Italians Encouraged To Declare Offshore Investments

by Ulrika Lomas, Tax-News.com, Brussels

25 November 2009

As part of the intensification of its activity against undeclared investments outside of Italy, the Italian Revenue Agency has written a letter to those Italians who transferred abroad more than EUR50,000 (USD75,000) in 2008.

The letter is designed to remind those Italians that have used such transfers to purchase foreign assets that they have an obligation to declare those assets in their annual tax returns. The agency is thereby attempting to stimulate compliance, rather than having to mount investigations at a later date.

The letter, which is designed to be purely informative, uses information received from Italian financial institutions that have, themselves, an obligation to inform the agency of all transfers abroad of funds made by their clients in amounts greater than EUR10,000.

It also points out, to those who have failed initially to make the necessary declaration, that they have the possibility to make voluntary amendments to their tax returns with the aim of reducing the applicable penalties they might have to pay.

They are also reminded that, if they do eventually fail to make any declaration and are later found to have income-producing investments in 'tax havens', the penalties have recently been doubled.

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