Optional tax risk control regime: the new “simplified” Tax Control Framework is now operational

By measure of 3 February 2026, protocol No. 42022/2026, the Italian Revenue Agency defined the operational procedures for the optional regime for the adoption of the tax risk control system provided for by Article 7-bis of Legislative Decree No. 128/2015, approving the application form and regulating the checks for access to, and continued participation in, the regime.

The reform forms part of the progressive strengthening of cooperative tax compliance models and aims to extend the logic of the Tax Control Framework also to taxpayers that are not eligible to access the cooperative compliance regime.

Participation takes place through the electronic submission of a specific form to the Central Directorate for Large Taxpayers and International Affairs. The taxpayer must adopt a system for identifying, measuring, managing and controlling tax risk that is consistent with the relevant regulatory guidelines and certified by independent professionals. The Italian Revenue Agency verifies the adequacy of the system and the continued existence of the requirements over time, with the review procedure to be completed within 120 days, subject to requests for additional information or corrective measures.

The regime provides for particularly significant reward effects. Where tax risks have been disclosed in advance through a tax ruling request, the taxpayer may benefit from the non-application of administrative and criminal penalties, provided that the conduct adopted is consistent with what was represented to the Tax Authorities and that there is no simulated or fraudulent conduct.

The rationale of the reform is clear: to encourage preventive and transparent management of tax risk through structured organisational arrangements. Tax risk is progressively treated as an organisational and governance risk, to be integrated into the company’s decision-making processes and internal controls.

It is precisely here, however, that the main critical aspect of the new regime emerges. The strong emphasis on procedures, certifications and organisational checks may in fact encourage a predominantly formal approach to compliance, in which the defensive value of the system depends mainly on the ability to document the controls adopted. The link between tax ruling requests and reward effects could also encourage an increasingly “defensive” use of ruling requests in tax-sensitive transactions.

Looking ahead, the risk is that litigation may progressively shift from the merits of the tax violation to the assessment of the adequacy of the organisational system adopted by the company.

With the measure of 3 February 2026, the Italian Revenue Agency therefore makes operational a model intended to significantly broaden the use of tax risk control systems. A central question nevertheless remains open: whether the new regime will succeed in fostering a genuine culture of tax compliance or whether it will end up strengthening an increasingly document-based management of the relationship between taxpayers and the Tax Authorities.