11460 - Tax and Labour Law

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course, the student is familiar with the fundamentals of the tax system, with particular regard to the main forms of taxation affecting business, employment and self-employment. He/she knows the tax regulations for personnel management. He/she is able to autonomously interpret wage and tax regulations relating to labour relations and apply them to the concrete case. He has a basic knowledge of the key institutes of tax litigation necessary to draft an appeal before the tax courts.

Course contents

The course aims to provide a general knowledge of the fundamental concepts and institutions of the tax system. It examines, in particular, the main forms of taxation and the main tax obligations that affect workers and small and medium-sized enterprises, and also delves into the topic of the so-called 'tax cost of labour'.

It provides knowledge of the substantive profiles of income taxation of individuals and companies. To this end, the focus will be on: employee and self-employment income, including aspects related to the international mobility of workers; the taxation of pensions and the taxation of supplementary and complementary forms of pension provision; the income of small and medium-sized enterprises (sole proprietorships, smaller enterprises, partnerships and limited liability companies with a narrow ownership base) and the tax treatment of business costs related to employees and assimilated labour.

Other taxes of interest to traders and businesses, in particular value added tax (VAT), will then be dealt with in general terms.

Of all the taxes dealt with during the course, the schemes and implementation methods will be explored in depth. Tax procedures, such as the submission of declarations, controls, tax investigations and audits, tax assessment and collection, will be explained in class, together with an analysis of the substantive regulations of the taxes to which they refer, in order not only to make the treatment of these topics more comprehensible but also to highlight the practical-operational problems that the labour consultant may face.

Finally, in view of the skills of the professional figure of the labour consultant, the essential features of tax appeals and litigation before the Tax Courts will also be briefly discussed in class.

Main course topics

1. Introduction to the course: the tax and tax benefits. Tax, fee and contribution. Constitutional principles in tax matters.

2. Taxes and social security contributions. The so-called parafiscality.

3. The Tax and the Tax Obligation
3.1. Legal sources, nature and structure of taxation and application of taxes.
3.2. General principles relating to the performance of tax obligations in the Taxpayer's Statute.
3.3. Persons liable for tax. The figures of the withholding agent and the person liable for tax. Economic shifting. Taxpayer in law and in fact.

4. The taxation of the income of natural persons (IRPEF).
4.1. Introduction and general aspects.
4.2. Concept of income and income categories.
4.3. Structure and determination of IRPEF.
4.4. Principles of individuality and progressivity.
4.5. Tax residence and income generation in transnational contexts.
4.6. Tax returns: structure and content

5. Taxation of employment income
5.1. Income from employment. Concept, characters and determination.
5.2. Income assimilated to employment income.
5.3. The modalities of taxation of employment income. Withholding taxes and tax obligations of the employer as withholding agent. Ordinary, substitute and separate taxation.
5.4. Taxation of severance pay.
5.5. The taxation of pensions and the taxation of supplementary pensions.

6. Taxation of self-employment income
6.1. The income of self-employed and assimilated labour.
6.2. Similarities and differences between the taxation of income from self-employment, continuous coordinated collaboration and business income.
6.3. The so-called 'forfait' regime and the 'flat tax'.

7. The international mobility of workers
7.1. The taxation of income from self-employed and employed work performed abroad and the taxation of non-residents.

8. Business taxation
8.1. Taxation of business income of individuals (IRPEF) and ctaxation of income of Corporations (IRES). The relationship between the taxation of companies and shareholders
8.2. The general principles of determination of business income: derivation, imputation to the balance sheet, inherence, accrual.
8.3. The main positive and negative income components
8.4. Labour costs in the determination of business income.
8.5. Taxation of the Income of Small Enterprises.
8.6. Taxation of income of partnerships and limited liability companies with a narrow ownership base (transparency regime).
8.7. Value Added Tax (VAT). General consumption taxation and turnover taxation of enterprises.
8.8. Basic features of VAT: economic and international neutrality.
8.9. The classification of VAT transactions.
8.10. Invoicing and registration of transactions.
8.11. Vat neutrality of and VAT deduction
8.12. The regional tax on productive activities IRAP (outline).

9. Tax and VAT returns.

9.1. Main declaration forms and procedures. Clearance and payment. Obligations of the taxpayer and the withholding agent.
9.2. The management of the declaration and declaratory fulfilments by the taxpayer. The amendability of the declaration
9.3. The voluntary amendment of declarations and payments.
9.4. The regime of the pre-filled tax return

10. Interpretation of tax laws and tax rulings.
10.1 Interpretation and guidance of the tax authorities. The principle of protection of good faith and legitimate expectations. Circulars.
10.2. Ordinary Ruling
10.3. The other special rulings

11. Controls on tax returns.
11.1 Automated and formal controls.
11.2. Substantive controls and tax administrative enquiries.
11.3 The main investigative powers and means of investigation.
11.4. Access inspections and tax audits.
11.5. The Tax Audit Report (PVC).

12. Tax assessment and other tax acts and procedures.

12.1. Methods of assessment (analytical/synthetic). Tax presumptions and standardized or statistical control indexes (synthetic indexes of tax reliability, redditometer)
12.2. Types of assessment (global/partial, supplementary, in rectification/executive, etc.)
12.3. Structure, form, contents, regime of the assessment notice
12.4. Assessment and sanctions.
12.5 Acquiescence, assessment with adhesion and other forms of settlement of disputes. Tax self-defence.
12.6 The collection activity. Activities of the collection agent. The role and the payment slip. The tax assessment.
12.7. Tax refunds.
12.8. Tax offences and sanctioning activity: general principles.

13. Notes on the taxpayer's defence in tax litigation
13.1. The tax process: general remarks.
13.2. The special tax jurisdiction and the Courts of Tax Justice.
13.3. The tax appeal. Actions that can be brought before the courts.
13.4. Defects and contestability of tax acts.
13.5. The role of the judge and the parties in the conduct of the tax trial at first instance
13.6. The regime of evidence.

Readings/Bibliography

Students prepare for the exam by studying

- the handouts prepared by the lecturer on some topics of the syllabus covered in class, which will be published during the course on the online teaching materials site virtuale.unibo.it. The online handouts constitute a monographic course on the taxation of employee income and pensions, self-employment income and on the general principles of SME taxation.

- In addition, a tax law textbook of your choice from the following:

A.CARINCI-T.TASSANI, Manuale di Diritto tributario, Giappichelli, Torino, 7th edizion, 2024

or

CONTRINO, DELLA VALLE, MARCHESELLI, MARELLO (e al.), Fondamenti di Diritto tributario, Wolters Kluwer-CEDAM (forthcoming 3rd edition in October 2024)

or

EXCLUSIVELY for students already in possession of F. TESAURO, Compendio di Diritto tributario, Utet-Giuridica (only 9th edition 2023) it is possible to continue using it, supplementing it with another volume in the following way

• for the general part study: F. TESAURO, Istituzioni di diritto tributario, Wolters Kluwer-Utet Giuridica, 15th edition, 2024
•  + for the special part study the Compendium of Diritto tributario (only 9th edition, 20) only the following chapters: 17, 18, 19, 20, 22, 25 (on virtuale.unibo.it the parts to be studied, only to be read, and those to be excluded will be indicated)
  

Given the very recent reform of the tax system, which is still in progress (2024), it is necessary to always adopt the most recent commercially available edition of the chosen textbook.

It is strongly discouraged to use pre-2024 editions (except for those who retain the TESAURO, Compendium of Tax Law, 2023, see above).

- In view of the frequent changes in tax legislation and the ongoing tax reforms, consultation of the main tax legislation cited in the textbooks is also required, to supplement their study, in the current version. Either searching and consulting legislation directly on public databases (such as www.normattiva.it) or consulting an up-to-date tax code (e.g. Codice ragionato breve di Diritto tributario, edited by A.Carinci-T.Tassani , Giappichelli, Turin, latest edition commercially available) is suggested

- Finally, the reading/studying of the other teaching materials used in the lessons and made available to students on the virtuale.unibo.it website (slides, sentences or case-studies, fact sheets, etc.) is strongly recommended.

Examination programme and study texts are the same for ERASMUS students.

Teaching methods

The course consists of lectures from September to December.

Attendance at lectures is not compulsory and is accrued ex officio by students. However, attendance it is highly recommended, both to better learn the notions and technical terminology that characterise the subject and to be better updated on the tax legislation under reform.
Lessons will be held in face-to-face mode.

The study of the manuals and handouts and of the other teaching materials, indicated in the "Texts/Bibliography" section, corresponds to the course programme.

Assessment methods

Registration for examinations. Students must only use the Almaesami web platform. Registration closes strictly two days before the date of the exam. Already enrolled students who no longer wish to sit the examination must cancel within the same deadline. An enrolled student who no longer wishes to take the examination, but has not cancelled in good time, must present himself on the day of the roll call to register his withdrawal. A student who, due to an impediment occurring after the deadline for unsubscribing from the list, is unable to appear for the examination, must inform the lecturer by the starting time of the examination (also by e-mail).

Conduct of examinations. The examination may be organised in several consecutive daily rounds, depending on the number of students enrolled. Students registered for the examination must all present themselves on the first day of the roll call. Should the number of those present exceed the maximum number of students that can be examined by the Board on the first day, the surplus students will be examined, according to the order in which they appear on the examination list, on subsequent days, which will be communicated to those present by the Board.

The profit examination is conducted in oral and discursive form.

Conduct of the colloquium. During the colloquium, the Board of Examiners asks the candidates questions (usually 3-4), of both a theoretical and practical nature, based on the notions and knowledge acquired through attending lectures and critically reading the study texts and teaching materials. The questions in the oral interview cover the topics indicated in the 'Programme and Contents' section. In order to prepare for the exam, it is required to study the readings and texts indicated in the "Texts/Bibliography" section and to consult the main legislation referred to in the texts and during the lectures. Amongst other things, the questions aim to check whether the student has learnt the notions relating to the legal institutes studied, whether he/she is able to use correct legal reasoning to explain the main issues relating to the topics studied, whether he/she has acquired the argumentation skills necessary for the interpretation of the rules and for the analysis and solution of legal problems, and whether he/she is able to apply the knowledge acquired in a critical manner, also referring to the content of the rules, case law and doctrine.

The assessment of the examination will be carried out taking into account:
- the knowledge of institutional profiles;
- the ability to make connections between the different parts of the programme;
- the articulation, accuracy and completeness of the exposition;
-the degree of learning and the ability to use the notions and technical terminology characterising the subject;
-the ability to frame the institutes, topics and problems proposed in a systematic manner, also taking into account the jurisprudential and doctrinal orientations
-the ability to develop adequate analyses of the proposed issues and critical arguments.

Purely by way of simplification, the award of the final mark will be based on the following criteria:

Sufficient or slightly more than sufficient preparation on the topics addressed, poor critical ability, difficulty in using technical-legal language → 18-21;
Fair preparation on the topics covered, fair critical ability, acceptable use of technical-legal language → 22-24;
Fair or fairly good preparation on the topics covered, fair critical ability, good use of technical-legal language → 24-26
Good or more than good preparation on the topics addressed, good critical ability, mastery of technical-legal language → 27-29;
Substantially comprehensive preparation on the topics addressed, excellent critical ability, full and conscious mastery of technical-legal language → 30-30L.

Students taking the course for the first time in the academic year 2024/2025 will be able to take the examination from the 1st examination session in January 2025.

In order for the thesis to be awarded, it is necessary to have already successfully taken the examination. The thesis, if any, is awarded by the course lecturer, following the necessary interview with the student, according to an allocation calendar that will be communicated during the year and depending on the places available.

Teaching tools

The e-learning platform virtuale.unibo.it will be used to make available to students:

• handouts, readings and other teaching materials to support exam preparation, such as any further reading, slides, case studies presented and discussed in the classroom during lectures;
• optional tools to support the verification of learning on certain topics or parts of the program (self-assessment questionnaires; verification tests on understanding the key concepts).

Students who for reasons dependent on disabilities or specific learning disorders (SLD) need compensatory tools will be able to communicate their needs to the teacher in order to be addressed to the referents and agree on the adoption of the most appropriate measures.

Office hours

See the website of Andrea Mondini