Tax disputes, the first merit database is online. Lussana (Cpgt): "We hope for more sharing from the Mef".

The first database of the substantive tax justice system is online. To date, 329,216 decisions of the first and second instance courts have been published. Stalled, however, is the Artificial Intelligence project due to technical problems with the algorithm.

Cpgt president Carolina Lussana spoke on the publication of the database by the Mef. 'We are very pleased,' she said, 'with the launch of the database. It is, as is well known, a tool that has long been requested by all operators in the sector. We would, however, have considered it useful and respectful of our prerogatives for the Cpgt to be involved before it was put online. Our hope is that in the immediate future there will be a sharing of choices by the Department of Tax Justice of the MEF regarding its operation: since it is an absolute novelty, there will be corrections and implementation factors to be introduced, in the light of the evidence that will certainly be reported by the users, starting with the tax judges themselves'.

The system - called Prodigit and supported with EUR 8 million of EU Pon and React funding - was developed in collaboration between the MEF and the Presidential Council of Tax Justice. The project is ambitious: to modernise the new jurisdiction - recently reformed by Law 130/2022 and Legislative Decree 220/2023 -, to implement transparency and allow all parties to know the progress of case law. A tool strongly requested by tax professionals, who on several occasions have urged the Ministry to grant access to the database in order to foster parity between the parties in the tax process. This was made clear by Fiorenzo Sirianni, director general of the tax justice department, when he spoke about Prodigit during his hearing before the Senate finance committee last February. 'This is a very important principle,' Sirianni explained, 'because it reinforces the right of parity within the tax process between the taxpayer and the tax authority. Obviously, professionals and citizens will be able to be aware of this wealth of information that ensures a greater right to defence'.

At present, as it is written on the database website, this is an experimental project. The database is based on a digital platform that offers "simplified and intuitive access" for the consultation of first and second instance tax rulings, both digital native and pseudo-anonymised. The service, which allows consultation of digital native judgments filed from 2021 to 2023, will be progressively updated with digital native judgments published from 2024 and analogue judgments filed from 2021.

In addition, implementations are under way to allow not only the search of orders issued by the tax justice bodies referring to higher courts (Constitutional Court, Court of Cassation and Court of Justice of the European Union), but also the possibility, subject to agreement with the Court of Cassation, to check whether the appeal of legitimacy and the related decision are present with regard to the judgment on the merits being consulted.