Freedom of travel and assistance to tourists in emergency situations

A recent decision of the Court of Cassation, Tax Section, offers the opportunity to reconsider the regulatory and judicial background affecting an accommodator’s tax obligation concerning the tourist tax. The obvious underlying issue is the incomplete framework that has characterised the levy from a regulatory point of view, since its delimitation within the decree on municipal federalism, causing interpretative complexities that have not yet been fully resolved. Among these, the most debated has been the choice of many local administrations to confer to the tourist operator a subjective but not unequivocal qualification, with the aim of guaranteeing the collection of the sums requested, even if the effective taxpayer in chief had not complied correctly. This factor, therefore, had concrete implications, not only in the assessment phase, but also in the collection and sanctioning stage. More recently, an equally complex regulatory intersection seems to have formally and finally classified the tax framework, at least from an interpretative point of view. Nevertheless, it does not appear free of contradictions. To express some critical remarks and final reflections, implications of a general nature and the more specific substantive tax law provisions are analysed.

Francesco Morandi, Libertà del viaggio e assistenza ai turisti in situazioni di emergenza in "RIVISTA ITALIANA DI DIRITTO DEL TURISMO" 46/2025, pp 56-84, DOI: 10.3280/DT2025-046003