Govt reaches agreement on stiffer jail terms for tax evaders

(ANSA) - Rome, October 22 - A meeting of senior figures from the parties supporting Premier Giuseppe Conte's government agreed to stiffer jail terms for big tax evaders at a meeting on Monday but several other issues regarding the 2020 budget bill remain unresolved, sources said.
    Justice Minister Alfonso Bonafede said the agreement means people found guilty of tax evasion of over 100,000 euros are set to face jail terms of up to eight years.
    The meeting agreed to postpone reducing the limit on payments that can legally be made in cash, bringing it down from 3,000 euros to 2,000, until July 2020. But issues regarding possible changes to the tax regimes of self-employed people with VAT accounts and fines for shopkeepers who fail to give costumers the opportunity to pay by card have been put off.
    The latter was designed as part of a drive to discourage cash payments in favour of traceable card payments in order to reduce tax evasion.