Although it decreased by over 6 billion euros compared to the previous year, the CGIA Studies Office makes it known that in Italy, following the incorrect tax return, there are 93,2 billion euros of taxable evaded directly attributable to the companies and VAT numbers (Istat estimates this phenomenon with complex statistical procedures that have been refined over the years. The latest data available refers to 2015 and was extrapolated from the report "The economy not observed in the national accounts", presented in Rome on 11 October 2017). In other words, the incidence of tax evasion attributable to companies on the total added value produced by the unobserved economy (207,5 billion) is equal to 44,9 per cent. Another 37,3 per cent of tax evasion is attributable to irregular work (equal to an added value of 77,4 billion) and, finally, a further 17,8 per cent is attributable to illegal activities and illegal rent (36,9 , 1 billion) (see Table XNUMX).
In the share strictly held by companies, the macro sector with the greatest propensity to evasion is that of professional services (legal and accounting activities, business management and management consultancy, architectural and engineering studies, testing and technical analysis). , other professional, scientific and technical activities and veterinary services).
According to Istat, in fact, the incidence of the under-declaration of business income on the total added value produced by the world of the liberal professions is the highest among all the macro sectors examined (16,2 per cent); this is followed by the percentage referring to wholesale and retail trade, transport, accommodation and catering (12,8) and that referring to construction (12,3). On the other hand, the risk of evasion present in services to people (8,8 per cent), in the production of food and consumer goods (7,7 per cent), in education and in health care (3,9 per cent) is more contained. , in other business services (2,8 per cent), in the production of capital goods (2,3 per cent) and in the production of intermediate goods, energy and waste (0,5 per cent).
"To combat this social and economic scourge - asserts the coordinator of the Studies Office Paolo Zabeo - there is only one way to go: to reduce the burden of taxation and remove the numerous bureaucratic obstacles that affect, in fact, those who work every day enterprise. In other words: pay less to pay everyone. Obviously the serial tax evaders must be pursued and put in the conditions not to do it anymore, but be careful not to make a bundle of all the grass. Unfortunately, there is also an evasion of survival, which has definitely increased with the crisis, so not paying taxes has made it possible in recent years to safeguard business continuity and jobs ”.
The geographical division that records the highest percentage of revaluation of the under-declared added value in Italy (“Territorial economic accounts”, Rome 20 December 2017. Data are updated to 2015) is the South (7,6 per cent). Followed by the Center (6,5 percent), the Northeast (6 percent) and the Northwest (5,4 percent).
At the regional level, however, Molise is the region with the highest share (8,4 percent), followed by Umbria, Marche and Puglia (8,3 percent), Campania (7,7 percent), Abruzzo and Calabria (7,6 per cent) and Sicily and Tuscany (7,3 per cent). On the other hand, Friuli Venezia Giulia (5,8 per cent), Lazio (5,3 per cent), Lombardy (5 per cent), the autonomous province of Trento (4,9 per cent) and that of Bolzano (3,9 per cent) , 2 per cent) are the territories that present a lower risk of evasion (see Table XNUMX).
“It is plausible to hypothesize - concludes the Secretary of the CGIA Renato Mason - that with less taxes to pay, there would be a decisive emergence of the tax base that would allow our tax authorities to concentrate their activities against the most insidious tax behaviors. That is, those practiced by large companies and many multinationals that have moved their tax offices to countries with a marked tax advantage ”.
In addition to the 93,2 billion under-declaration that escape the tax authorities, the CGIA recalls that, according to Istat, the unobserved economy is made up of another 77,4 billion euros attributable to irregular work and 36,9 billion attributable to the item other (black rents, tips, etc.) which also includes the share of turnover attributable to illegal activities (prostitution, drug trafficking and tobacco smuggling). Therefore, among the underground economy (given by the sum of evasion from under-declaration, from irregular work and more), the total added value generated in 2015 by the unobserved economy was 207,5 billion euros (see Tab . 3).
Of these 207,5 billion euros of taxable income subtracted from the tax authorities, the CGIA Studies Office has estimated a tax evasion of about 114 billion euros a year. For every 100 euros of revenue collected, due to the fiscal infidelity of the Italians, at the national level the treasury loses 16,3 euros. The territorial differences are significant: if in the South the revenue that escapes the public coffers for every 100 euros withdrawn is 22,2 euros, in the Northwest it drops to 13,4 euros (see Tab. 4).
