The Italian state recovered just 12.8 billion euros against the 72.3 billion of ascertained tax evasion. This is what emerged from the data of the Court of Auditors, which in its report on the “General State report” photographs the reality of 2024: only 17.7% of the sums identified are transformed into actual proceeds for public coffers.
The phenomenon is accompanied by the structural problem of tax controls. In 2024, checks were carried out only on 1.4% of Italian economic activities, about 1 taxpayer out of 71
Tax evasion in Italy in 2024
The annual report of the Court of Auditors highlights how the gap between discovered evasion and actual proceeds remains enormous. In 2024 72.3 billion euros were ascertained, but the tax authorities actually had only 12.8 billion, equal to 17.7%. The rest remains pending or meets collection procedures that rarely produce concrete results.
The data relating to the tax collection files is equally worrying, because against 40.7 billion euros enrolled in the role, they entered the state coffers just 1.3 billion, that is 3.1%. For accounting magistrates, this very scarce built -in ability is closely linked to the widespread belief that sooner or later a amnesty will arrive or that the collection procedures can be evaded without consequences.
The risk “impunity”: the numbers of controls
The problem, explains the Court, does not only concern the collection but also the controls. In 2024, out of about 9 million taxpayers with entrepreneurial, professional or autonomous activities, the substantial checks were just 129 thousand: 1 taxpayer every 71. With this rhythm, over 70 years would be used to carry out a complete rotation.
The verification rate is particularly low in sectors such as:
- trade;
- catering;
- health;
- entertainment
The range ranges between 1.3 and 1.7% of companies subjected to checks. Worse in the constructions, where control concerns one in 20 company, while in real estate intermediaries one in 50. Data that, underlines the Court, drastically reduce deterrence and increase the chances of evasion.
The greatest irregularities
The analysis enters the detail of the communications of irregularities sent by the Revenue Agency for the three-year period 2019-2021. For natural persons, out of 4.5 billion contested, the payments stopped at 448 million, less than 10%. For people’s companies, out of 53 million ascertained, just 8.4% was paid. It is not better for capital companies, which despite having a high regularity rate have recorded actual payments only for 9.6% of the disputed amounts.
On the VAT front it is not better: between 2019 and 2021 the agency sent 1.4 million communications for almost 9.6 billion of unpaid taxes, but payments covered just 1.7 billion, that is 17.2%. Out of 30 billion overall contested in three years, only 5.2 billion have been collected.
