The joint current account is subject to checks by the tax authorities. Whose Money Is It Really? Is the applied taxation correct? Let’s dissolve the doubts.
Spouses, relatives, members of a company can open a joint account. What are the rules to follow in order not to risk penalties from the tax authorities?
The cointestazione provides for the signing of a contract between multiple interested parties and a credit institution. Ownership is a maximum of 50% for each holder and each holder must make payments to the common account in order not to risk being subjected to checks del Fisco to identify who the money really belongs to. The account is coordinated to allow a common management of expenses and savings. Each account holder has the right to carry out operations individually bank and each holder is considered a debtor or creditor with reference to the balance on the account. That said, some details may trigger checks by the Revenue Agency so much that the Cassation of the Supreme Court changes the current account setting.
Joint current account, the premises
To understand the changes implemented by the Supreme Court, it is necessary to begin by examining the characteristics of the joint current account. There are different types of joint accounts. There are those a disjoint signature which allow each holder to operate separately and in the same way and those jointly signed for which the presence of all current account holders is required to carry out a transaction. A third typology arises from the union of the first two. In this case, the holders determine which operations to carry out with separate signature and which ones with joint signature.
Current account blocked: the reasons behind the bad surprise
All joint accounts are governed by the Civil Code with articles 1298 and 1954. The Code determines the characteristics of the accounts and regulates the more particular aspects such as the transfer of money between holders in the event of death of one of them, the consequences of a divorce or foreclosure. The situations that have occurred over the years have led the Supreme Court to overturn the settings of the joint accounting of the accounts.
The directives to know
Joint current account, the wording suggests that the money in the account is in co-ownership among the holders. The thought was correct until the Supreme Court overturned the directives with an order of the last September 22, 2021. The change was made necessary after a verification by the Revenue Agency carried out on the joint account of two spouses. According to the Agency, the money paid by the wife and then withdrawn had to be taxed on the head of the entrepreneur spouse.
Joint account: the operation that absolutely cannot be done
The reason is to be found in the fact that the sum was not a donation to the partner of 50% of the total just to have a joint account. When the provenance is certain only from one side, it is necessary that the shares are subject to personal income tax. The fact that the current account is jointly held does not make the taxation fall. The Supreme Court has agreed with the tax authorities, confirming that whoever pays the money owns it while the membership belongs to those who use it to cover expenses and make withdrawals. All this to underline how the sums are subject to personal income tax because they accumulate with the taxable income.
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