The Regional Tax Court for the Region Lombardia with ruling n. 3778/67/15 held that the amended income tax return, which an Italian taxpayer may file to integrate a previous incomplete file return after the filing deadline has expired, does not remedy the penalties connected to the failure to file a timely RW form. The information disclosed in the RW form is required to allow the tax administration to know about an Italian resident  taxpayer’s foreign assets even though they do not generate taxable income. Failure to disclose foreign investments and assets constitutes a substantial violation that is not subject to review.

The case involved a German taxpayer residing in Italy, who did not file an income tax return regarding the purchase of some shares from a Swiss corporation that occurred in 2005. After the tax administration invited the taxpayer to explain the omission regarding the shares, the taxpayer filed a supplementary tax return for 2006, which included the RW form previously omitted. Nevertheless, the tax administration notified the taxpayer of a violation of his disclosure obligations and assessed the statutory penalties.

The taxpayer then filed a complaint in the tax court. The taxpayer argued that the statute of limitation  had run, and that the supplementary income tax return had, in any event, remedied the previous omission. The administration replied that, given the undisclosed investments involved blacklist countries (tax havens or tax-privileged areas), the extension of the ordinary statute of limitations should apply. Furthermore, for the administration, the supplementary tax return could not constitute a remedy to the previous omission, sufficient to eliminate the applicable penalties for to the initial nondisclosure.

The appellate court reversed the tax court’s decision. First, the appellate court held that the extension of the statute of limitations for assessment related to investments in blacklist countries is procedural in nature, such that it applies also retroactively to previous tax years. The court further held that the failure to file an RW form constitutes a substantial violation. The supplementary income tax return allows the taxpayer to adjust the erroneous or omitted report of income, but it does not eliminate the penalties for the late or omitted filing of the return. According to the court, the taxpayer could only have avoided the full penalties by refraining from going to court and settling the matter with the payment of the reduced penalties equal to 1/4 of the minimum.

As reported in our previous article of November 2014 (that you can find here: https://www.euitalianinternationaltax.com/tags/quadro-rw/), an RW form is an annual income tax return that Italian resident individuals are required to file pursuant to art. 4, D.L. nr. 167/90. The form allows individuals to report their foreign financial investments and assets, which are capable of generating foreign-source income, regardless of an actual income produced. This means that, as pointed out by the appellate court, even though the foreign investments reported in the form do not automatically generate taxable income, they nevertheless constitute a red flag for the tax administration. This assertion is even more compelling, considering the tax administration would not otherwise easily know about these investments and assets.

In case of errors or omission in the original return, a taxpayer may file a supplementary tax return, and obtain a reduction of the applicable penalties. If filed within 90 days from the filing deadline, the supplementary return has the same value of a valid and correct tax return originally filed.  Passed the 90 days, the return is deemed to be omitted, although the administration may still impose taxes based on them. At this point, the supplementary tax return must be filed within the filing deadline of the return concerning the following tax period. Passed 90 days from the original deadline, the sanctions range from 3% to 15% of the unreported income detained in white list countries, or from 6% to 30% of that detained in blacklist countries. In both cases, however, the penalties remain and cannot be remedied.

In conclusion, the opinion of the regional tax appellate court clarifies that the failure to file an RW form disclosing foreign assets and investments constitutes a substantial violation, which triggers automatic penalties. On the other hand, the extension of the statute of limitations for the administration’s assessment power applies retroactively to previous tax years, given its procedural nature.

Although the holding has a limited authority, considering it comes from a regional appellate court, it is indicative of the importance of filing an accurate and timely RW form disclosing foreign assets and investments. The taxpayer should especially pay close attention to the RW form in case assets are held in foreign countries that are part of the black list.