Italy Turns to AI to Find Taxes in Cash-First, Evasive Culture

Italy’s aggressive use of artificial intelligence to close Europe’s biggest tax gap is starting to make inroads, but still must overcome a national legacy of tax avoidance and strict EU data privacy laws.

“In the last few years, the use of technology and digitization has proven to be a real game changer,” said Paolo Valerio Barbantini, deputy director general and head of the taxpayers division of the Italian Revenue Agency, in a recent video.

The agency has identified 1 million high-risk cases this year and prevented more than 6.8 billion euros ($6.85 billion) in fraud, the tax authority said. ...