Tax Evasion's on the Agenda Again in Meloni’s Italy

Giorgia Meloni, Italy’s hard-right prime minister, has gained a reputation in her first few months in office for moderating some of her most extreme positions from her time in opposition – notably vitriolic euroskepticism and incendiary nativism — to govern within European Union norms. But when it comes to cracking down on tax cheats and Italy’s giant black economy, she’s going in the wrong direction.

In an error-riddled speech to Parliament on March 15, Meloni promised “a real fight against tax evasion.” Her pursuit of evaders would replace measures, she insisted, that “do not seem to have had any great effect.” The sentiment was laudable but she didn’t tell the truth. Last year, Italy brought in an additional €20 billion ($22 billion) from stepped-up measures against tax evasion, leading to its biggest-ever haul. That coincided with the zero tolerance stand of Mario Draghi’s government, which was helped by recent laws requiring companies to produce electronic invoices.