Cracking down on tax evaders

Italy’s state-run tax collection agency, Equitalia, recently reported that some 10.4 billion euro were recovered from tax evaders last year. More specifically, 6.4 billion euro was reclaimed by Inps, the country’s public pension and health insurance fund; 6.6 billion was recouped in tax credits and 1.9 billion in unpaid taxes from 2008-2009  was recovered by Equitalia. ‘We’ve been able to deliver increasingly impressive results thanks to the ever-more punctual and rigorous work of all the tax authorities,’ said Attilio Befera, director of Equitalia. According to some economists, the amount of tax that goes unpaid in Italy equals the country’s annual gross domestic product