On 14 July 2020, the Italian Government definitively approved the Legislative Decree no. 75/2020, implementing the Directive (EU) 2017/1371 on fight against fraud to the Union’s financial interests by means of criminal law (PIF Directive).
The Decree was published in Official Gazette on July, 15 and will come into force on 30 July 2020.
The aim of new provisions is to strengthen criminal law enforcement with regard to combatting fraud and other illegal activities affecting EU budget, adopting an harmonised approach among EU Member States.
The Decree follows the recent legislative actions in criminal matter by means of Law no. 157/2019, entered into force on 25 December, which introduced a range of tax crimes provided for in Decree no. 74/2000 in the list of predicate offences capable of triggering the criminal liability of entities under Legislative Decree no.231/2001.
The most important novelty of the new Decree consists in the inclusion of the offences of false or omitted statement of income (Articles 4 and 5 of Decree no.74/2000) and illicit clearance (Article 10 quarter of Decree no. 74/2000) within the regime of corporate criminal liability pursuant to Decree 231/2001: entities could be involved in criminal proceedings pursuant to Sec. 25 quinquiesdecies of Decree 231/2001 in case of VAT frauds, where the crime is transnational and if the tax evaded goes beyond 10 million.
If tax crimes referred to in Decree 231/2001 are committed, companies risk of being exposed to strict disqualification measures in addition to consistent pecuniary sanctions.
In light of last significant legislation amendments and wide pervasiveness of these crimes, companies are urgently required to implement their own internal systems and controls, introducing appropriate mitigation/prevention measures in 231 Models, thereby avoid the risk of criminal consequences.
