News · Business taxation · – October 2026
Art. 3 of Legislative Decree (d.lgs.) 87 of 14 June 2024 extended to ravvedimento operoso (voluntary correction) the single penalty provided for concurrent and continuing violations: it rewrote the first sentence of art. 12, paragraph 8, of d.lgs. 472 of 18 December 1997 and added paragraph 2-bis to art. 13. Pursuant to art. 5, paragraph 1, of d.lgs. 87/2024 the new rules apply to violations committed on or after 1 September 2024. Under art. 12, paragraphs 1 and 2, a person who, by a single act or omission, breaches several provisions, who commits several violations of the same provision or who, even at different times, commits in progression several violations that prejudice the determination of the taxable base or the computation of the tax, including periodic computation, is subject to the penalty for the most serious violation increased by between one quarter and double; violations of payment obligations and undue set-offs are excluded. On voluntary correction, by way of derogation from paragraphs 3 and 5, the single penalty is determined separately for each tax, each tax period and each dispute-avoidance procedure (paragraph 8), further distinguishing State taxes from those of every other taxing authority and, among State taxes, customs duties and excise duties (paragraph 8-bis). Paragraph 2-bis of art. 13 links the reduction percentage to the first violation and allows the single penalty to be calculated also using the procedures made available by the Italian Revenue Agency (Agenzia delle Entrate). Resolution No 38/E of 23 October 2026 established the codici tributo (payment codes): 8960 to 8979 in the F24 payment form, including 8960 for IRPEF (personal income tax), 8963 for IRES (corporate income tax), 8964 for IRAP (regional tax on productive activities), 8965 for VAT and 8966 for withholding taxes; 8984 and 8985 in the F24 Excise form and 8986 in the F24 ELIDE form. With effect from 1 January 2027 the same rules are found in art. 13, paragraphs 8 and 9, and art. 14, paragraph 5, of d.lgs. 173 of 5 November 2024, the consolidated act on administrative and criminal tax penalties (art. 102).
A transaction not invoiced in 2025 gives rise, for VAT purposes, to the violation of art. 6, paragraph 1, of d.lgs. 471 of 18 December 1997 and to the inaccuracy of the annual return under art. 5, paragraph 4, which may be merged into a single penalty; the inaccuracy of the income tax return and of the IRAP return for the higher revenues must instead be corrected through a separate calculation for each tax, and the 2026 violations form a distinct group. Failure to pay and undue set-off remain outside, and are corrected with their own penalties. Since art. 13 reduces the minimum penalty, the calculation starts from the minimum provided for the most serious violation, with the one-quarter increase; the result must respect the principle of proportionality and may not exceed the sum of the penalties provided for the individual violations (art. 12, paragraph 7). There is a single reduction, measured on the first violation: if, for that violation, the deadline for the return relating to the year in which it was committed has already passed, the fraction is one seventh of the minimum (art. 13, paragraph 1, letter b-bis) also for the more recent violations in the group; if the correction follows the draft assessment (schema d’atto) or the formal finding of the violation, the fractions in letters b-ter), b-quater) and b-quinquies) apply. The formal finding of the violation interrupts concurrence and continuation (art. 12, paragraph 6). For an inaccuracy that emerges from a supplementary return (dichiarazione integrativa) filed within the assessment time limits and before the taxpayer has formal knowledge of access, inspections, audits or assessment activities, the penalty is not the ordinary 70 per cent but that of art. 13, paragraph 1, of d.lgs. 471/1997, equal to 25 per cent, doubled (art. 1, paragraph 2-bis, and art. 5, paragraph 4.1). In our view, until official clarifications on borderline cases are issued, the schedule comparing the legal combination with the arithmetical sum of the penalties should be kept on file.
Summary note by the CommercialistiAvvocati network, based on specialised legal and practice sources. The text does not reproduce original contributions and does not constitute professional advice.