Ali is a mountain of a man. Tall, muscular, well-trained. Despite being very polite, Ali believed that a man is the boss and a woman must obey. He lived his life according to that motto.

On Friday, Ali called the building caretaker to complain that there were rats in the garage and demanded that he come immediately to get rid of them. The caretaker was surprised, as he had never seen rats in the neighborhood before, but he did as asked and went straight to Ali’s garage. Ali pointed to droppings on the floor—there were quite a few. But they certainly weren’t from rats; they were far too small. The caretaker started looking for the pests, and Ali began to complain. According to Ali, it was the caretaker’s fault for not keeping better watch, allowing the pests to spread into his garage. It was clear that the small rodents had been feasting on items stored against the walls and had left teeth marks. The caretaker pointed out that it was forbidden to store any items in the garage—for fire safety reasons, he added. But Ali didn’t listen and kept whining.

No sign of a rat or even a mouse. Then the caretaker suggested that Ali open the hood of his car. Ali did as instructed, and it became obvious that something was living in the engine bay. Not only was the engine unusually dirty with some loose parts here and there, but some components had clearly been gnawed on. Ali began wailing loudly. The caretaker told him to be quiet and leaned closer to the engine. In the silence, he could hear a faint squeaking sound.

The caretaker said, “There seems to be a nest. Do you have some gloves?”

That’s when Ali lost it and screamed hysterically. He grabbed the caretaker’s biceps with both hands as if there were a tiger hidden in the engine bay. The caretaker shook Ali’s hands off—which wasn’t easy—and asked again for the gloves. Ali pulled himself together and handed over a pair of welding gloves.

“Don’t you have smaller gloves?” the caretaker asked.

“You need protection! Big gloves! What if they bite you?” Ali replied.

“Then you’ll have to get them yourself,” the caretaker retorted. “I can’t grab them with these gloves.”

Panic surged through Ali’s entire body, and he pleaded with the caretaker to do it for him. Then Ali brought out disposable plastic shoe covers, which the caretaker put on.

It didn’t take long before he retrieved a small nest from the engine bay, with tiny shrews no more than three centimeters in size. That was too much for Ali—he screamed so loudly, it posed a risk of hearing damage.

The caretaker sighed and carried the nest outside.

ENDING FOR HUMANITARIANS

The caretaker walked to the nearby forest and gently placed the intact nest under some sharp, dry conifer branches.

ENDING FOR BRUTALISTS

The caretaker threw the nest into the nearest compost bin.

Ali was exhausted and at the end of his rope. The engine was damaged, and Ali knew that repairs could be expensive. He also knew he didn’t have insurance for “marten damage”—he had only taken out liability and partial coverage to save money. He wanted to save a few francs on his premium, and after all, the car was parked in the garage. What could go wrong?

Another story could be written about how Ali heroically battled dangerous rats, as thick as his thigh, all alone in his garage. But then again, that’s another story.

Yesterday, I listened to Barbara Tettenborn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/barbara-tettenborn-39887ab/). An impressive and inspiring personality who, it seems, has achieved everything she ever set her mind to. She is highly successful in her profession and a top performer in triathlon within her age group. I know quite a few people who are successful in one area, but such a combination is rare. She shared that she had wanted to become a professor since childhood—without really knowing what that meant or in which field. Her extremely strong will, almost inhuman discipline, intelligence, and a bit of luck allowed her to build a picture-perfect career. She’s truly worth listening to.

But I’m used to hearing different kinds of stories.

Lydia wanted to become a hairdresser. But the bus connections from her village were too poor. She couldn’t take up the apprenticeship because she would have had to walk a long distance three times a week. Logistically, a commercial apprenticeship was easier—there were no late shifts, and she could take the bus in the morning and return in the late afternoon. She completed the apprenticeship with good results and started her first job. It was fun, but after a while maybe a bit boring. After saving some money, she went on a three-month trip to South America. She had to quit her job for the trip. When she returned, the position was filled, and she had to find something new. She felt a strong desire to stay close to her former colleagues and still be able to have lunch with them. By chance, she discovered an open position in the neighboring building that seemed like a good fit. She applied and got the job—without really knowing what the company actually did. It turned out to be a consulting firm, and over time Lydia learned more and more. Eventually, she was able to handle basic requests on her own. She took additional training and transferred to another department. One day, a client asked if she would be interested in building up the compliance department at their company—and she said yes. A few years later, she was heading the compliance department, now with several team members. And all this because the bus no longer ran so late to the village—but of course, it wasn’t just that.

Or take our first team secretary, whose parents had immigrated from Asia. Back then, she would neatly type out handwritten tax returns on a typewriter. But she didn’t just type—she thought things through. She often came to me with questions because something in the template didn’t make sense to her—and she had solid reasoning. I encouraged her to switch sides and become a tax advisor herself. She liked the idea and asked our then (male) boss. He was progressive enough not to forbid it. He said: as long as she could find someone willing to teach her everything, she could go ahead. I was willing to teach her. Today, she runs her own small office and handles complex international cases.

I could tell many stories like these about women. My favorite one is about a little refugee girl who came to Switzerland and loved playing chess. Getting into a grammar school (Gymnasium) wasn’t possible for her at the time. But she was given the chance to play a game of chess against the school’s headmaster—and promptly checkmated him. He then advocated for her admission. She studied languages, because she loved them, and eventually became the CFO of a large, well-known company. Because intelligence and willpower alone often aren’t enough—you need luck, too.

So why are girls still not encouraged to become doctors, professors, CEOs, or presidents? Why don’t we plant these ideas in their heads from a young age and give them the chance to reach for the stars?

Why not, really?

A few days after the publication of the operational procedures for the guarantee that non-EU residents must provide to carry out intra-union transactions, with a new Provision prot. n. 186368/2025, the Italian tax authorities have defined the operational procedures for fiscal representatives under art. 17(3) of the Italian Presidential decree no. 633/1972. 

From April 17, 2025, subjects who intend to assume or already operate as fiscal representatives are required to submit both a declaration of attestation of honorability requirements (art. 8, co. 1, lett. a), b), c) and d) of Ministerial Decree n. 164/1999) and a guarantee proportionate to the number of subjects represented. 

Both documents must be provided by fiscal representatives at the time of submitting the declaration form for the start of activities or data change for VAT purposes at the Provincial Directorate of the Italian tax authorities competent based on their tax domicile. 

Regarding the declaration of attestation of subjective requirements, it has been clarified that, in the case of fiscal representatives other than natural persons, the declaration must be made by all legal representatives indicated in the declaration form for the start of activities or data change for VAT purposes. In case of replacement or new appointment of one or more legal representatives, the declaration must be made by them simultaneously with the submission of the declaration form for the start of activities or data change for VAT purposes. 

With reference to the guarantee, it has been specified that it must be provided for at least forty-eight months from the delivery to the Provincial Directorate of the Italian tax authorities, for a value that varies, based on the number of subjects represented, from 30,000 euros to 2,000,000 euros in the form of a deposit in government bonds or government-guaranteed securities (which must present the information contained in the deposit in government bonds  attached to the provision) or through a surety bond or bank guarantee (which must present the information contained in the fac-simile bank guarantee  attached to the provision). 

Once the guarantee has been submitted, the competent Italian tax authorities verifies if it meets the regulatory requirements and communicates the result to the person who submitted it. Only after a positive result, the subject is authorized to operate as a fiscal representative. If the representative is required to submit a new guarantee for the higher range, they may request the release of the previous guarantee. 

Those who already operate as fiscal representatives as of April 17 must submit the declaration attesting the subjective requirements and the guarantee by June 16, 2025. In case of non-compliance, the Italian tax authorities will start the procedure for the official termination of VAT numbers of represented subjects(The Italian tax authorities communicate to the fiscal representative, via PEC or at the registered office, the start of the procedure for the official termination of represented subjects. From that date, the representative has sixty days to provide the necessary documentation to maintain the role of fiscal representative. If the documentation is not provided within this period, the VAT numbers will be officially terminated.). 

With a specific notice on the website, the Italian tax authorities will communicate the availability of the service for consulting the references of fiscal representatives who have submitted the declaration of the existence of subjective requirements and have provided the required guarantee. For representatives who do not comply with the new guaranteed obligations, it is reminded that an administrative fine ranging from 3,000 to 50,000 euros is applicable, without the possibility of applying the so called “cumulo giuridico”. 

Prepared by Davide Accorsi and Federica Valastro