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Low reported severity

Naples: Italian Revenue Agency reportedly suspends two staff from their posts after a tax audit relied on answers from online AI systems

In October 2026 Italian outlets, relaying Il Sole 24 Ore, reported that the Agenzia delle Entrate (the Italian Revenue Agency) had suspended two staff members of its first provincial directorate in Naples from their posts for improper use of artificial intelligence and assigned them to study and research duties at the regional directorate, and that it had opened an internal audit. The reports link the measures to judgment 4759/2026 of the Campania second-instance tax court, which, according to these reports, found that the tax office had put questions to online AI systems while checking a company's research and development tax credit and held that the answers could not serve as evidence. A joint note from six unions expressed deep disappointment at the suspensions and announced initiatives to protect the staff of the directorate. The reports differ on the two people's roles (two managers, or a manager and an official); their names are not published.

AI system
Unidentified chatbot
Occurred
Event date unknown
Reported
13 October 2026
Event location
Italy
What the AI did
Relation unknown
Reported harm
Professional Harm
Whose AI use
An institution’s AI use
Setting
Work · Public services
Evidence
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution supported · 4 sources, 1 underlying account
4 claims: 4 reported. 4 open questions
People reported harmed
2 people

AI system as recorded: Unidentified online artificial-intelligence systems to which the Naples tax office put questions about the dating and commercial spread of technical solutions during a tax-credit check, according to reports of the Campania tax court judgment

What Happened

The tax case. According to reports of judgment 4759/2026 of the Campania second-instance tax court in Naples, a Revenue Agency office checking a company's research and development tax credit put a series of questions to artificial-intelligence systems available online, to check the historical dating and commercial spread of the technical solutions the company described, and attached the answers to the reasons for its assessment. The court held that answers from AI systems cannot have probative value in tax proceedings and, according to La Legge per Tutti, wrote that the questions put to the AI had proved wrong. The company had already won at first instance. The judgment itself was not read for this record.

The response to the staff. Il Sole 24 Ore's tax service reported on 13 October 2026 that the agency had opened an internal audit concerning a manager and an official, in line with its director's guidelines on AI. On 14 October NapoliToday and Epoch Times Italia, relaying Il Sole 24 Ore, reported that two managers of the first provincial directorate in Naples had been suspended from their posts for improper use of artificial intelligence and assigned to study and research duties at the regional directorate. NapoliToday quoted a joint note from the Cisl, Confsal, Flp, Confintesa, Uil and Cgil unions expressing deep disappointment and saying the suspension measures had destabilised the office at a crucial point of the year.

What is not established. The sources do not say which individual put the questions to the AI systems, which systems were used, or when the suspensions took effect, and they differ on the two people's roles. No audit result or disciplinary outcome is reported.

Reported harm

Two Revenue Agency staff members were reported suspended from their posts and moved to study duties over improper AI use, pending an internal audit; unions protested the measures.

How Harm Occurred

After a tax court rejected an assessment that relied on answers from online AI systems, the Revenue Agency reportedly suspended two staff members from their posts for improper AI use and opened an internal audit.

Outcome

Ongoing

Reported in mid-October 2026: the two staff members were assigned to study and research duties at the regional directorate and an internal audit was opened; the unions announced initiatives. No audit result or disciplinary decision had been reported when these sources were read on 26 October 2026.

What remains unknown

  • Which AI systems the office used and which person put the questions to them.
  • The two staff members' exact roles (reported as two managers, or as a manager and an official).
  • When the suspensions took effect and the outcome of the internal audit or any disciplinary proceedings.
  • The text and date of judgment 4759/2026, which was not read for this record.

What the evidence supports

AI involvement: reported. The harm is the agency's response to AI use in its own office. NapoliToday and Epoch Times Italia report that the two staff members were suspended from their posts for improper use of artificial intelligence, and the reports link this to a tax court judgment that, as relayed by La Legge per Tutti and NapoliToday, found the office had put questions to online AI systems and attached the answers to a tax assessment. No source says what the AI systems answered beyond the court's finding that the questions were wrong, or which person used them, so the relation is unknown under the consequential-response exemption.

4 claims: 4 reported. What the statuses mean

Reported According to reports of judgment 4759/2026 of the Campania second-instance tax court, the tax office put questions to online AI systems during a check of a company's research and development tax credit and attached the answers to its reasons, and the court held that such answers cannot have probative value.

Causal attribution. The judgment as relayed by the press; the judgment itself was not read.

  • laleggepertutti.it(opens in new tab) supports · Italian
    'l’ufficio ha formulato una serie di quesiti a sistemi di intelligenza artificiale disponibili online'; 'E ha allegato le risposte alle motivazioni dell’accertamento.'; 'nel giudizio tributario le risposte fornite dall’intelligenza artificiale non possono avere valore probatorio'
  • napolitoday.it(opens in new tab) supports · Italian
    'sarebbero stati formulati una serie di quesiti a sistemi di intelligenza artificiale le cui risposte, secondo i giudici, non possono avere valore probatorio'
  • ntplusfisco.ilsole24ore.com(opens in new tab) supports · Italian
    'dopo che la corte di giustizia di secondo grado della Campania, con la sentenza 4759/2026, ha affrontato il caso'
Reported The Revenue Agency opened an internal audit concerning a manager and an official.

Causal attribution. Agency response as reported by Il Sole 24 Ore and relays.

Reported Two staff members of the agency's first provincial directorate in Naples were suspended from their posts for improper use of artificial intelligence and assigned to study and research duties at the regional directorate.

Causal attribution. The suspensions and their stated reason as reported from Il Sole 24 Ore; the agency's own wording was not read.

  • napolitoday.it(opens in new tab) supports · Italian
    'sono state sospese dall’incarico ricoperto per l’utilizzo improprio dell’intelligenza artificiale'; 'ha assegnato, come da procedura, le due dipendenti a un incarico di studio e ricerca alla Direzione Regionale'
  • epochtimes.it(opens in new tab) supports · Italian
    'Due dirigenti dell’Agenzia delle Entrate di Napoli sono state sospese dall’incarico per l’utilizzo improprio dell’intelligenza artificiale.'
Reported A joint note from the Cisl, Confsal, Flp, Confintesa, Uil and Cgil unions expressed deep disappointment, said the suspension measures had destabilised the office and announced initiatives to protect the directorate's staff.

Causal attribution. The union note as quoted by the press; the note itself was not read.

  • napolitoday.it(opens in new tab) supports · Italian
    'esprimono profondo disappunto per le vicende occorse nella DPI di Napoli'; 'i provvedimenti di sospensione “hanno causato una destabilizzazione ambientale'; 'I sindacati preannunciano iniziative'
  • epochtimes.it(opens in new tab) supports · Italian
    'Sulla vicenda sono intervenuti i sindacati Cisl, Confsal, Flp, Confintesa, Uil e Cgil, che hanno espresso «profondo disappunto» per i provvedimenti'

Sources

4 sources inspected, from 1 underlying account. Sources that repeat one account do not corroborate each other.

How the sources were read, and where the events happened

Read in Italian by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-26 and translated by the research agent (an AI) into English; no human translator or reviewer was involved. NapoliToday report of 14 October 2026 relaying Il Sole 24 Ore and quoting a joint union note; HTML read, HTTP 200. Applies to s1.

Read in Italian by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-26 and translated by the research agent (an AI) into English; no human translator or reviewer was involved. Epoch Times Italia report of 14 October 2026 relaying Il Sole 24 Ore; HTML read, HTTP 200. Applies to s2.

Read in Italian by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-26 and translated by the research agent (an AI) into English; no human translator or reviewer was involved. NT+ Fisco (Il Sole 24 Ore) article of 13 October 2026; only the free opening paragraph was readable (paywall). Applies to s3.

Read in Italian by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-26 and translated by the research agent (an AI) into English; no human translator or reviewer was involved. La Legge per Tutti commentary of 14 October 2026 describing the judgment and the agency response; HTML read in full, HTTP 200. Applies to s4.

Event countries: Italy. Affected-person countries: Unknown. Court countries: Italy.

NapoliToday and Epoch Times Italia place the two staff members in the agency's Naples provincial directorate and the tax ruling in the Campania second-instance tax court; their residence is not used.

Reviewed for publication 2026-10-26: Published as a consequential-response case: Italian outlets relaying Il Sole 24 Ore report that the Revenue Agency suspended two Naples staff members from their posts for improper AI use after a tax court rejected an assessment that relied on answers from online AI systems; a union note quoted by NapoliToday protested the suspensions.

People described

Two staff members of the Agenzia delle Entrate first provincial directorate in Naples, reported as two managers or as a manager and an official

People reported harmed in this case

2 people

0 AI participants · 2 other people harmed

Two staff members (NapoliToday and Epoch Times Italia: "Due dirigenti"; NT+ Fisco: "un dirigente e un funzionario"). Whether they themselves put the questions to the AI systems is not stated, so they are not counted as direct AI users.

Counted once within this case. The same person may appear in other cases. This count does not establish AI causation.

Tags

#tax-administration#workplace-ai#suspension#public-sector#italy#consequential-response

Cite this case

Compiled per our published methodology: verification statuses, sourcing standards, and corrections process.

APA

NOPE. (2026). Naples: Italian Revenue Agency reportedly suspends two staff from their posts after a tax audit relied on answers from online AI systems. AI incidents. https://nope.net/incidents/2026-naples-revenue-agency-staff-reportedly-suspended-from-posts-after-tax-audit-relied-on-online-ai-answers

BibTeX

@misc{2026_naples_revenue_agency_staff_reportedly_suspended_from_posts_after_tax_audit_relied_on_online_ai_answers,
  title = {Naples: Italian Revenue Agency reportedly suspends two staff from their posts after a tax audit relied on answers from online AI systems},
  author = {NOPE},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {AI incidents},
  url = {https://nope.net/incidents/2026-naples-revenue-agency-staff-reportedly-suspended-from-posts-after-tax-audit-relied-on-online-ai-answers}
}

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