The associated studies of family doctors destined to decline in favor of cooperatives? Possible. The Inland Revenue considers many declarations of these bodies to be incongruous: they would incur costs that are too high in relation to the fees for which they are responsible. And with the incongruity, the risk of an assessment is high, even if first a dispute is triggered with the Revenue Agency where the doctor can prove his reasons. In regions such as Lombardy, associated studies have long been the formula chosen by doctors to join. The final rule 4 of the 2000 agreement allows part of the salary to be paid directly to the firm without mentioning other corporate forms; moreover these entities, typical of lawyers, notaries, pure freelance professionals, are autonomous tax subjects, and can take on utilities and hire staff. This is where the catch occurs: many doctors with the associated study body pay us the costs in full, as is the case for the cooperatives. But, if the studio's revenue remains meagre – which the more “populous” it is, the more complex it is to govern, requiring unanimity of consensus for decisions – the tax authorities find the declaration incongruous.
"For the Revenue Agency, situations in which costs are disproportionate to revenues are incongruous," he explains. Maurizio DiMarcotullio chartered accountant, technician of the Fisco Commission Fimmg. «Sector studies verify how much the costs incurred by the professional affect the compensation. There is an ideal index from which one should not deviate; the incongruity arises when you deviate because the costs are too high compared to the declared fees. The regional agreements actually provide for a percentage to be paid to the associated firm to cover the costs. Let's assume both the 20% of the fees in the paycheck: the doctor will not have to charge the 100% of the personnel and utilities costs to that practice but the 20%, or in any case a homogeneous percentage, otherwise he is fair but the associated practice is not and the cross-examination is triggered ». That's not a "trouble". «The study of the sector – says Di Marcotullio – is a simple presumption, as the Cassation reiterates, and if the doctor brings proof of the regularity of the calculation and of his good faith, the taxman's arguments can “fall apart”».
So to avoid trouble, is it better to give up the corporate form? Even the formula of paying a doctor for his staff, one for utilities, a third for the rent, and then compensating each other at the end of the year, is not transparent for the tax authorities, they remind Fimmg. Di Marcotullio recalls that Fimmg appealed to the Tar a year ago against sector studies. «We believe that the MMG is a para-subordinate figure, his income is largely by convention. We asked for the suspension but it was rejected: the judges, in attendance
