However, as has happened for too long, under the media spotlight we find the Revenue Agency and the Collection Agency. What often and willingly escapes, however, is the immensity undergrowth of local authorities who rely on a whole series of private collection bodies.
As the situation I am experiencing in recent days clearly demonstrates, our medieval-style tax system is full of ruthless Sheriffs of Nottingham authorized by the State.
In short, having inherited 13% of a property located in Vignanello, in the province of Viterbo, which on the market is worth less than 10,000 euros, I learned with some delay that I was still subject to the payment of the Imu, based on a lunar tax base of approximately 42,000 euros. Basically, even though the sums were modest and I had never owned a property, the thing slipped my mind. In the meantime, the Municipality, after sending me a couple of notices, has appointed Assist Spa, specialized in forced collections, to assist it in recovering the debt.
Well, in the space of a few months, despite working essentially remotely, these gentlemen managed to double the amount requested, ordering me to pay within the canonical 5 days, in order to avoid the seizure of the current accountwith further, heavy monetary burdens.
Now, the unacceptable thing, which as far as I understand distinguishes these private collection companies, is that this doubling of the request it’s based on a long list of expenses largely written in the water, so to speak. To give some examples: 31 euros for the notice of administrative detention of a car that I scrapped almost thirty years ago; 15 euros for a “notification improvement”; 34 euros for the notice of foreclosure to third parties; as well as an infinite series of small expenses which, it must be underlined, do not appear in this fluvial quantity in the normal files prepared by the Revenue Agency.
At this point comes the sore point, both for me and for all the taxpayers of this most unfortunate country: these documents drawn up by a private entity, on behalf of any local authority, they become effective immediately. This means that, after sending them and allowing the aforementioned 5 days to pass, the new sheriffs of Nottingham show up at your bank counter and seize the requested money from you, without any other formality.
Obviously, given that on paper we are a civilized country, in similar situations the tool of appealing to the provincial tax commission exists. Except that there is a small problem, as some lawyers in the sector have reported to me: to be right, in this case obtaining a suitable reduction of the exorbitant initial request, you risk spending 5/10 times the amount of the entire tax bill tax collector. Therefore, precisely because these are still sustainable sums, the unfortunates pay and the party is over. On the other hand, only those with a lot of means and a lot of patience can afford to face an expensive legal battle in principle.
In essence, it seems to be faced with a widespread legalized extortion mechanism which should be addressed on a purely political level, given that it concerns a large audience of taxpayers. And the fact that there is no legal filter between the payment order and the forced collection is quite serious, since in this way the malpractice of the crazy folders and blown out of proportion.
As regards the IMU, a tax of dubious constitutionality, in the case in question it is a real life sentence, especially for those like myself who have no enjoyment from the imputed property. In fact, in addition to the sale, the only way to no longer pay the same tax is through a donation to a notary. Simply pay from 2,000 euros and up, depending on the value, and the problem is solved. Long live Italy, the country of freedom par excellence.