PALERMO (ITALPRESS) – “The initiative was conceived with a view to fostering a spread of the culture of tax legality, an awareness of consciences that objectively still has insufficient levels.” This is the spirit with which the idea of establishing the “Fiscal Legality” award was born, promoted by the Chamber of Tax Lawyers, chaired by Professor Angelo Cuva. An award that was given to General Ignazio Gibilaro, Interregional Commander Central Italy Guardia di Finanza, together with whom was also awarded Francesca Lancia, a young lawyer who qualified last January, thanks to a paper that dealt with legality and fairness in tax terms. “We need to act especially towards young people to create that awareness that tax contributions are the foundation of every community, and therefore this award aimed at people who have particularly distinguished themselves in the various public and private sectors acquires value,” Cuva stressed. “This is the first edition, and we hope with all the partners who have given us their support to be able to go on for the next few years. The award ceremony-which was also attended with a video message of greeting by Deputy Minister of Economy Maurizio Leo-was held in the Great Hall of the Court of Appeals of the Court of Palermo. “Receiving this award,” explained General Gibilaro, “has for me a value of high professional recognition. It is a moment when above all between the Financial Administration, the Guardia di Finanza and the world of taxpaying citizens we are trying to establish a new relationship, no longer one of preconceptions, no longer one of opposition, but as much as possible of cooperation, because in the end we have to realize that we have to cooperate in order to have a fair, just tax collection system that contributes to the social welfare of the community. Receiving this award is important to me professionally. It excites me to receive it in this building where as a young captain I found myself working with the anti-Mafia pool, with Judge Falcone on banking and corporate investigations, so for me it has an added value this place, this moment. “Doing the honors was Judge Piergiorgio Morosini, President of the Court of Palermo: “It is a very important initiative,” he pointed out, “because it proposes a different perspective in the relationship between citizen and tax, thanks also very much to the mediation of Tax Lawyers. When we talk about tax, about taxes, very often there is instinctively a kind of revulsion with respect to these issues. This initiative proposes a different approach, which is to try to build a path where the taxpayer and the tax administrations can dialogue in a collaborative relationship, to make people understand that taxes, the tax authorities, are something that has a lot to do with the contribution that each of us can make to the community in which we live, and therefore a loyal behavior towards the tax authorities, towards the state. It is something that will then benefit the community in which we live and therefore ourselves. I think it’s a new and important way of interpreting and reasoning about the issues surrounding the IRS and taxes.” Present at the initiative, among others, Roberto Gueli, President of the Order of Journalists of Sicily: “Today’s,” he said, “represents a beautiful initiative, I congratulate those who wanted it, an initiative that talks about legality within the Court, so I applaud it and I hope it will also become a national project. For the Order of Journalists, which I have the honor of chairing, the word legality is an important thread. We as the Order are right in the house of legality, a former lair of Riina that has been entrusted to journalists who work, back straight, compare sources and publish true news following deontology. Everything else we leave outside the door. Right in the Order’s headquarters we have, speaking of legality, of the desire to do real journalism, concrete journalism, an exhibition dedicated to Sicilian colleagues killed by the Mafia, so the common thread of the word legality unites the Order of Journalists with this award, which I again congratulate. “The event was sponsored by the Palermo Bar Association, the Association of Tax Magistrates of Sicily, the Department of Political Science of the University of Palermo, the Sicily Foundation and the City of Palermo. Media partners include Il Moderatore, Italpress and the Giornale di Sicilia.- photo xd6 Italpress -(ITALPRESS).