ITALY recovered a record 14.9 billion euros in unpaid tax in 2015, helped by a new "no questions asked" appeal to suspected dodgers to put their affairs in order.

The national tax agency said Tuesday the total raised from anti-evasion activities was up from 14.2 billion euros in 2014 and had more than tripled in the last decade.

The amounts raised remain tiny in comparison to Italy's huge losses to endemic tax avoidance, but do appear to reflect a more pro-active approach on the issue.

A total of 315,000 residents were sent letters last year inviting them to quickly correct potential "errors or oversights" in their annual returns with an assurance they would only be liable for reduced penalties. Nearly half of them (156,000) took up the offer, bringing in 250 million euros.

Italy's government last year estimated the country's total losses to tax evasion at 90 billion euros a year.

The employers' organisation Confindustria put the figure at 122 billion - the equivalent of 7.5 percent of GDP - in a report published in December.

Nearly half the total is accounted for by nonpayment of VAT and a third relates to the avoidance of payroll taxes - both factors related to the size of Italy's black economy.

The size of the untaxed economy is one of the reasons why Italy's public finances are in such a perilous state.

Latest figures published on Tuesday showed the national debt at the end of last year had risen to 132.6% of annual output.