The operation of the new redditometro launched during the summer of 2024 by the Meloni Government is struggling. As predicted exactly five years ago (see here), in fact, the mechanism provided by the ministerial decree of May 7, 2024, apparently flawless on paper, has proven to be hardly practicable in terms of operation (see here).
Only now is this certified by the Court of Auditors (report on the general state accounts), which, for the year 2025, recorded 923 assessments by the Revenue Agency, of which over two-thirds show zero evasion, and to which are also associated just 400 thousand euros in revenues. These are incontrovertible numbers that demonstrate the limited relevance, in practical terms, of the new redditometro, at least for what should have been the restart exercise. The Court speaks of a “drastic reduction” in its use in the current anti-evasion strategy, emphasizing, however, that even “before the regulatory changes introduced in August 2024” the tool had an equally marginal role.
You will recall that, at first (it was May 22, 2024), the Premier herself had blocked its operation after protests arose within the same majority. Then in August, the issue was resolved by law, introducing a threshold that inhibits assessments for annual evasion amounts below about 70 thousand euros. Now, two years later, the meager results of the first annual report would, however, confirm the structural inadequacy of the original decree of May 7, 2024, despite the August corrective measure.
Moreover, the aforementioned decree, published in the Official Gazette on May 20, 2024, is in close continuity with a similar version, previously developed under the Draghi government, as evidenced by the fact that on June 10, 2021 (see here) the public consultation on the Finance Department portal was closed, referring to a text that matches 99% with the mentioned decree of May 7, 2024.
Unfortunately, more than thirty years have passed and there has never been, in this field, a mass assessment tool that has worked at full capacity. And this is the fourth time that the redditometro mechanism fails, in a continuous stop and go, as soon as theory turns into practice. Below, in the table on the page, are the volumes of assessments carried out through the redditometro from 2008 to 2025.
It is worth remembering, finally, that the first operational version of the calculation algorithm, dating back to 1993, was downgraded from “automatic charge,” for the algorithm amount, to a simple “investigation prompt.” This happened with circular no. 101 of 1999, after the broadcast on television of some paradoxical cases involving employees. Then, in 2011, a procedure called redditest was tested, aiming at strengthened compliance, after showing the taxpayer, in advance, the screen of the alleged evasion calculated and the associated penalties; but this mechanism was illusory, since simple simulations scare no one, so the redditest was never implemented.
Finally, before the current fourth step, it should be remembered that in 2018 – after some application issues emerged, once again, in the media – with article 10 of the “dignity” decree-law the previous decree of September 16, 2015, was suspended, thus indefinitely blocking the operation of the previous algorithm, the one last revised with the decree of May 7.
