Offshore Piracy?

If you follow the Italian news, then you will know something of the amnesty designed to recoup the billions Italians have stashed out of the reach of Italy’s taxman in comfy offshore accounts.

Said amnesty has, so far, seen some 80 billion Euros return to Italian banks.  A not inconsiderable sum, I’m sure you will agree.  As a consequence of its success, the amnesty has been extended well into 2010 to encourage even more of Italy’s tax dodgers to bring their gains back within the grasp of Italy’s cash starved taxman.

Offshore Banking

Now, the odd thing is that some of those who have taken advantage of Italy’s amnesty will be more than a little relieved to place their dosh in the coffers of honest Italian banks.  Indeed, from what I have heard, some are literally scrambling to move their offshore fortunes onshore.

Why? … Continue Reading

Tax Evasion in Italy

If you want to minimise or extinguish your tax liability, engage an Italian tax advisor.  Italy’s income tax advisors must be some of the best in the world and Italy’s tax advisors are real ‘value for money’ professionals too.

Expert Italian tax advisors will have you declaring either nothing or next to nothing while you live in a ten bedroom mansion, employ a few Indian (Indians seem to be popular as domestic staff in Italy) servants and cruise the streets of Italy in a gleaming red Ferrari, when you are not cruising the Mediterranean in your luxury motor cruiser, that is.

The activities of Italy’s effective tax advisors mean that every year something like 100 billion Euros never ends up in Italian state coffers.

Cash strapped Italy with its huge national debt and crisis related problems, has started to wake up to the fact that Italians do not pay as much tax as they really should do.  Measures are being taken.

It’s taken Italy long enough to wake up, it has to be said.

You’ve probably heard of the well-heeled, the self-made, the nouveau riche, well, Italy has a new group to add to the list – the pseudo-riche.

The ‘pseudo-riche’ are only rich because their tax advisors ensure they pay the absolute minimum in taxes in Italy.   In some respects though, bringing Italians to heel tax-wise may not be such a good thing. … Continue Reading

Do Italian Banks Encourage Tax Evasion?

Is it possible that banks in Italy encourage tax evasions, albeit indirectly? This is a question I’ve ended up asking myself recently.

Italy

Those who follow the news in Italy will know that legislation was recently passed to encourage Italian’s who had ‘hidden’ vast sums in banks beyond Italy’s borders to put their hoards back into Italian banks.

The new law, which recently passed through Italy’s parliament, also granted Italy’s money re-importers immunity from prosecution for any false-accounting relating to the funds concerned.

The false-accounting immunity provisions caused huge controversy in Italy because it appeared as if those who moved their fortunes back into Italy were being patted on the back for being so clever.  Not, as really should be the case in the opinion of many Italians, punished for having evaded Italian taxes for many moons.

But why did these people move lots of cash into offshore accounts?  Well, one reason may be because it is do darn hard to squeeze credit out of Italy’s phenomenally cautious banking system.  Getting people to pay is also traumatic in Italy.

… Continue Reading

The Italian national sport

Admit it, you thought the Italian national sport was football, didn’t you?  Well, you are wrong.  The actual Italian national sport is tax evasion.

Around 270 billion Euros never get declared.  (Although, if this sum is not declared, how they can know it is 270 billion Euros is a bit of a mystery to me!)

The level of evasion in the Living Museum is growing too, or so it would seem from the numerous articles plastered all over the Italian dailies today.

Sky news, in one of its news oriented chat shows last night, tried to establish just why so many low-earning Italians can afford luxury boats costing, before running costs, around 1 million plus Euros a piece.  Appartently the number of luxury boats registered comfortably exceeds the number of tax payers who admit to having an income in excess of 200,000 Euros.

I did try to follow the Sky program, but got annoyed and switched off (as usual) when each participant tried, in the Italian way, talking (which then becomes shouting…) over the top of the other participants, meaning that nobody, as usual was listening to anything other than the dulcet sound of his own sweet voice.  Even the chat show host was at it.  But this is perfectly normal.

Anyway, I digress.  If you are looking to reduce the amount you donate in taxes, then I heartily recommend hiring an Italian tax adviser.  Or you could just move to Italy, pay only the bare minimum in tax, and wait until the next inevitable tax-amnesty.  And should those nasty tax police get too close, you can always stuff all your dosh in a suitcase, pop over to Switzerland and open one of those nice numbered bank accounts for which the Swiss are famous.

Fancy popping round to my place for a few beers, a pizza, and to watch the Finance Police v the Evaders footie match this evening?  I’ll provide the F24s.