As the Observer note, Italian PM Mario Monti said "We are in a state of war against tax evasion" on Friday.
Here in the UK H M Revenue & Customs pile their resources into deny thing we have a problem with tax evasion.
It's no surprise that Italy have more chance of winning the battle against this crime in that case. You can never beat a crime wave until you stop denying it exists.
I suspect the HRMC aren’t the only ones in denial. Richard, did you see this report by the Institute for Policy Studies: The CEO Hands in Uncle Sam’s Pocket ( http://www.ips-dc.org/reports/executive_excess_2012 )? It seems that of last year’s 100 highest-paid US executives, 26 took home more in CEO pay than their companies paid in federal income taxes.
Spain is also joining Italy in this “£war” on tax ducking.
The Spanish Hacienda (Equiv HMRC) has put in place draconian system to track and catch offenders so exacting that some argue it breaches people’s “civil liberties”.
The old paper system was full of holes — the new state-of-the-art computerised framework will challenger even the most ingenious dodger. And penalties are savage.
Perhaps the UK could learn at least one thing from the Spanish?
A new state-of-the-art computer system. Where have I heard that before? What could possibly go wrong?!