#taxlaw: the recent judgment, filed on 11 February 2022, no. 4973 of the Supreme Court states its view as regards liability for #omitted tax return in the event of #delegation of duties to a trusted professional.
The defendant, sentenced in the first instance for omitted tax return pursuant to art. 5 legislative decree 74/2000, appealed to the Supreme Court complaining of the non-existence of the subjective element of the crime by reason of the delegation of duties to his accountant in filing a tax return.
The Court, rejecting the appeal and adhering to the prevalent view, reiterated that “the fact that taxpayers can rely on someone else in charge of preparing and transmitting the tax return does not transfer reporting obligations to the latter as these are directly incumbent on the taxpayer”. Only cases of force majeure would exempt taxpayers who had failed to submit their tax return.
Any reporting obligation is therefore personal.
With reference to specific intent crimes, the Court once again stresses the consolidated principle according to which this is merely derived from the exceeded punishability threshold as provided by the law – of one hundred thousand euros – and from the the taxpayer’s full knowledge of the amount of tax due.
Marialaura Brancato
# criminal liability #delegation