Court of Auditors: investigations into current accounts set to triple and tax audits set to increase in 2025
The tax authorities have stepped up their scrutiny of the state accounts: spot checks have risen by 18 per cent, whilst in-depth audits of the self-employed have increased by 11.3 per cent
by Marco Mobili and Gianni Trovati
Compliance is all very well, and all incentives to encourage voluntary compliance with tax obligations are important. But audits remain at the heart of the fight against tax evasion. And the tax authorities clearly understand this, even if the issue is often sidelined in the political narrative.
It is the figures that are bringing it back into the spotlight. In the report on the general accounts published yesterday, together with the Court of Auditors’ approval of the State budget, the Court of Auditors sets out a whole host of them. They are damning.
Routine checks on the rise
Firstly: there has been a marked increase in ‘routine audits’, that is, targeted checks (as opposed to automatic checks such as those on medical expenses and tax returns) which ‘enable the identification of undeclared income, omissions, irregularities and tax avoidance schemes, ensuring the recovery of taxes due and contributing to the fairness of the tax system’, as summarised by the joint audit committees.
In 2025, there were 223,647 such cases, representing an 18% increase on the previous year, and they led to the recovery of an additional 16.46 billion in tax (here, the annual increase was 11.4%).
The acceleration is clear, and the tables show this clearly. Although the Court regards this as merely a first step on a path which, ‘given the sheer number of cases of tax evasion’, should lead to a further increase in the frequency of checks, particularly for activities at greater risk of tax evasion, including through greater use of the data available in information systems.
