Italian Supreme Court of Cassation (Corte di Cassazione italiana), Civil Section V, No. 11437/2026, 28 April 2026

The Court of Cassation rejected the appeal of a taxpayer who had paid part of their declared IRPEF to charitable organisations and the National Office for Civil Service, in support of nonviolent defence and financial assistance for high-risk pregnancies rather than abortion. The Court rejected the appeal on the grounds that such conduct is incompatible with the fundamental duties of social solidarity.

Article 10 Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union
Article 2 Italian Constitution
Article 1, Law No. 230/1998 of 8 July 1998 (conscientious objection)

1. Personal convictions of taxpayers regarding fiscal conscientious objection to military expenditure and other State policies cannot find protection under Article 10 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU or Article 9 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, which protects individual freedom of conscience, because the overriding interests served by tax revenues and solidarity-based social policies protecting persons are regulated in a manner not inconsistent with individual freedom of conscience in the interest of the community, in the light of the constitutional principles enshrined in Articles 2, 81, and 53 of the Italian Constitution.

2. Given the acausal nature of taxation as regards the use of the resources acquired, the diversion of part of the amount due as personal income tax to entities - regardless of their nature and whether or not they are attributable to the State - that pursue objectives shared by the taxpayer constitutes a partial omission of the obligation to contribute to public expenditure, insofar as no payment has been made as tax due, since the allocation of revenues and their earmarking is not within the purview of the individual taxpayer, in the light of the principles enshrined in Articles 2 and 53 of the Italian Constitution.