Description
With reference to the functions exercised by the Autonomous Province of Trento, pursuant to Legislative Decree No. 280 of 2001 concerning the land and buildings cadastre, the taxpayer has a number of tools, provided for by law, to avoid litigation with the provincial administration.
These are:
- Autotutela
- Complaint/Mediation
- Tax appeal
SELF-REVENUE
If the Land Registry office realises that it has made a mistake, it can cancel, in whole or in part, its actions and correct itself without waiting for a judge's decision. The competence to carry out the correction generally lies with the same office that issued the act.
The correction in self-assessment can be carried out entirely autonomously by the Office, or at the request of the taxpayer. The taxpayer may send to the competent Office a request on plain paper containing a concise statement of facts and accompanied by the appropriate documentation to prove the claims made.
The request must indicate
- the act whose annulment is sought
- the reasons for which that act is considered unlawful and, consequently, voidable in whole or in part
The following form is provided in support: Application to exercise self-defence
The unlawful act may be annulled even if
- the action is still pending
- the act has become final due to the expiry of the time limit for appeal
- the taxpayer has filed an appeal and it has been rejected on formal grounds (inadmissibility, improperness, inadmissibility) by a final judgment.
ATTENTION! Since self-assessment is a discretionary power for the Administration (there is no obligation to reply), the submission of a petition does not suspend the time limit for filing an appeal with the Court of First Instance of the Tax Court. Therefore, care must be taken not to allow these time limits to elapse unnecessarily.
COMPLAINT/MEDIATION
The grievance/mediation institution is a deflative tool of tax litigation to prevent and avoid disputes that can be resolved without going to court.
Tax mediation was introduced by Article 39, c.9, of Decree-Law No. 98 of 2011, which inserted Article 17-bis into Legislative Decree No. 546 of 1992. The latter provision was amended by Article 9(1)(l) of Legislative Decree No. 156 of 2015 and by Article 10 of Decree-Law No. 50 of 2017.
It applies to disputes whose value does not exceed €20,000, relating to all appealable acts identified by Article 19 of Legislative Decree No. 546 of 1992: in this case, the appeal produces the effects of a complaint and may contain a mediation proposal with redetermination of the amount of the claim.
The procedures and time limits are those provided for tax appeals in general.
TAX APPEAL
If the taxpayer considers an act issued against him to be illegitimate or unfounded, he may appeal to the Court of First Instance for its total or partial annulment.
When and how to appeal
Tax proceedings begin with the filing of an appeal to the Tax Court of First Instance, which must be notified to the office that issued the contested act within 60 days from the date on which the taxpayer received the act.
The time limits for filing the appeal are suspended during the holiday period from 1 August to 31 August.
From 1 January 2016, for disputes relating to cadastral operations, indicated in art. 2, c. 2 of Legislative Decree no. 546 of 31 December 1992, the appeal also produces the effects of a complaint (see Complaint/Mediation).
As of 1 July 2019, there is an obligation to serve the appeal and the appeal by certified electronic mail and to enter an appearance in court electronically.
This obligation does not apply to persons who stand trial without technical assistance, in disputes with a value of up to €3,000, who may serve the appeal on the office that issued the contested act by:
- by service by a judicial officer
- direct delivery to the competent land registry office, which will issue a receipt
- by post, by registered letter without envelope with acknowledgement of receipt
- Certified Electronic Mail (PEC)
For disputes not subject to complaint/mediation, the appeal must be submitted to the First Instance Tax Court within 30 days from the date on which the measure was notified.
For disputes subject to complaint/mediation, the time limit for filing an appeal to the 1st level Tax Court is suspended after 90 days from the date of notification pursuant to Article 17 bis, paragraph 2, of Legislative Decree no. 546 of 31 December 1992.
The notice of registration of the tax appeal in the General Register of Appeals must be attached to the summons, in which all the information useful to identify the dispute must be indicated:
- the Tax Court of First Instance to which the appeal is directed
- the identity of the person lodging the appeal
- the tax code of the party and the representatives in the case
- the PEC address of the party or the appointed lawyer
- the legal representative (for companies or entities)
- the residence or registered office or domicile elected, if any
- the land registry office against which the appeal is lodged
- the copy of the contested act
- the grounds for the appeal
- the conclusions containing the request addressed to the Tax Court of First Instance and the declaration that the dispute is of indeterminable value, even in the case of a reservation of debt
- the category to which the instructed lawyer belongs and the assignment given
- the signature of the appointed lawyer and/or of the person lodging the appeal
In court, the taxpayer must be assisted by a lawyer belonging to the categories indicated in Article 12 c. 3 and 5 of Legislative Decree no. 546 of 31 December 1992.
Persons in possession of the requisites for qualification for technical assistance may stand trial in person.
Before entering an appearance, the taxpayer must pay the unified contribution established for disputes of indeterminable value, pursuant to Article 13, c.6-quater of Presidential Decree No. 115 of 30 May 2002. If the lawyer does not indicate his certified email address or the party fails to indicate its tax code, the unified contribution shall be increased by half.
Payment may be made at
- post offices, using the appropriate postal giro slip
- banks, using the F23 form
- tobacconists, using the appropriate form for payment notification and affixing the issued stamp to confirm payment
- collection agents