Evolution of Tax Compliance:
Tax compliance is no longer just a regulatory obligation, but a strategic dimension requiring adequate internal control systems capable of mapping, monitoring, and managing tax risks and a collaborative and proactive approach with tax authorities.

Objective of the Cooperative Compliance Regime:
To establish a relationship of trust between the Tax Administration and the taxpayer aimed at increasing certainty on relevant tax matters through constant and preventive dialogue.

Subjective Requirements for Access (Art. 7 of Legislative Decree No. 128/2015, as amended by the 2023 Enabling Law):

Size Threshold: Turnover or revenues not less than:
€750 million starting from 2024

€500 million starting from 2026

€100 million starting from 2028

Group Membership: Access is allowed for companies not meeting the size requirements if they belong to a group with at least one qualifying entity and if the group adopts an integrated and centrally managed Tax Control Framework (TCF).

New Investment Ruling: Access is independent of turnover for companies implementing positive responses issued by the Revenue Agency to advance ruling requests on new investments.
Tax Control Framework (TCF) Requirements:
A valid TCF must include (as per the Guidelines of January 10, 2025 – Measure No. 5320/2025):

Tax strategy.

Clear roles and responsibilities, with proper segregation of duties.

Effective procedures for identifying, measuring, managing, and controlling risks.

Continuous monitoring to detect deficiencies and errors.

Ability to adapt to internal and external changes.

Annual report to governing bodies.
Tax Risk Assessment Process:
A key element of the TCF, it identifies and evaluates tax risks, providing a mapping of risks, involved processes, and controls. It distinguishes between:

Compliance tax risks: operational risks of failing to properly meet tax obligations.

Interpretative tax risks: risks arising from uncertainty in tax law application, either abstractly or in specific cases, managed through a dedicated Interpretative Risk Management Policy.
Tax Risk and Controls Map (RCM):
A core document for regime admission, linking each relevant business process to its specific tax risks and related mitigating controls. It includes inherent and residual risk assessment, tax area mapping, and descriptions of first- and second-level controls.
Preventive Dialogue:
The heart of the regime, it entails ongoing meetings between the taxpayer and the Revenue Agency for a shared evaluation of situations potentially generating tax risks.
Cooperative Compliance Agreement:
A formal document signed by both parties, defining a shared assessment on strategic issues with significant tax implications. It binds both parties for the current and subsequent fiscal years unless material changes occur.
Duties of the Revenue Agency:
To provide timely and comprehensive responses, ensure consistency and uniformity in preventive dialogues, perform evaluations based on objectivity, reasonableness, and proportionality, and maintain strict confidentiality of information.
Duties of the Taxpayer:
To implement and maintain an effective TCF, ensure clear allocation of roles and responsibilities, promptly and thoroughly communicate any tax risks (including aggressive tax planning, regardless of materiality thresholds), respond to information requests, and establish an internal regulatory system with ethical codes and conduct guidelines considering tax compliance as a key variable.
Code of Conduct:
Approved by the Ministry of Economy and Finance (Decree of April 29, 2024), it defines mutual commitments between the Tax Administration and taxpayers. Taxpayer commitments include: refraining from investments in tax havens solely for tax savings, complying with transfer pricing regulations, and avoiding transactions that produce effects contrary to declared intent or exploit asymmetries for double deductions or non-taxation.
Incentives of the Regime:

Shorter Statute of Limitations: Two-year reduction for risks that have been communicated, applicable from the fiscal year in progress as of January 1, 2024, for already admitted participants.

Criminal Non-Punishability and Reduced Administrative Penalties: Timely communicated risks generally exempt from penalties. For “non-significant” risks included in the risk map, administrative penalties are halved, not exceeding the legal minimum. Guided voluntary disclosure (Decree No. 126 of July 31, 2024) provides simplified and faster procedures for voluntarily correcting errors or omissions.

Exemption from TCF Certification: For participants already admitted as of January 1, 2024, no independent professional certification is required.

Retroactive Effects: Taxpayers may retroactively apply the results of rulings or agreements to prior tax periods by filing amended returns or voluntary disclosures.
Duration of the Regime:
It starts from the fiscal year of application and is tacitly renewed. Exclusion may occur if TCF or subjective requirements are no longer met, relevant risks are not disclosed, or serious non-cooperative behavior undermines trust. Failure to identify a risk in good faith does not automatically trigger exclusion unless the risk’s gravity undermines the reliability of the system.
Revenue Agency Controls:
The Agency does not repeat controls already carried out during preventive dialogues unless facts change or untruthful information emerges.
Certifiers (Ministerial Decree No. 212/2024):
Lawyers and accountants listed in specific registers, with proven integrity and professional competence. They must assess whether the TCF ensures reasonable assurance regarding the conscious and reliable management of fiscal matters. The assessment involves two levels (general and specific controls) and three phases (scope definition, design evaluation, and control testing). Certifiers must attest that the TCF meets legal requirements and aligns with official Guidelines. Strict independence criteria apply.