Affidamento legittimo ed esigibilità del tributo

The taxpayer who acts in accordance with fiscal authorities wrong instructions is guaranteed by article 10, l. 212/2000, which explicitly states that no sanctions or interests can be imposed in such a case when the tax authority changes its previous interpretation of the law. Despite the wording of the rule, according to one of the interpretations sustained by the Tax Courts, when the tax authority gives to the taxpayer specific and individual instructions, through formal administrative acts, the taxpayer doesn’t have to pay not just sanctions and interests, but even the due taxes, which cannot be requested by the tax authorities in accordance with the principle of good faith. Although this interpretation gives full protection to the good faith clause, in its most recent statements, the Italian Supreme Court, overruling its prior decisions, seems to embrace a protection for the taxpayer limited to the exclusion of sanctions and interests, in accordance with the wording of the law.