It's time to save some tax in Italy!

With all the talk of the last 6 months about which extra taxes we need to pay in Italy and the different assets that are now taxed, both home and abroad, I thought it was about time that we started to fight back.  

Why 2013 might be unlucky for some!

Why the number 13 (2013) might be unlucky, not just for some, but for all of us.  And how to prepare for the worst.

The Italian pensioners tax allowance, that isn't.

Recently I have been having discussions with people about the supposed tax free allowance of €7500 for pensioners resident in Italy.  The problem is that this is an allowance that is not an allowance.

In fact it is nothing of the sort.  It is actually a tax credit

Setting up a business in Italy

Dear Readers,

I was recently contacted by a lady who has got into very big trouble for operating a business from the UK when her main centre of business activity was in Italy.  She explained that she had taken advice from many people (including verbal confirmation from the Guardia di Finanza) who all advised her incorrectly about how to set up a business correctly in Italy.  Below is an extract which she asked if I would communicate to the wider Expat community in Italy to try and avoid it happening to others.

We should blame Germany for the crisis!

It seems to me that the European crisis has just bounced from one bit of bad news to another all summer.  If the heat wasn't enough the failure of politicians to make any effective decisions had become equally tiresome. 

However, no sooner had the start of September come around than the newspapers started opining about the fate of Europe once again.  So I thought, let's take a slightly different view on who is to blame in Europe.  The Greeks, Italians and Spanish are taking the brunt of the negativity.  But, Germany has a very big part to play in the way this crisis has evolved. 

Greece will leave the Euro within months

A very interesting video from the BBC with Roger Bootle on the continued prospect of Greece exiting the Euro by the end of 2012.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-18727928

The tax man catches up

I recently heard that there were some Guardia di Finanza raids on stranieri across the country.  

I have been warning for while that stranieri are really quite easy to find.  The most obvious clue for the tax authorities is that someone has bought a house, taken residence (or not), and there are NO sources of income registered at the Agenzia della Entrate.  

Any income, whether sourced in another country and tax paid in that country, rental income from properties, investment income from offshore territories or otherwise, should be reported to the Italian authorities and assessed for Italian tax.  If not, then you are deemed to be deliberately misleading them.  Penalties and fines come next. 

Don't be the next to get caught in the act.