Farewell to the Redditometro: How the Tax Authority Unveils Your Earnings

“`html

Goodbye to the Redditometro, Hello to the Evasometro

With the legislative decree 108 of 2024, the tax authority officially bids farewell to the redditometro, an instrument once used to uncover the actual earnings of taxpayers.

However, the abolishment of the redditometro does not signify the end of assessing taxpayer income based on their expenditures.
For evaders, maintaining a lifestyle that doesn’t align with declared incomes could remain risky, albeit under new, more targeted scrutiny rather than general checks.

The legislative decree does not eliminate the possibility of tax audits based on presumed income derived from expenditures during the tax period; instead, it alters the evaluation parameters.

Thus, the redditometro is not completely abolished but transformed, continuing to aid in identifying tax evaders.
The methodology of this new tool resembles that of the previous redditometro, with a crucial difference: the threshold for triggering tax reviews is significantly higher.

The Evasometro: Key Changes and Functionality

The types of expenses factored in for the new evasometro mirror those of the redditometro:

• Home purchases
• Vehicle acquisitions
• Rental contracts
• Travel expenses
• Mortgage payments
• Jewelry and art purchases
• Gym memberships
• Insurance premiums
• Medical visits
• Domestic help
• Pet expenditures
• Dinners and lunches at restaurants
• Sports clubs
• Online gaming

The extensive list of considered expenses often led to audits falling on “false positives,” namely individuals whose declarations and tax payments were accurate but flagged by the redditometro.

This is why the redditometro is effectively retired, replaced by the evasometro, which operates similarly but with a heightened threshold for triggering alerts.
The focus will now be primarily on individuals who declare nothing and significant tax evaders.

How Does the Tax Authority Uncover Income?

What has truly changed with the retirement of the redditometro? Minimal changes have occurred.
The evasometro now requires a considerably higher discrepancy to reconstruct the lifestyle of those at high risk of tax evasion.

Tax assessments can now be conducted only when the overall ascertainable income exceeds at least 20% above the taxpayer’s declaration, with the surplus being at least ten times the annual amount of the INPS social allowance.

Before an investigation is commenced, a dual threshold must be met:

• A discrepancy of at least 20% between presumed and declared income.
• The difference should exceed ten times the annual value of the social allowance.

This first criterion mirrors that of the redditometro, while the second introduces a significant nuance.
As of 2024, the annual social allowance stands at €6,947.33, meaning that to trigger tax audits, the discrepancy must exceed €69,473.30.

This is a crucial shift; previously, with a declared income of €20,000, a reconstructed income of €24,000 (20% difference) would have sufficed.
With the evasometro, the reconstructed income must nearly reach €90,000 to raise the alarm.

Taxpayer Rights Under the Evasometro

Even when fiscal control is triggered by exceeding established thresholds, taxpayers are not automatically presumed tax evaders.
They can provide evidence justifying their expenditures through exempt incomes, gifts, or lottery wins, subject to tax withholding.

Furthermore, a taxpayer can show that their spending was less than the amount presumed by the tax office or that it was financed through past savings.
However, in all cases, mere assertions are insufficient; proper documentation supporting their claims is required.

“`