Prepared da Andrea Werner Beilin and Erika Luvarà
With the Resolution no. 16 of March 28th, 2022, the Italian tax authorities provided an important clarification on the archiving of the accounting books.
In particular, according to the Italian tax authorities, accounting books can be kept on electronic devices within three months following the deadline of the income tax return. However, within such a deadline, the taxpayer is obliged to archive them:
- in electronic format, in accordance with the provisions laid down by the relevant tax and technical regulations (e.g. decree of June 17, 2014 and legislative decree no. 82/2005 “CAD“); or
- by printing them, in paper format.
It is worth pointing out that, in the past, the Italian tax authorities provided different interpretations on the amendments made in 2019 to art. 7, paragraph 4-quater, legislative decree n. 357/1994, according to which “[…] the keeping of any accounting book with electronic systems on any device is, in any case, considered regular in the absence of the transcription on paper within the law deadlines […]”. In particular:
- with the Reply no. 236/E/2021, the Italian tax authorities clarified that accounting books, for the purposes of their regularity, are not required to be printed until three months following the deadline of the income tax return. However, within such a date, the accounting books must be archived;
- on the other hand, with the Reply no. 346/E/2021, the Italian tax authorities specified that art. 7, paragraph 4-quater, legislative decree no. 357/1994, provides for an exception to the general electronic or paper archiving obligation. Consequently, according to such an interpretation, the accounting books could be kept electronically without being printed or stored electronically.
In this respect, with Resolution no. 16 of March 28th, 2022, the Italian tax authorities definitively clarified that keeping and archiving are two distinct moments. Consequently, accounting books can be kept and updated on electronic devices during the year, however they should be archived (electronically or in paper form) within three months following the deadline of the income tax return.
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