Observatory › Assessment and tax litigation › Assessment signed before the sixty-day period from the pvc: unlawful

Assessment signed before the sixty-day period from the pvc: unlawful

The Tax Division returns to the waiting period laid down by the Statuto dei diritti del contribuente (the taxpayers’ charter of rights): what matters is the date on which the assessment is signed, not the date on which it is served. Implications for proceedings still pending.

Article 12(7) of Law 212/2000 prohibited the issue of an assessment before sixty days had elapsed from delivery of the processo verbale di constatazione (pvc), the report setting out the findings of a tax audit: the Sezioni Unite (the Court of Cassation sitting in joint session), in judgment no. 18184 of 2013, held that an assessment issued ante tempus is unlawful, save where urgency is proved. The Tax Division, in judgment no. 23073 of 2026, clarifies that the period is breached by the signature of the assessment before the sixtieth day, even if service takes place after the period has expired.

What to check and in which pleading

The provision was repealed by Legislative Decree 219/2023, but it still governs assessments issued up to 29 April 2024, which remain in litigation; for assessments issued thereafter, Article 6-bis(3) applies. Counsel should compare the date on which the assessment was signed with the date on which the pvc was delivered: if the interval is less than sixty days, the defect must be raised in the ricorso introduttivo (the originating application commencing the appeal), to be served within sixty days of service of the assessment, since the court may not raise it of its own motion.

Two clarifications of practical use in proceedings: the impending expiry of the time limit for issuing the assessment does not in itself constitute the ground of urgency that preserves the act, and the taxpayer’s failure to submit observations is irrelevant, because the taxpayer is entitled to the waiting period in full. The same judgment acknowledges, however, that this line of authority, although the prevailing one, is not uncontested within the Division.

• Law 212/2000, Article 12(7) (repealed by Legislative Decree 219/2023); Articles 6-bis and 7-bis of the Statuto dei diritti del contribuente.
• Italian Court of Cassation, Fifth Civil Division (Tax Division), judgment no. 23073 of 2026, published on 12 July 2026.
• Decree-Law 39/2024, Article 7, converted into law by Law 67/2024 — transitional regime for assessments issued before 30 April 2024.