In compliance with article 38-bis, paragraph 2, of Presidential Decree no. 600/1973, introduced by article 1, paragraph 2, letter b), of Legislative Decree no. 13/2024, the Revenue Agency has identified the operational procedures for the digital signing of minutes drawn up by the personnel of the Revenue Agency during and at the end of tax control administrative activities (Revenue Agency, provision of 30 September 2024, no. 372380).
The new provision of the Revenue Agency states that minutes drawn up by the personnel of the Agency during or at the end of tax control administrative activities can be signed with a digital signature.
The taxpayer, or their delegate, can in turn sign the minutes, previously shared and without altering its content, by digital signature if they possess one or by handwritten signature. For this purpose, the minutes must be sent from the institutional email of the personnel responsible for the control to the ordinary email address of the taxpayer, or their delegate, as indicated in the minutes. Likewise, the digital domicile, if any, must be highlighted in the same minutes.
After the digital signature, the taxpayer, or their delegate, must transmit the minutes to the institutional email address of the personnel responsible for the control. Upon receiving the digitally signed minutes from the taxpayer, the personnel responsible for the control must affix the digital signature to the document, verifying its formal integrity compared to the one originally transmitted.
The minutes, complete with all necessary digital signatures, must then be protocolled by the Agency’s personnel responsible for the control and transmitted to the taxpayer’s digital domicile. Alternatively, the taxpayer, without a certified email address, can request the transmission of the minutes to their delegate’s certified email address.
If the taxpayer, equipped with a digital signature, does not have a certified email address listed in public directories, or does not request the transmission of the minutes to their delegate’s certified email address, the Agency personnel responsible for the control must proceed through personal delivery to the recipient or by registered mail with return receipt of a conforming analog copy.
If the taxpayer or their delegate does not have a digital signature, the minutes can be signed in analog mode. For this purpose, the minutes must be printed and delivered to the recipient. After the handwritten signature of the taxpayer, or their delegate, on the minutes, the personnel responsible for the control must produce a digital copy of the analog document, certifying its conformity. This document will constitute the electronic original.
Once the electronic original document is prepared, the minutes, complete with all necessary signatures, must be protocolled and delivered to the taxpayer. In case the taxpayer or their delegate refuses to sign the minutes, the Agency personnel must note this in the minutes, indicating the reasons and proceeding with the digital signature of the document and delivery.
If the taxpayer or their delegate refuses to accept the delivery of the minutes, the Agency personnel can send the analog copy of the electronic minutes with an electronic stamp via registered mail to the taxpayer’s tax domicile or transmit the original electronic document via certified email.
