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Italian tax details posted on web Italy posts income details on web
(1 day later)
Privacy watchdogs have ordered the Italian authorities to block access to every Italian's personal tax details. There has been outrage in Italy after the outgoing government published every Italian's declared earnings and tax contributions on the internet.
This comes after they were published on the internet and made available for almost 24 hours. The tax authority's website was inundated by people curious to know how much their neighbours, celebrities or sports stars were making.
The move to release the information was one of the last acts of the outgoing centre-left government - and has shocked many tax-shy Italians. The Italian treasury suspended the website after a formal complaint from the country's privacy watchdog.
Without warning, the tax authority posted on its website every tax payer's declared earnings and tax paid. The information was put on the site with no warning for nearly 24 hours.
With just a couple of mouse clicks Italians were able to see just how much their favourite footballer, TV star or singer earned and paid in tax. Sour grapes?
The idea was also an open invitation to nosey neighbours, making it just as simple to see how much the couple next door earned, or how much your local doctor or priest paid in tax. The release of the information was one of the last acts of the outgoing centre-left government and has shocked many tax-shy Italians, says the BBC's Mark Duff in Milan.
The site proved a massive hit. Within hours it was overwhelmed and impossible to reach. But it was also hugely popular, and within hours the site was overwhelmed and impossible to access.
The finance ministry described the move as a bid to improve transparency. Critics condemned it as an outrageous breach of privacy. The finance ministry described the move as a bid to improve transparency.
The timing of the move, just days before the current administration hands over to Silvio Berlusconi, was intriguing too. Deputy Economic Minister Vincenzo Visco said he could not understand what all the fuss was about.
The outgoing government came to power promising to tackle Italians' notoriously lax approach to paying tax - prompting some sceptics to see the move as just end of term sour grapes. "I can't understand what the problem is," he is quoted as telling Italy's Corriere della Sera newspaper.
"This already exists all around the world, you just have to watch any American soap to see that. We had the system ready by January but we delayed publication to avoid arguments during the election campaign."
But critics condemned it as an outrageous breach of privacy.
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The timing of the move, just days before the current administration hands over to incoming Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, was intriguing too, says our correspondent.
The outgoing government came to power promising to tackle Italians' notoriously lax approach to paying tax.
According to an Italian government report from 2007, the amount of unpaid tax in the country is equivalent to 7% of gross domestic product.
Some sceptics have seen the move as just end of term sour grapes, our correspondent adds.