KEY POINTS:
ROME - Italy's economy ministry is waging an all-out battle to stop tax evasion -- but even the shop on the ministry's premises does not hand out fiscal receipts to customers.
An undercover reporter for Le Iene, a popular satirical television show due to be broadcast later today, went to the shop, intended to cater to ministry staff, several times to buy goods worth a total of €216 ($418).
Not once was he given a receipt, a widespread practice in Italy which makes it nearly impossible for tax inspectors to check shopowners' income.
A spokesman for the programme said the shop, which sells a variety of items from perfumes to jewellery, does not even have a till. The economy ministry, which hopes to garner around €8 billion from measures against tax evasion in its belt-tightening 2007 budget, said the programme's findings showed how "common and open" some tax evasion practices were in Italy.
"The ministry assures that, regarding this specific episode, checks have already been activated, and measures will be taken against those responsible for this illicit behaviour," it said in a statement.
National statistics institute ISTAT estimates that at least 13 per cent of Italian workers pay no taxes and do not officially exist, and that underground activity accounts for about 16 per cent of the economy.
- REUTERS
