It may take Italy up to eight years to overcome tax evasion, which will be the key point in the government program to cut back the state deficit, Prime Minister Romano Prodi told the Italian press Thursday.
"A country which cannot collect taxes is lacking a sense of responsibility," Prodi said, hinting at a "major" problem after statistics showed Italians were apparently cheating massively when filing their tax returns.
If finance ministry figures are to be believed 10 million Italian tax payers are considered poor, declaring revenues of less than 500 euros (645 dollars) a month.