The Family in the Italian Legal System: Civil Models and Income Taxation

In the Italian legal system, the taxation of family income has undergone profound changes over the years, in line with the economic-social balances that characterized the original structure and subsequent evolution of the family, a term for which there is no univocal defi nition. Th e family today can be founded on marriage, civil union or de facto cohabitation; the fi rst two models, by attributing the status familiae to the partners, identify the family aggregation as a place of production of wealth as well as aff ection and, therefore, an expression of ability to pay, with consequent relevance also on a tax level; the third model, rising to a mere fact resulting in signifi cant eff ects on a legal level, instead has a completely marginal fi scal discipline. Th is essay, starting from an analysis of the choices made within the OECD and from the diachrony of the sources of Italian law, examines critical issues in the current legislation from a proactive perspective, from which, despite the warnings expressed on more than one occasion by the Judge of Laws on the basis of Italian constitutional principles, the lack of an organic tax regime designed for families becomes evident, the system being based on an atomistic vision of interpersonal relationships.