Italy Expat Forum

HenryGiovanni
Joined 2017
Posts: 332

4 years ago

Commercialista for Taxes

4 years ago

Hi All,
I have a question about taxes. The time comes (this July, I'm told) that I'll have to file our first Italian tax return. So first some background, then my question(s).

We've been here for ~16 months without filing. Arrived Dec 18, 2017. Our Italian tax year started on Jan 1, 2018, through Dec 31, 2018, for which we must now file.

We recently went down to the CAAF office (my apologies to the PM-er who I told it was "CGIL"), which, as I understand things, is the local office of a national branch of something or another that helps folks do up their tax returns. Sorry, but my Italian is no better than I've ever claimed it to be.

They suggested we go to a commercialista, but I suspect this was because they didn't want to do it themselves (being some sort of govt employees). I can always be mistaken in my understanding of all things Italian.

We called a commercialista, who suggested we return and require them (CAAF) to do our tax return.

OK, this puts us in a quandary: can we trust the folks who told us to go elsewhere to now do our returns? It sounds a bit like going to HR Block, to whom I would never suggest any person to go unless they were a US minimum-wage-earner.

Also, please note, I am NOT SEEKING legal advice, merely PRACTICAL advice. Please do not direct me to the Italian tax codes or any tax treaties. I am familiar with the numbers, so please save us both lots of time on that score.

Here are the questions, numbered for reference to possible answers:

1) Can I trust CAAF? or

2) Am I better off with a commercialista?

Note: I've been self-employed (SE) for many years. I am not a W-2 employee. Please note the difference, because the tax returns in America are very different for each of these.

3) Are commercialistas nationally-licensed?

This question means "can I hire a commercialista in, say, Abruzzo, when I live in Veneto?" If the answer to this question is "yes", then can anyone recommend a good English-speaking commercialista (located anywhere in Italia) whom I can hire and who also is knowledgeable about US tax law and how it interacts with Italian tax law? I know US tax law; I do NOT know Italian tax law, so I can work with them on that.

4) Do I need to show my US return when filing an Italian return?

I ask this because I am (for a change!) below the filing threshold for US returns, meaning I do not have to file a US return. However, being SE, will those deductions available on my US return (if filed) do anything for my Italian return (when filed)? In other words, will my filing of a non-required US (SE) tax return lower any amounts due on my (non-SE) Italian return? I have no idea how these interact.

As a note, I am no longer, technically, SE in Italy, but could still use the SE deductions if I were to file (required or not) in the US, which may or may not impact the Italian tax return. In short, I am now an author who is "in the middle of a job" that may or may not be completed, depending upon research, and which produces at present merely the possibility of future income somewhere down the road, which is not a problem for US tax returns and is not a "job" or "income" for Italian tax returns. Mind you, this is not a "hobby" for US tax returns, and is verifiable as such.

5) Is there anything else I haven't asked but which I should, or might want to, know?

This is my first time doing this, but the time has come, and so it must be faced (crossing bridges and all that). I repeat that I seek merely PRACTICAL answers. All replies are welcome.

Thanks in advance, and,
Cheers, John.

William Russell

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