Prepared by Andrea Werner Beilin and Erika Luvarà
Law Decree no. 73/2022 converted into Law no. 122/2022, introduced important news in relation to the archiving of the accounting books.
In particular, the obligation to electronically archive, within three months following the deadline of the income tax return, the accounting books kept electronically has been abolished. Accordingly, it will be sufficient for the taxpayers to keep accounting books, duly updated, on electronic devices and print them upon requests of the Tax Authorities.
It is worth pointing out that, article 1, paragraph 2-bis, Law no. 122/2022, amended article 7, paragraph 4-quater, legislative decree no. 357/1994, stating that “[…] the keeping and archiving of any accounting books kept by means of electronic systems are, in any case, considered regular in the absence of their print om paper or e-archiving within the law deadline s[…], if at the time of access, they are updated on the above-mentioned electronic systems and are printed following the request made by the proceeding authorities and in their presence”.
The new law, which follows interpretations provided by the Italian Tax Authorities on the previous provision (see our Newsalert dated April 6, 20221 ) leaves some open issues, since the taxpayer is still required to ensure the update of the data on the electronic devices. In this respect, the integrity and immutability of the information provided in the accounting books kept electronically can be in principle guaranteed only in an electronic archiving system compliant with the Italian law.
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