Tax amnesty breaches EU VAT law

The ECJ has held that a tax amnesty operated by Italy over a number of years breached the EC Sixth VAT Directive (77/388/EEC) by failing to provide assessment and verification of all taxable transactions subject to VAT. The ECJ's decision is likely to give rise to a number of complex issues, and therefore any business which might be affected by this judgment should seek specialist local tax advice (EC Commission v Italian Republic: C-174/07).