Tax law is made up of the set of principles and rules governing taxation, from application to implementation of the same.

Pursuant to art. 23 of the Italian Constitution, tax matters are covered by the relative law reserve, in fact, "no personal or patrimonial performance can be imposed except on the basis of the law".

This is the cd. "Principle of consent", or the specific provision according to which a tax cannot be established if the institution is not approved by the person who will be called to pay it.

In Italy this takes place through the necessary approval of the Parliament, as the representation of the citizens, on every project relating to tax matters, without prejudice to the possibility of the Parliament to confer legislative powers on the Government.

4 phases relating to the collection of taxes can be identified:

• Settlement: which is generally made by the taxpayer himself (so-called self-settlement) through the known declarations;
• Voluntary collection: or the spontaneous payment of the amount due by the taxpayer;
• Assessment: the assessment activity is merely possible as, in general, the tax system provides for the self-assessment of taxes by the citizen. This means that the tax authorities (or the tax police, “Guardia di Finanza”) only intervene following the detection of errors in the declarations or in the event of an omitted declaration. Upon completion of the preliminary investigation, the taxing body (or the collecting body), if necessary, will transmit to the taxpayer one of the documents provided for by the legal system, including the "Assessment Notice" (“Avviso di Accertamento”), the "tax bill" (“Cartella di pagamento”), the "Debit Advice" (“Avviso di addebito”) and the "Payment Injunction” "(“Ingiunzione di pagamento"), possibly preceded by amicable notices.
• Enforced collection: that is, the process by which taxes are collected without the consent of the debtor.

As mentioned, therefore, the litigation phase with the tax authorities generally begins with the tax assessment procedure.

At the outcome of this procedure, however governed by precise rules, the taxing body (or, in some cases, the collection body) may issue one of the acts which, constituting an enforceable title, in certain circumstances allow the interested party to proceed with the next phase, namely that of enforced collection.

Among the most commonly issued acts we find:

The “Avviso di Accertamento” ("Assessment notice") is one of the acts, constituting an enforceable title, with which the Revenue Agency formally notifies the tax claim to the taxpayer. This provision must contain, among other things, the reasons that led to the tax claim and, in the same, the taxable amounts ascertained with the rates applied, the methods and timing for payment, the indication of the competent office and the person in charge of the procedure and the competent judicial body for any appeal. At the expiration of the deadline for proposing an appeal, the notice of assessment becomes enforceable and, after 30 days from the expiry of the deadline for payment, it can be entrusted to the collection agents, it being understood that the forced execution remains suspended for the following 180 days. from entrusting them to them. Generally, following the assessment notice, a further provision is issued for the imposition of the penalties provided for.

For the purposes of appealing the assessment notice, for reasons of merit (sums already paid or not due, prescription, error on amounts, etc ...), the forfeiture period will be 60 days from notification and the competent judicial authority will be the “Corte di Giustizia Tributaria” (“Tax Court of Justice”).

In the event that the appeal should be based on formal defects of the act or notification (failure to sign, failure to analytically indicate the calculation, missing motivation, etc ...), the deadline for proposing the appeal will be 20 days from the notification.

Following the expiry of the term for the appeal, the tax claim crystallizes and it will no longer be possible to legally assert any reason for illegitimacy pre-existing to the notification of the act (for example, procedural defects), without prejudice to the events that occurred after the notification of the itself.

The "Cartella di Pagamento" (or "tax bill") is the act, constituting an enforceable title, through which the collecting body requests the payment of the sums of which the taxpayer is owed following the checks carried out by the taxing body and of the registration in the role of the relative sums.

The tax bill must contain, among other things, a description of the amounts due, the deadline for payment of the total amount requested and the methods of appeal.

For the purposes of appealing the tax notice, the deadline and the competent judicial authority must be determined on the basis of the nature of the tax requested, for example, in the event of an appeal, for reasons of merit (sums already paid or not due, prescription, error on the amounts, etc ...), of a tax notice deriving from the non-payment of the car tax, the forfeiture period will be 60 days from the notification and the competent judicial authority will be the “Corte di Giustizia Tributaria” (“Tax Court of Justice”).

In the event that the appeal should be based on formal defects of the act or notification (failure to sign, failure to analytically indicate the calculation, missing motivation, etc ...), the deadline for proposing the appeal will be 20 days from the completion notification.

Following the expiry of the term for the appeal, the tax claim crystallizes and it will no longer be possible to legally assert any reason for illegitimacy pre-existing to the notification of the act (for example, procedural defects), without prejudice to the events that occurred after the notification of the itself.

The “Avviso di Addebito” ("Debit Advice") is the instrument, constituting an immediately enforceable title, through which the INPS (“National Social Security Institute”), following investigations carried out, notifies the taxpayer of the economic claim. This act must contain, among other things, the type of credit, the details of the assessment made, the amount due for each single period taken into consideration divided between capital, interest and any penalties, the indication of the competent collecting agent and the relative fees due to the same, the signature of the Office Manager who carried out the assessment, the order to proceed with the payment within 60 days from the completion of the notification and the indication of the 40-day deadline for the proposition of an appeal to the competent Authority for reasons of merit (errors in the sums, incorrect calculations, prescription, etc.), as well as the term of 20 days from the completion of notification for the opposition to the executive act for formal defects of the act or notification of the same.

Following the expiry of the deadline for appeals, the claim crystallizes and it will no longer be possible to legally assert any grounds of illegality pre-existing to the notification of the act (for example, defects in the procedure), without prejudice to the events that occurred after the notification of the same.

The “Ingiunzione Fiscale” (“Tax injunction”) is the administrative measure through which local authorities require the payment of taxes and administrative sanctions (for example, sanctions for violations of the Traffic law). The injunction must contain, among other things, the motivation for the economic request and the details of the amounts due, the indication of the person in charge of the procedure, the indication of the terms and procedures for appealing the act, the indication of the details of the assessment carried out which, generally, must have been notified in advance. It must also contain the order to pay within the foreseen time under penalty of enforceable effectiveness of the injunction and the subsequent activation of enforcement procedures.

The terms for appeal vary according to the type of amount claimed, in the case of tax credits the peremptory term is 60 days from notification, in the event that the sums requested were not of a tax law for the sole purposes of the application for suspension of the enforcement of the title, is 30 days, it being possible in any case to proceed with the opposition even after the deadline before the execution itself has begun.

Following the expiry of the aforementioned terms without the requested payment having been made, as well as any further term of suspension of the execution (when foreseen), the creditor Entity will be able to move on to the enforced collection phase through the use of different procedures. aimed at enforcement that can be expressed in real estate foreclosure, property foreclosure and credit foreclosure, or through "afflictive instruments" (improperly called "precautionary" by credit institutions, as confirmed by the Supreme Court in United Section, Ord. No. 15354 / 2015) such as, for example, the administrative holf of the car (“Fermo amministrativo”). On this point, it is worth highlighting how the creditors and / or collection bodies, in addition to being able to make use of the ordinary enforcement procedures, benefit from various exclusive procedures that can make enforcement more effective and efficient. In this perspective, in order to assess the legitimacy of the executive procedure, the existence of the details to propose execution, it will be necessary to evaluate from time to time the procedure implemented by the creditor body and the possible methods of action.

Considering the vastness of the matter and the frequent updates and modifications of current legislation, the general information above cannot be exhaustive and, much less, can it be considered a substitute for personalized specialized advice.

If you have received a tax act, or a request for payment, from the italian Public Administration or from an italian Collecting Body (i.e. “Agenzia delle Entrate – Riscossione”), or you are subjected to investigations by the italian tax police ("Guardia di Finanza"), the italian Revenue Agency (i.e. “Agenzia delle Entrate”) or the italian Labor Inspectorate (“Ispettorato del lavoro”), contact us immediately.

By doing so, you can make a cognitive appointment through which you will have the opportunity to get to know your lawyer and understand what he can do for you, in what way, and with what foreseeable timing.

The Marconi Santese & Partners law firm in Rome (Italy), also through the network of professionals involved, can guarantee excellent assistance in relation to all the different phases of tax litigation, both in those relating to the judicial appeal of the acts of the tax authorities and collection agents, both prior to the formation of these act, providing assistance also during tax audits, accesses and inspections of the Revenue Agency, tax police or labour inspectors.