The notice of tax assessment with a not guilty verdict is annulled

In its judgment No. 23570 of 3 September 2024, the Supreme Court applied the new Article 21bis of Italian Legislative Decree 74/2000, annulling the tax assessment notice due to the final verdict of not guilty issued at the end of the criminal proceedings.

The case
Mr A.M. was reported for the crime under Article 8 of Legislative Decree 74/2000 for having issued invoices for non-existent transactions. As a result, the tax authority had carried out a tax return against one of the recipients of the invoices, Mr L.F. 

Taxpayer L.F. appealed against the tax assessment. However, the favourable first instance judgment was completely reviewed by the tax court of second instance. 

The taxpayer appealed against the second instance judgment in cassation, producing the criminal ruling of not guilty of Mr L.F. with a certificate of res judicata.

The decision
The Court of Cassation applied the new Article 21-bis, annulling the contested judgment and the contested assessments.

In this regard, the ius superveniens of Legislative Decree no. 87 of 2024, which introduced the new Article 21bis of Legislative Decree no. 74/2000 entitled ‘Efficacy of Criminal Judgments in Tax Proceedings and in Cassation Judgments’, which provides that 'A final acquittal verdict of acquittal for lack of facts, pronounced after the trial against the same person and for the same material facts that are the subject of the tax trial, shall have the force of res judicata in the tax trial, at any stage and level, for the same facts.'

The irrevocable criminal judgment referred to in paragraph 1 of may also be lodged in the tax proceedings.

The relevance of the ius superveniens justified, according to the Court, the ordered payment of costs.