The knowledge of the taxable event and the identity of the taxpayer is the first and inevitable precondition of an efficient and comprehensive tax enforcement. The taxpayer has to be transparent towards the tax administration to the extent data are relevant for the assessment and collection of taxes. Therefore, generally speaking, the collection of information by the tax authorities is of public interest.
In spite of an image as 'opaque' country, Italy has made significant efforts in recent years for affirming its way to transparency. To begin with 1990, Italian lawmakers approved many statutes aiming to make public authorities transparent, meaning open to a widespread control by citizens. This path, though, has not followed an unique and certain way, but has included different ideas of transparency, diverse tools and, finally, has brought about controversial results.
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