Pleasure boats registered in foreign registers, not declared to the tax authorities. The Fiamme Gialle of the Naval Operational Section of Milazzo, as part of the operation “Hidden Yacht”, have identified 16 pleasure boats flying the foreign flag available to Italian taxpayers who have not completed the required compilation of the RW part of the tax return.
The frequent registration of pleasure craft in foreign countries – a phenomenon also known as “flagging out” – occurs above all with the aim of evading national fiscal and navigation safety regulations. However, according to the provisions of the so-called fiscal monitoring regulations, natural persons resident in Italy have the obligation to indicate the availability of such vessels in the appropriate section of the tax return form.
The constant coastal surveillance activity has allowed the soldiers of the Naval Operational Section to monitor numerous boats moored or which have passed through the service area of the Department, which includes the Aeolian Islands and part of the Tyrrhenian side of the coast of the province of Messina. At the end of a transversal information-investigative process, supported by the use of the databases used by the Corps, they were identified 16 vessels flying a foreign flag (mainly France, Belgium, Poland and the United Kingdom) not declared by their owners for one or more tax years.
The value of the assets hidden from the tax authorities, based on the total of the omitted years, amounts to a total of more than 8 and a half million eurosfor expected penalties ranging from 3% to 15% of the value of the undeclared assets for each tax year. The persons responsible were therefore reported to the competent territorial departments, including a professional skipper who permanently used the foreign naval unit for charter activity in territorial waters. An important operation that confirms the role of the Guardia di Finanza and its air and naval departments as the only Police Force at sea, constant economic-financial protection to protect legality, the public budget and the safety of citizens.