The Italian Revenue Agency has developed an educational program called "Fisco e Scuola" to promote understanding of taxation and civic responsibility among students. The program was launched in 2002 and formalized in 2004 through an agreement between the Ministry of Education and the Revenue Agency. It involves officials visiting schools and developing educational materials to make tax law concepts more accessible to students. Over 15,000 student meetings have been held. The program's website provides resources for students, parents and teachers. Evaluation shows the benefits of the program, which was renewed in 2013 and involves other government agencies through declarations of intent. Future development ideas include national student contests and using social media.
2. «Fisco e Scuola»
The project
One of the main aims of the Italian Revenue Agency is
to promote the culture of tax law to emphasize the
importance of citizenship contribution for the provision
of public services.
The world of school is certainly one of the places most
appropriate to convey such message, as shown by the
synergy developed during the collaboration between
the Italian Revenue Agency and educational
institutions.
3. «Fisco e Scuola»
The project
Since 2002 the regional departments and the local
offices of the Italian Revenue Agency are involved in
the promotion of meetings and training seminars about
tax in the schools.
The project “Fisco e Scuola” was born in 2004 to
strengthen and make more effective the training
intervention, with the signing of a Memorandum of
Understanding between the Ministry of Education and
the Italian Revenue Agency.
Since 2004, our officials have made more than 15.000
meetings with students of all ages.
4. «Fisco e Scuola»
Memorandum of understanding
With the first Memorandum of understanding between
the Ministry of Education and the Italian Revenue
Agency were suggested the guidelines that regulate
the activities of both institutions, leaving the
departments on the territory to adopt the forms of
communication most appropriate (e.g. visits to
departments, meetings with officials, seminars,
interdisciplinary projects).
5. «Fisco e Scuola»
Memorandum of understanding
The successful experience and evaluation of the
benefits led the two institutions to continue the
project.
On 15 October 2013 was signed the new
Memorandum of understanding, valid for 3 years,
which confirms the commitment of the Ministry and
the Agency to work together to develop a sense of
civic responsibility and social inclusion of young
people.
6. «Fisco e Scuola»
Teaching materials
The material is published on the website
“Entrate… in classe”, accessible from the Agency
website.
Over the years the offices of the Agency, in
collaboration with schools, have developed
several educational materials to support
classroom activities (e.g. brochures, stories,
games) which simplify the access of children to
such a complex issue as taxation and
constitutional principles forming the basis of our
tax system.
7. «Fisco e Scuola»
The website “Entrate… in classe”
http://www.agenziaentrate.gov.it/wps/content/nsilib/nsi/agenzia/agenzia+comunica/fisco_scuola
The website was realized by the Italian Revenue
Agency to achieve two important goals:
• make the world of taxation more accessible not only
to students, but also to parents and teachers
• promote the project “Fisco e Scuola”
8. «Fisco e Scuola»
Educational kit
The Italian Revenue Agency has developed the
educational kit, called "Together for the tax law”, in
order to support the officers during the first contact
with educational institutions.
The kit contains a poster (to be exhibited in the
classroom), 20 leaflets, 20 publications and a DVD
(cartoon or movie) with Pag and Tax, two "original"
characters who lead the children on the path of civic
education tax.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kjx7PGPS4nU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nmu_yYONdRg
9. «Fisco e Scuola»
Educational kit
There are two versions of the kit, which differ in
the level of difficulty of contents: Module 1 for
primary school, the Module 2 for secondary
schools.
Module 1 explains the foundations of civilized life
to children to make them understand the
importance of compliance, including tax, for the
functioning of society.
Module 2 explains the principles of the Italian
Constitution, which form the basis of our tax
system and clarifies the role and the functions of
the Italian Revenue Agency.
10. «Fisco e Scuola»
Declaration of intent for tax law
In June the Italian Revenue Agency has also signed
the “Declaration of intent for the tax law as an
element of economic growth and social development "
promoted by the Ministry of Education with the
involvement of 14 other agencies, including the
Ministry of Economy and the Financial Police.
The goal is to share experiences about the issues of
economics, law , finance and savings.
11. «Fisco e Scuola»
Upcoming developments
In this phase of the project may be useful to combine
new initiatives that strengthen the message about
the legitimacy of taxes.
One idea might be to involve students into a national
contest on the topic of tax law, developed in
collaboration with the Ministry of Education.
Now we already have regional contests
http://basilicata.agenziaentrate.it/site.php?id=3883
12. «Fisco e Scuola»
Upcoming developments
Another goal is the use of social network, as YouTube
and Twitter , to spread the message among the kids.
Notes de l'éditeur
The cartoon
In the cartoon aimed at children Pag and Tax venture into the “land of rules”, where everything (schools, hospitals, courts, law enforcement) works because people respect the rules and contributes to the functioning of society by paying taxes. In their adventure, our heroes run into different characters including Ms. Castor, who is an officer of the Revenue, and Mr. Snake, who is a tax evader. At the end Pag&Tax understand that those who don’t pay taxes hurt himself and others.
The movie
In the movie for students of secondary schools, Pag and Tax interview with irony different types of taxpayers in order to show the importance of respecting the rules and participating actively in society. With the movie we want to arouse the students’ curiosity and instigate debates. The main message we want to convey is that to live in a better society everyone has to respect the rules: “Those who don’t pay taxes are not cleverer, but dishonest and damage not only themselves but everyone else”.
Some assumptions:
• create your spot / create your own short film - for secondary schools
• write a story/ a comics - for primary schools
Chorus: I'm sick and tired of knocked-out country, I wish everyone did a good action, there are those who pay and I pay too, but other don’t pay and I have to pay for their mistake not for mine... I give you a tip: you also contribute to the future of your children