Fewer disputes, easy refunds: the new collection cuts debts with the tax authorities

the automatic or early discharge of the sums entrusted to the Revenue Collection Agency (Article 3).

2 The current scenario
Over 1.2 trillion in outstanding debts
There are too many defaulting taxpayers who are increasingly 'swelling' the so-called stock of outstanding debts. A warehouse that - as reported by the director of the Revenue Agency, Ernesto Maria Ruffini, on the occasion of Telefisco 2024 - according to the latest data as of 31 December 2023 counts "more than 1,206.6 billion euro, which concern about 163 million tax files and assessments and 22.4 million taxpayers". This huge stock affects 3.5 million companies, foundations and entities and 18.9 million natural persons, 3 million of whom are business owners. According to the IRS, after deducting the irrecoverable sums for debts relating to deceased persons, nobodies, or companies that have ceased trading, there remains 101.7 billion to be collected (about 8%); among the debtors, moreover, there are people who cannot be seized due to limitations linked to their first home or capital goods.

3 Clean up the warehouse
Automatic or early discharge
The sums entrusted to the Agenzia delle Entrate Riscossione (Ader) from 1 January 2025, not collected by 31 December of the fifth year following the year of entrustment, will be automatically discharged according to what is established by decree of the Mef (Article 3). The establishment of a commission is envisaged, to cancel all or part of the so-called stock of debts on the rolls; to achieve discharge, the commission will propose the solutions to be adopted, through legislative measures, by: 31 December 2025 for loads entrusted from 2000 to 2010; 31 December 2027 for loads entrusted from 2011 to 2017; 31 December 2031 for loads entrusted from 2018 to 2024 (Article 7).

4 Give and take
Compensation of credits exceeding 500 euro
Article 16 of Legislative Decree 110 makes changes to the collection decree, Presidential Decree 602/1973. Article 28-ter ('Payment by voluntary offsetting with tax credits') is amended, providing that:

payment by voluntary set-off may only be made for refunds exceeding EUR 500, including interest;

by analogy with the provisions of Article 48-bis of Presidential Decree 602/73, which sets forth "provisions on payments by public administrations", the verification of the beneficiary of the reimbursement must be carried out not on the existence of debts entered on the tax roll (this provision also includes amounts payable that have not yet been notified) but on the existence of defaults with respect to the obligation to pay arising from the notification of one or more payment demands, or of one or more loads entrusted to the collection agent.

5 Use of refunds
Check by the Revenue Agency on defaults
It is established (new Article 28-ter, Presidential Decree 602/73) that when disbursing a tax refund in excess of €500 inclusive of interest, the Revenue Agency shall check whether the beneficiary is in default of the payment obligation resulting from the notification of one or more payment demands, and, if so, it shall send an electronic notification to the Collection Agent in charge of the tax assessment (paragraph 1);

Upon receipt of the report, the tax collection agent notifies the person concerned with a proposal to set off the tax credit against the debt entered on the tax roll, suspending the recovery action and inviting the debtor to communicate within 60 days whether he intends to accept the proposal (paragraph 2);

In the event of acceptance of the proposal, the agent shall move the sums referred to in paragraph 1 and remit them to the creditor within the limits of the total amount due as a result of the registration (paragraph 3);

in the event of rejection of the proposal or failure to reply in a timely manner, the effects of the suspension cease and the tax collection agent informs the Revenue Agency electronically that it has not obtained the adherence of the interested party to the offsetting proposal. In this case, the sums remain at the disposal of the tax collection agent, until 31 December of the year following the year in which they are made available, for the commencement of enforcement action (paragraph 4).

6 The appeal
The grounds for contesting non-notified tax assessments
An appeal may be lodged against an invalidly notified tax assessment and payment notice in cases where the debtor taking legal action demonstrates that he may be prejudiced by the tax assessment (Article 12):

as a result of the provisions of the Public Contracts Code;

for the collection of sums owed to it by public entities;

for the loss of a benefit in dealings with a public administration;

within the framework of the procedures provided for in the Business Crisis Code;

in connection with financing transactions by authorised parties;

in the context of the sale of the company.

7 Facilitated Payments
Instalments for Temporary Difficulties
If a taxpayer declares that he is in a situation of temporary difficulty and the amounts on the tax roll, included in each request for deferment, are less than or equal to EUR 120,000, the taxpayer may pay the debt in instalments up to a maximum of:

84 monthly instalments, for applications submitted in the years 2025 and 2026;

96 monthly instalments, for applications submitted in the years 2027 and 2028;

108 monthly instalments, for applications submitted on or after 1 January 2029.

8 Subsequent instalments
Division into several monthly instalments for those who document
The taxpayer who declares and documents the temporary situation of objective difficulty, in the case of amounts registered as due, included in each request, exceeding 120 thousand euro, may divide the debt up to a maximum of 120 monthly instalments, regardless of the date of presentation of the request. For sums up to EUR 120,000 the repartition goes:

85 to a maximum of 120 monthly instalments for applications submitted in the years 2025 and 2026;

97 to a maximum of 120 monthly instalments for applications submitted in the years 2027 and 2028;

109 to a maximum of 120 monthly instalments for applications submitted from 1 January 2029.