L’evasione fiscale in Italia tra aspetti teorici ed evidenze empiriche

This paper reviews the major economic models of tax evasion, on the one hand, and the different estimation methods (direct, indirect and mixed) used to quantify the extent as well as the distribution by territories and sectors, on the other. It focuses on the gradual chance in the definition of the policies to fight tax evasion characterizing recent OCSE recommendations as well as the 2014 Italian legislation, which favor prevention (ex ante) rather than control (ex post) through the introduction of innovative tools aimed to improve the relationship between tax administration and taxpayer and to enhance tax compliance. On the empirical grounds, the paper analyzes the official estimation method of tax evasion in Italy and the top down and bottom up estimation methods of the geographical differences of the tax evasion propensity.