Checkpoint Carlo: How Tax Cops Killed Italy’s Supercar Market
 

Checkpoint Carlo: How Tax Cops Killed Italy’s Supercar Market

Ferrari’s home market is in a shambles even as the company records *massive growth in the U.S., China, and India. Italy accounted for only 248 of the black stallion’s sales in 2012, half the number sold there the year before. Maserati’s sales have fallen 80 percent since 2009, but it’s not just Fiat brands that are hurting. Lamborghini president Stephan Winkelmann can count Italy’s monthly sales on one hand. The cause for the collapse goes far beyond the European economic meltdown. Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo slammed the government in Rome: “Once again, the exception is Italy, where we have witnessed a drop partly due to the economic crisis, but also to a hostile environment for *luxury goods which have long been, and continue to be, an important resource for the country.”

So what hostile environment could discourage thin-soled Italians from buying their own supercars? Pressed for cash and tired of losing an estimated $150 billion a year to tax evaders, Italy’s government started digging around. Last winter, police raided a posh ski town and struck gold. High-end cars were pulled over and their drivers were asked to sit tight while the home office checked tax records. One in six—42 vehicles total—were being driven by someone who had reported a meager annual income insufficient for supercar ownership. It was a PR win for a government under fire for cutting social services it says the country can’t afford. Emboldened, tax cops set up checkpoints in wealthier cities and even dropped in on a Ferrari owners club get-together. The tactics netted dozens of scofflaws, including an F40 driver owing more than $10 million in delinquent taxes.

Even for the drivers of such ostentatious cars, the attention was unwelcome. Tax cheats or not, owners dumped their supercars in droves, venting to news outlets that they were being harassed by police. Come this spring, the situation should settle down. The government is initiating an automated check of tax records for anyone *making large purchases. While the checkpoints targeted people who already owned their cars, the automated system should keep the small, financial-enforcement police unit busy enough that it won’t need to staff checkpoints anymore. While legit owners won’t have to worry about being harassed, less-scrupulous Italians are now reported to be buying cars outside of Italy, in cash, and registering them abroad to stay below the radar. Ferraris will return to the autostrada, albeit in smaller numbers.


http://blog.caranddriver.com/checkpo...percar-market/

Italy is not the only country in the world where supercar owners have to pay to play. I agree, though, that, if nothing else, this policy is a slap in the face to the late Enzo Ferrari, which many people in Italy still revere.

What is interesting, though, is that Enzo himself, who could have driven any of his company's products any time he wanted, instead putted around in a Fiat 128 daily-driver. Fiat, of course, played that up in TV/magazine ads.

http://img2.etsystatic.com/007/0/650...49938_rvis.jpg

....and here is Enzo an original Mini:

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-y...d%2520Mini.jpg

WOW That is harsh as hell. They pull drivers over and check their taxes on the spot to see if they claimed enough to be able to afford a car like that??? Pretty harsh but Im sure if they did this in the states they would find a lot of the same games

Wait? So Ferrari is complaining that their significant customer base, i.e. tax cheats, is shrinking? Perhaps Toyota will start complaining about LS sales if Yakuza members start dropping like flies.

Sucks for the legit owners having to go through the harassment, but at least justice is served against many of those who did cheat to afford their high-end cars, so it's all good in my book.

Ahhhh Italians! I would say something now but that would get me banned :)

Anyone who had ever (tried) to work with Italian "businesses" know how much of hustle it is to constantly watch your back in order not to get screwed.

The end doesn't justify the means. Justice systems aim to be fair and equitable because that's what makes for a healthy society. In a fair and equitable system, driving an expensive car shouldn't be sufficient cause for search and seizure, just like being black shouldn't be sufficient cause for the same. The US Constitution is a pretty cool thing.

All that targeting supercar owners does is ensure that tax evaders won't buy supercars. There will still be plenty of tax evaders. Then it has the side effect of influencing non-evaders to avoid buying supercars. So now you still have tax evaders, but a lot fewer people buying products.

This is the problem with short-sighted government policies (which is most of them). The real problems don't go away, and they cause additional ones too.