The Editors of ProiezionidiBorsa recently analyzed the possibility of to open a current account in another country of the European Union. This is a totally legitimate choice, so much so that several new banks advertise their accounts across borders. It is quite different to open a banking relationship outside the European Union. Especially if the chosen State is considered a tax haven or is on the black-list established with the Ministerial Decree of 23 January 2002. The Tax Authority carefully monitors the movements of money of Italian citizens in these countries as they often hide illegal activities. In fact, if you do not declare these current accounts, you risk heavy penalties that can reach 30% of suspicious stocks.
Information from other countries
The Revenue Agency has at its disposal an important amount of data relating to the capital held abroad by Italian citizens. In fact, Presidential Decree 917/86 requires Italian citizens to declare their banking relationships held abroad. To be in compliance with the legislation it will be sufficient to indicate our foreign stocks in the RW part of the tax return. We remind you that Law 50/2014 limits the obligation to declare to relationships that have reached the value of 15,000 euros. The obligation is triggered when this threshold is exceeded even for a single day, it is therefore important to carefully check the account statement. Even for a single day, in fact, if you do not declare these current accounts, you risk heavy administrative sanctions from the authorities. In support of the tax monitoring activity, Italy has signed several international agreements. The main ones are the Common Reporting Standard signed with 17 other European countries and FATCA with the USA.
If you don’t declare these current accounts you risk heavy penalties
The taxpayer is obliged to complete the RW part of his tax return also in another case. If the average balance of the foreign current account exceeds 5,000 euros, in fact, theIVAFE. It is a mechanism identical to that envisaged for Italian accounts. Banks must calculate the average annual balance of account holders. If an average balance of 5,000 euros is exceeded, a stamp duty of 34.20 euros will be applied.
The declaration obligation is therefore triggered when the threshold of 15,000 euros is exceeded or with an average balance of at least 5,000 euros. The tax, as we have seen, is negligible but if you do not declare these current accounts you risk heavy penalties. The omitted declaration is governed by Law 97/2013. The fines vary from 3% to 30% of what is not declared, depending on the country where the taxpayer commits the offense.
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