The tax regime in Italy has changed again meaning that expatriates who before only had to declare assets outside of the country over €10,000 ($13,500 USD) now have to declare all assets if they are classed as Italian tax residents.
Whilst before this only tended to affect overseas properties, shares and savings accounts this now means that expatriates (and Italians with assets abroad) with no need to report bank accounts which might only have a small balance.
These changes relate to the Foreign Asset Monitoring Return (Form RW) which is required to be filed along with the Italian tax return by 30th September each year. These have been supposedly made to make recent changes in Italian tax law comply with European Union law. The original penalties for mis-reporting of assets was up to 50% of assets which the European Commission deemed potentially disproportionate therefore this has been reduced to between 3 – 15% of the amount omitted. Any errors corrected within 90 days of the tax deadline have a fixed penalty of €258 ($350 USD).
Further information about these changes to Italian tax law can be found in the KPMG report from the beginning of September.
