RIVISTA DI DIRITTO TRIBUTARIO INTERNAZIONALE - Rdti.it

Sezione l - Dottn'na
the forrnulation of "generaI criteria" in a sector characterised by essentially
fragmentary and disconnected legislative measures. Wishing to express
a prognostic judgement on the ability of the precepts contained in
the Statute to have a significant effect on the taxation relationship (1 I),
deals with the inquiry phase is Art,12, entitled "rights and guarantees of the taxpayer
subjected to fiscal ascertainments"; in paragraph 7, after a generaI assertion of the
principle of cooperation bet\veen the administration and the taxpayer, it is foreseen
that, after the issue of the copy of the closing report on the operations by the ascertaining
bodies, the taxpayer may communicate within 60 days observations and request
cIarifications that will be evaluated by the tax-Ievying offices, For the purposes
of accurate compliance with the said procedure, it is foreseen that for the purposes of
proper compliance with the said procedure the notice of assessment cannot be issued
before the expiry of this period, except in particularly urgent cases. However, one consideration
must be mentioned, albeit briefly: in the Statute, no express penalties are
foreseen in relation to non-compliance with the prescriptions indicated above: paragraph
6 alone foresees the right for the taxpayer to appeal to the guarantor in the event
that the ascertainers are proceeding in a manner not in keeping \",Iith the law; however,
it will be necessary to cIarify what the practical aspects of possible action on the
part of the guarantor could be,
In order to prevent the taxpayer from becoming the "mere object of administrative
activity", in the Gennan system part 91 paragraph l of the Abgabenordnung foresees
tha1 in i1s investiga1ions the Financial Administration must first hear the taxpayer,
and may only omit hearing same in exceptional cases; violation of this precept entails
the disputability of the notice of assessment but does not render it nulI and void,
On this topic see, N. Bozza, l principi e la tutela del contribuente nell'Abgabenordnung
e le esperienze pratiche, in Riv. dir. trib, 4/200 l, p. 505 et seq.
(11) From the praticaI standpoint it must in fact be noted that some disapplications
of the Statute have in fact been made, both by Law No. 342 of 21st Novembre
2000 (so-called "Law linked to the 2000 Budget") and by the 2001 Budget La\v, No,
388 of 23rd December 2000. It is essentially in the context of the locai taxation system
that the majority of violations of the Charter of ta."