Bill no. 3024/2021, now assigned to the II Justice Committee, hypothesizes the reform of articles 10 bis and 10 ter of legislative decree 74/2000, restricting the scope of application by introducing specific intent crime and grounds for exemption.
Accordingly, only those committing such criminal offences with the specific “aim of evading tax obligations” would be charged.
In addition, the new paragraphs 1 bis introduce grounds for exemption for those taxpayers who, for reasons not attributable to them, are forced to make difficult business choices and are in no condition to fulfil their tax obligations.
Despite some critical issues of these legislative proposals – especially because it is difficult to determine the extent of the inability to comply, the lawmakers’ efforts to protect a category that is already facing challenges – and whose crisis has been aggravated by the pandemic – is certainly commendable.
Marialaura Brancato