been 4.5 billion. For Carbone, the interpretation to be drawn from this information was linked to the achievement of fewer errors and irregularities committed by taxpayers: ‘The Agency’s work is not measured solely by the amount we recover year on year, but also by the cultural shift’ – he observed – ‘that recovery efforts are capable of triggering in the medium to long term, encouraging increasingly widespread voluntary compliance’.

Carbone acknowledges that the tool opens up a channel for amicable dialogue, thereby encouraging an increasingly widespread voluntary compliance: ‘For this reason too, compliance letters are set to decline in the coming years. It may seem counterintuitive,” observes Carbone, “but it is a desirable outcome: if this is the case, it will mean that we have achieved the objective of making it a normal part of the relationship with citizens, a fair dialogue aimed at preventing any conflicts before they arise”.