Through Sentence n. 3763 of 20th December 2023, the Tax Court of second instance of Lombardy delivered a judgment which sheds light on the rigidity of “Regime Impatriati”. The sentence confirmed that, once the 90-day term from the ordinary deadline for submitting the Modello Redditi PF has passed, it is not possible to benefit from the favourable regime for inpatriate workers, by submitting a so-called supplementary declaration in favour of the taxpayer.
The taxpayer’s case
The case in question involved a taxpayer who had claimed the reimbursement of an Irpef credit, partly deriving from the Inpatriate Regime tax benefit, in the tax declaration submitted for the 2020 tax year.
The Revenue Agency had recognised a lower Irpef credit to the taxpayer, since the taxpayer had opted for the inpatriate regime through the late submission of supplementary tax returns in previous years, prior to the submission of the Modello Redditi PF 2021.
Inpatriate regime denied if the deadlines are exceeded
Circular n. 33, published on 28th December 2020 and mentioned by the Agency, has clarified that the favourable regime is precluded if the inpatriate did not show evidence of requesting the tax benefit in the tax return for which the terms for submission are expired.
The Court of Appeal’s confirmation
The Court of first instance had initially upheld the taxpayer’s appeal, stating that tax circulars may not constitute a source of rights and obligations.
However, the Court of Appeal has ruled that the lower credit provided to the taxpayer was legitimate. In addition, the Court has emphasised the administration’s position, according to which:
declarations of intent, and not of knowledge, must include that: “the principle of general amendability of declarations may find application (…), both if such amendment will be performed through a supplementary declaration and by a refund request”.