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published on 29 May 2020 | reading time approx. 25 minutes
With the issuing of Decree-Law no. 34 of 19 May 2020 (published in the Official Journal on 19 May, 2020), so called “Decreto Rilancio”, new measures have been introduced to deal with the health emergency that has recently affected Italy.
In the paragraphs below, we provide a summary of the main fiscal measures introduced by the aforementioned Decree-Law no. 34 of 19 May 2020.
The payment of the 2019 Regional tax balance emerging from the 2020 IRAP declaration and the first 2020 advance payment is not due, without prejudice to the payment of the 2019 tax period. Taxpayers with corporate income or self-employed workers with revenues or compensation not exceeding 250 million euro in the 2019 tax period are excluded from the payment obligation. On the other hand, financial intermediaries (banks) and financial and non-financial holding companies, insurance companies and public administrations are excluded from the benefit, regardless of the volume of revenues. The amount of the first installment of the 2020 advance payment, equal to 40 per cent of the total advance payment due for non ISA entities, equal to 50 per cent for ISA entities, even if not paid, shall be deducted from the calculation of the tax to be paid as balance for the 2020 tax period that will emerge from the IRAP return 2021 together with the amount of the second advance payment of November 2020.
Those who perform business, art or professional activities are entitled to a tax credit based on the lease payments for non-residential buildings paid in the 2020 tax period with reference to March, April and May, provided that in the 2019 tax period they have not accrued revenues or remuneration exceeding 5 million euro and that the tenants have suffered a decrease in turnover of at least 50 per cent in the month of reference compared to the same month of the previous tax period. Hotel and agritourism businesses are not required to comply with the income limit for the year 2019. The tax credit is acknowledged to the extent of 60 per cent of the amount of the fees paid for the months of March, April and May for rentals, leasing or concession of real estate for non-residential use destined to the performing of industrial, commercial, craft, agricultural, tourist interest, or in the habitual and professional exercise of self-employment. In the case of complex service contracts or business rental contracts, including at least one property for non-residential use intended for the performance of the activity, the credit is granted to the extent of 30 per cent.The benefit also applies to non-commercial entities, including those belonging to the Third Sector and civilly recognized religious entities in relation to the rent, leasing or concession of real estate for non-residential use intended for the performance of the institutional activity.
In order to resolve the issues related to the emergency, the “long“ deadline already provided for 30 June 2020 is extended to 31 December 2020 to be able to make the investment in order to benefit from the 2019 so called “super depreciation“ (30 per cent increase with a maximum investment of 2.5 million euro). Therefore, if by 31 December 2019 the vendor has accepted the order and the minimum down payment of 20 per cent has been done, it is no longer necessary for the investment to be made by 30 June 2020 in order to benefit from the super depreciation provided for in art. 1 of Decree Law 34/2019, but it will be possible to benefit from the longer “long“ term until 31 December 2020.
For the months of April and May 2020, indemnities for self-employed workers, entrepreneurs, coordinated and continuous collaborators and certain categories of workers, already planned for March 2020, are refinanced. For the month of April 2020, the indemnity is recognized in the amount of 600.00 euro in favour of subjects, in possession of certain conditions, belonging to specific categories (including, for example, self-employed workers and coordinated and continuous collaborators enrolled in national insurance and pension scheme for self-employed professionals of INPS - Italian National Social Security Institute, self-employed workers registered with the Special insurance and pension scheme of the General Compulsory Insurance (AGO) of INPS, seasonal employees and workers in administration of the tourism sector and spas, workers registered with the Pension Fund for entertainment workers,...). For the month of May 2020, the indemnity is paid only to some of the above categories and with variable amounts. The indemnity amounts to 1,000.00 euro for some individuals and the occurrence of special conditions (including, for example, coordinated and continuous employees enrolled in national insurance and pension scheme for self-employed professionals of INPS who have terminated their employment on 19 May 2020; self-employed workers enrolled in national insurance and pension scheme for self-employed professionals of INPS who have suffered a reduction of at least 33 per cent of the income in the second two months of 2020, compared to the income in the second two months of 2019; employees (including employees on payroll) in the tourism sector and bathing establishments who have involuntarily ceased employment in the period between 1 January 2019 and 17 March 2020). For other categories, the indemnity is replicated in May at 600.00 euro.
A prohibition is established on cumulation between the various indemnities provided for by the “Decreto Rilancio” and the indemnity provided for by art. 44 of Decree 18/2020 (indemnity for employees and self-employed workers who as a result of the epidemiological emergency by covid-19 have ceased, reduced or suspended their activities). These indemnities can be cumulated with the ordinary disability indemnity.
The rate of the deduction due for specific energy requalification (with the application of certain maximum spending limits depending on the intervention carried out), seismic risk reduction, installation of photovoltaic systems and installation of columns for recharging electric vehicles, if the expenses are incurred from 1 July 2020 to 31 December 2021, is increased to 110 per cent, also providing that the benefit should be divided into 5 equal installments. With particular reference to the specific energy requalification measures covered by the facility in question, the deduction at a rate of 110 per cent does not apply, as expressly provided for by law, if the expenses for energy requalification measures carried out by individuals (outside the business, arts and professions) refer to measures on single-family buildings not used as main dwellings. In order to benefit from the 110 per cent benefit, interventions aimed at energy requalification must comply with minimum technical requirements that will be provided for in future decrees. These minimum requirements must allow the improvement of at least two energy classes of the building or, where this is not possible, the highest energy class.
As part of the measures to contain and prevent the spread of the virus in the workplaces, a tax credit is being introduced equal to 60 per cent of the expenses incurred in 2020 for construction interventions or for the purchase of furniture, instruments and equipment necessary to comply with health regulations for the containment of the virus. The tax credit is granted to those carrying out business activities, arts and professions in places open to the public (hotels, bars, restaurants, ice-cream parlours, museums, theatres, libraries, bathing establishments or spas...), foundations and institutions, including those belonging to the Third Sector, up to a maximum of 80.000 euro per beneficiary and may be used exclusively as compensation in 2021. The eligible expenses that can currently be identified relate to construction work (adaptation of canteens, changing rooms, construction of new spaces), purchase of safety furniture, purchase or development of tools and technologies that ensure the performance of work in safety, the purchase of temperature sensing equipment for employees and visitors, but further eligible expenses and eligible persons may be identified by decree Mef-Mise. The tax credit, which may be combined with other benefits for the same expenses within the limits of the cost incurred, may be transferred to other entities, but not reimbursed. The Tax Authority shall also provide operating instructions on the criteria and methods of application and use of the tax credit.
Those who incur, in the years 2020 and 2021, expenses for certain interventions for the recovery of the building heritage, energy requalification, adoption of anti-seismic measures, recovery or restoration of the facade of existing buildings, installation of solar photovoltaic systems, installation of columns for recharging electric vehicles, may opt, instead of the direct use of the deduction, alternatively:
As of 19 May 2020 and until 31 December 2021, the possibility for the beneficiaries to opt for the transfer, even partial, to other entities, including credit institutions and other financial intermediaries, of the tax credits provided as part of the measures introduced to deal with the emergency by covid-19 is envisaged on an experimental basis. The credits that may be transferred are those for shops and stores (art. 65 of the Cura Italia Decree); rents for non-residential buildings and business leases (art. 28 of the Rilancio Decree); adaptation of working environments (art. 120 of the Rilancio Decree); sanitation of working environments and purchase of protective equipment (art. 125 of the Rilancio Decree). The transferred receivables may be used by the assignees also in offsetting but the portion not used during the year may not be carried forward in subsequent years nor requested for reimbursement. The implementing procedures will be established by a provision of the Tax Authority.
VAT due on supplies made by 31 December 2020 of equipment and products useful for the containment of the epidemic has been reduced to zero. The rate will change to 5 per cent as from 1 January 2021. The goods concerned by the measure include, among others, lung ventilators, tubes, suction and humidification systems; laryngoscopes and ultratomographs; surgical masks, Ffp2 and Ffp3; protective clothing for sanitary purposes (latex, vinyl and nitrile gloves, protective visors and goggles, protective overalls, footwear and over-shoes, headgear, waterproof gowns and surgical gowns); thermometers; hand sanitizers and related wall dispensers; tampons. The right to deduct the tax paid on purchases and imports of these goods is in any case granted, even if they relate to transactions exempt pursuant to art. 19 of DPR 633/1972.
A tax credit up to a maximum of 60.000 euro (up to a total limit of 200 million euro), equal to 60 per cent of the expenses incurred in 2020 to sanitize the working environment and the tools used in the activity, is introduced for those carrying out business activities, art or profession, associations, foundations and other private entities, including those of the Third Sector, as well as to purchase personal protective equipments and those suitable to ensure the health of workers and visitors, comprising devices to ensure the interpersonal safety distance, as well as installation costs (masks, gloves, protective visors and goggles, protective overalls and footwear, hand cleansers and disinfectants, thermometers, thermoscanners, decontaminating and sanitizing carpets or trays, barriers and protective panels). The benefit does not contribute to the formation of income for tax purposes and the value of production for IRAP (regional tax) purposes and can be included in the tax return for the tax period in which the expenditure is incurred or can be used as compensation through F24. A measure issued by the Tax Authority will define the implementing provisions. At the same time, art. 64 of the Cura Italia Decree, converted by Law no. 27 of 24 April 2020 and art. 30 of the Liquidity Decree Law are repealed.
The deadlines for resuming compliance and the collection of payments suspended by the Cura Italia and Liquidità Decrees are postponed to 16 September 2020. In particular, the measure concerns the payment of withholding taxes on employees' income, withholdings relating to the regional and municipal surtax, VAT suspended by art. 18 of the Liquidità Decree for the months of April and May 2020; withholdings deriving from the non-application of withholding taxes on revenues and compensation received in the period between 17 March and 31 May by those with revenues or compensation not exceeding 400.000 euro; withholdings suspended from March 2 to April 30, as well as VAT due in March 2020 in favour of subjects operating in the sectors mentioned in art. 61 of the Cura Italia Decree; suspended payments for subjects with revenues or compensation up to 2 million and for subjects in the provinces of Bergamo, Brescia, Cremona, Lodi and Piacenza. Suspended payments may be made, without the application of sanctions and interest, in a single installment by 16 September 2020 or up to a maximum of four monthly installments of equal amount, with payment of the first installment by the said deadline of 16 September. The measure concerns:
The measure also applies with reference to withholdings on income from self-employment and commissions not operated in the period between 17 March 2020 and 31 May 2020 ( previously extended to 31 July 2020) towards self-employed workers and agents with income or compensation not exceeding 400.000 euro in 2019 and who have not incurred expenses for employee or similar services in the previous month. With reference to withholding agents having their registered office or operational seat in the municipalities belonging to the so-called „Red Zone“, the measure also applies to withholding taxes on employment and similar income as well as on compensation and other income paid by the state in accordance with articles 23, 24 and 29 of Presidential Decree 600/73 that were not operated in the period between 21 February 2020 and 31 March 2020 (already extended to 31 May 2020).
In order to contain the negative effects deriving from the restrictive measures connected with the health emergency, it is provided that the so-called “Renzi bonus“ equal to 80 euro (art. 13, par. 1-bis of the Tuir) and the supplementary treatment equal to 100 euro that will replace it from next July 1 (art. 1 Decree Law 3/2020) are due to employees who meet the necessary requirements, even if they appear to have not enough capacity as a result of the lower income produced in 2020. The employer, therefore, will have to recognize them with reference to the period in which the worker benefits from the support measures contained in the Cura Italia Decree, assuming, in their place, the contractual remuneration that would have been due in the absence of the health emergency. The „Renzi bonus“ not received during the period in which the measures in support of the employment were taken will be paid by the withholding agent starting from the first beneficial salary and, in any case, within the terms of the adjustment operations.
The treatment provided for current accounts and savings accounts held abroad by persons residing in the territory of the State other than natural persons is standardised for the purposes of stamp duty, thus establishing the amount of IVAFE for this case equal to that of stamp duty (100 euro on an annual basis), and also establishing that the maximum amount of tax due by the aforementioned persons other than natural persons is equal to that provided for stamp duty (14,000 euro).
The deadlines for calculating the penalties to be imposed for late payment of all or part of the unified contribution (art. 16 of Presidential Decree 115/2002) are suspended from 8 March to 31 May 2020. The deadline for the call for payment of the unified contribution (art. 248 of Presidential Decree 115/2002) is also suspended for the same period. It is permitted to use, for the conduct of the hearing both in public and in chambers, the remote connection not only for the parties to the proceedings but also for judges and administrative staff. Prior to the communication of the notice of the hearing, the parties may request a remote hearing (in the appeal or first act of defense or by subsequent act to be notified to the counterparties). Finally, tax judges may order the hearing at a distance with remote connection, notifying the parties.
A structural measure is introduced to encourage investments in both venture capital and debt capital in smaller, unlisted companies. Investors are allowed to set up a second long-term savings plan (PIR), in addition to the ordinary one, composed, for at least two-thirds of the calendar year of duration, for 70 per cent of financial instruments, including those not traded on regulated markets, issued or stipulated with companies resident in the territory of the State, in the member states of the European Union or in the States adhering to the Agreement on the European Economic Area (but with a permanent establishment in Italy). Qualified investments also include alternative sources of financing to the banking channel, such as the granting of loans and the acquisition of company credits. The restriction of concentration of investments is raised to 20 per cent (compared to 10 per cent of traditional PIRs), while the quantitative limits of the maximum detachable investment are set at 150 thousand euro per year and 1.5 million in total (compared to, respectively, 30 thousand euro per year and 150 thousand euro in total of traditional PIRs). Investments in companies whose shares form the baskets of the Ftse Min and Fise Mid Cap indices of the Italian Stock Exchange are excluded.
The terms related to the possibility to reassess the value of non-traded shareholdings in regulated markets and of both agricultural and building lands, against payment of a substitute tax equal to 11 per cent on the higher value attributed following the drawing up of a sworn expert's report (Articles 5 and 7 of Law 448/2001), are reopened. The measure concerns assets held on 1st July 2020. The appraisal must be drawn up and sworn by 30 September 2020. By the same date, the substitute tax must be paid in a single installment. It is also possible to opt for the payment in three equal annual installments, on which interest will accrue at a rate of 3 per cent per year starting from the installment following the first one, to be paid at the same time.
The deadline for the adoption by the Municipalities of the deliberative acts on Tari and Imu has been aligned to 31 July 2020, the date on which it is expected the deadline for the approval of the 2020-2022 budget as well.
The “moratorium“ on penalties is extended until 1 January 2021 for those operators with a turnover in 2018 of less than 400.000 euro who, by 1 July 2020, are not able to equip themselves with a telematic cash register, or to adapt the previous cash drawer, for the transmission of data on fees within the ordinary period of twelve days from the execution of the transaction. These taxpayers may therefore continue to send data of the fees collected up to December 31, 2020 on a monthly basis, also through the procedure made available on the Tax Authority's website, and record the fees in the appropriate register, storing and certifying the transactions by issuing a bill or receipt. The deadline from which the telematic cash registers used by operators in the health sector (pharmacies, drugstores, etc.) must be adapted in order to transmit the daily fee data only to the so-called “Sistema Tessera Sanitaria“ (art. 2, par. 6-quater of D.Lgs. 127/2015) is also deferred until 1 January 2021.
The Tax Authority's experimental online assistance campaign, which provides for the preparation directly by the Tax Authorities of draft VAT registers, LIPE (periodical Vat returns) and of the annual VAT return, on the basis of the data of the transactions acquired through electronic invoices, “esterometri“ (communication of the invoices received from and issued to foreign countries not electronically), as well as the data of the telematic fees, is postponed. The programme, already scheduled with reference to the transactions carried out as from 1 July 2020, will start instead with the data related to the transactions carried out as from 1 January 2021.
The introduction of the procedure for the Italian Revenue Agency to integrate the stamp duty due on electronic invoices sent through the Interchange System (“SDI”) which do not bear the tax discharge note is extended from 1 January 2020 to 1 January 2021.
The following amounts falling due between 8 March and 18 May shall be deemed to be timely if paid before 16 September 2020:
The same amounts, due between 19 and 31 May 2020, may be paid by the same deadline of 16 September. Both in the case of remission of the deadlines and in the case of extension of payments falling due, the instalments may be paid in four equal monthly instalments.
With the aim of providing liquidity to the economic system, it is planned to make tax refunds to all taxpayers, without applying the offsetting procedure between the tax credit and the registered debt pursuant to art. 28-ter of Presidential Decree 602/1973.
For the year 2020, the maximum limit provided for in the art. 34 par. 1 Law 388/2000 of tax credits and contributions that can be offset in F24 or reimbursed to taxpayers is raised from 700.000 euro to 1 million euro.
For the 2020 and 2021 tax periods, the adoption of measures on ISA is planned in order to take into account the extraordinary effects related to the health emergency and the consequent economic and market crisis. In particular, it is expected that new causes of exclusion from their application can be identified, as well as further data and information useful to improve the assessment of the individual crisis situation. The deadlines for the approval of the ISAs and their possible integration are also extended to 31 March and 30 April of the year following the year of application, respectively. Finally, when defining the control strategies for the tax period in progress as of 31 December 2018, the Guardia di Finanza (finance police) and the Italian Tax Authority will necessarily have to take into account the level of fiscal reliability deriving from the application of the ISAs for the following tax period 2019; similarly, for the tax period in progress as of 31 December 2020, the higher level of reliability deriving from the application of the ISAs for the previous tax periods in progress as of 31 December 2018 and 31 December 2019 will also be taken into account.
The deadlines for the payment of sums due as a result of acts of tax assessment verification notices with acceptance, conciliation agreements, mediation agreements, acts of liquidation following the allocation of the annuity, acts of liquidation for failure to register lease and other contracts, acts of recovery, liquidation notices issued for failure, deficient or late payment of registration tax, inheritance and gift tax, substitute tax on financing, insurance tax, are extended to 16 September 2020. More specifically, acts for which the payment deadlines expire between 9 March and 31 May are subject to an extension; it is also possible to benefit from the extension for the payment of instalments falling due during the same period (between 9 March and 31 May). The extension to 16 September also applies to the payment of the instalments due under the facilitated definitions set forth in articles 1, 2, 6 and 7 of Decree Law 119/2018 (i.e. the facilitated definition/acceptance of report of verification or assessments, as well as the facilitated definition of tax disputes and the regularization of amateur sports associations and clubs). Payments may be made in a single instalment on September 16, or in 4 equal monthly instalments due on the 16th of each month (again from September 16). For the same acts mentioned above, the final deadline for the notification of the tax appeal before the Tax Court of First Instance, whose payment terms expire between 9 March 2020 and 31 May 2020, is also extended to 16 September 2020.
The final deadline for the notification and execution of the assessment verification notices of suspension of the license or of the authorization to carry out the activity or of the activity itself and the measures of suspension of the registration in registers or professional orders by the subjects to whom more than one violation of the obligations to issue receipts, tax receipts, certification of the fees or of the obligations to regularize the purchase of technical means for telecommunications pursuant to art. 74 DPR 663/1972 has been contested is extended until 31 January 2021 (unless violations have been committed after the entry into force of this decree).
It is provided for the suspension of the provision obligations arising from seizures from third parties made in the period between the date of entry into force of this decree and 31 August 2020 by the collection agent and the persons registered in the appropriate register (art. 53 of Legislative Decree no. 446/1997), relating to salaries/pensions and similar treatment, seized, within the limits of the law, by the same parties and, at the same time, the same amounts are subtracted from the seizures, allowing the third party, even if assigned by the judge, to make the aforementioned amounts available to the debtor. The provisions made before the date of entry into force of this decree remain unaffected and the sums credited, prior to the aforementioned date, to the collection agent and to the persons registered in the appropriate register (art. 53 of Legislative Decree 446/1997) remain definitively acquired and non-refundable.
During the period of suspension between 8 March and 31 May 2020, the provisions of art. 48-bis of Presidential Decree no. 602/1973 do not apply, so that the debtor can receive the payment of the amounts of which he is a creditor towards the P.A. even if he is in default, for an amount equal to at least 5,000.00 euro, of the payment obligation deriving from the notification of one or more notices of payment. Any checks already carried out, even before this suspension period, for which the collection agent has not notified the relevant payment order, remain without any effect and therefore the P.A. shall proceed with the payment in favor of the beneficiary.
The period of suspension of the terms of payment of the fiscal charges entrusted to the collection agent - initially provided for until 31 May by Article 68 of Decree Law 18/2020 (the so-called “Cura Italia Decree“)- is extended to 31 August 2020. All tax and non-tax revenues deriving from notices of payment, debit notices and assessment verification notices entrusted to the Collection Agent, expiring in the period between 8 March and 31 August 2020, may therefore be paid within the month following the end of the suspension period (i.e. by 30 September). On the other hand, the instalments for the “rottamazione-ter” and the “saldo e stralcio” due in the year 2020 may be paid on 10 December 2020. For payment by 10 December, there are no five days of grace within which payment is in any case allowed without this leading to forfeiture of benefits. It is also provided that, for deferral plans already in place on 8 March 2020 and for measures to accept requests submitted up to 31 August 2020, the debtor's forfeiture of the agreed instalments is determined in the event of failure to pay ten instalments, including non-consecutive ones (instead of the five instalments normally provided for). Finally, for taxpayers who have forfeited the benefits of the facilitated definition (“Rottamazione-ter“, “Saldo e Stralcio“ and “Facilitated definition of EU resources“), for failure, insufficient or late payment of the instalments due in 2019, it is possible to request deferment of payment for the amounts still due.
Assessment verification, contestation, imposition of penalties, recovery of tax credits, adjustment and settlement notices, relating to acts or taxes, for which the time limits, calculated without taking into account the suspension referred to in Article 67, paragraph 1, expire between 8 March and 31 December 2020, shall be notified not earlier than 1 January 2021 and until 31 December 2021, by way of derogation from the ordinary time limits. This extension shall apply to acts issued (even if not notified) by 31 December 2020. For acts and communications affected by the extension of time limits, notified in 2021, no interest shall be due for the period between 1 January 2021 and the date of notification of the act. This shall be without prejudice to the notification of documents which are characterized by indifference and urgency as well as cases where the issue of the document is for tax purposes requiring the simultaneous payment of taxes.
It is decided that the suspension of the procedural deadlines (Article 83, paragraph 2, of Legislative Decree no. 18 of 17 March 2020) may be cumulated with the suspension of the deadline for appeal for a period of ninety days from the date on which the taxpayer submits the application for verification with acceptance of the taxpayer (Article 6, paragraph 3, of Legislative Decree no. 218 of 19 June 1997).
Payments of customs duties due between 1 May and 31 July 2020 shall be extended by 60 days, without application of penalties and interest. The implementing rules will be determined by the Director of the Customs and Monopolies Agency.
The first installment of the municipal tax (IMU), due on 16 June 2020, is not due for properties classified in cadastral category D/2 (hotels and guest houses) and properties in holiday farms, tourist villages, youth hostels, mountain huts, marine and mountain colonies, short-stay rooms for rent, holiday homes and apartments, bed & breakfast, residences and campsites. The exemption also applies to sea, lake and river bathing establishments and spa buildings. The benefit is granted on condition that the respective owners are also those who manage the activities that are carried out therein.
Companies operating in the “Mezzogiorno“ (Abruzzo, Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Molise, Puglia, Sardegna and Sicilia) can benefit from the increase in the tax credit for eligible investments in research and development activities provided for by Art. 1, para. 200 of Law 160/2019, including covid-19 research and development projects. The percentage for the calculation of the credit is increased from the previous 12 per cent to 25 per cent for large enterprises (annual turnover of at least 50 million and at least 250 employees), 35 per cent for medium-sized enterprises (annual turnover of at least 10 million and at least 50 employees) and 45 per cent for small enterprises.
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