PwC TLS Blog

New VAT measures in Cura Italia and Liquidity Decrees: main clarifications and outstanding points

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Prepared by PwC TLS VAT, Customs and Excise

In the Official Gazette no. 100 dated April 29, 2020, it has been published the Law no. 27 of April 24, 2020, which converted into law the “Cura Italia” Decree (Decree Law no. 18 of March 17, 2020) which, together with the “Liquidity” Decree (Decree Law no. 23 of April 8, 2020), contains, among others, the measures relevant for VAT purposes to deal with the COVID-19 emergency. We summarize here below the main clarifications and outstanding points.

We also sum up the VAT deadlines as modified by the Government.

1. Who are the taxable persons who can benefit from the suspension of VAT obligations as per article 62, paragraph 1, Cura Italia Decree?

In short: only taxable persons established for VAT purposes in Italy can benefit from such a suspension.

Article 62, paragraph 1, of the Cura Italia Decree provides for the suspension of the deadlines of VAT compliance obligations, other than VAT payments, expiring between 8 March and 31 May 2020, for taxable persons having their fiscal domicile, registered office or place of business in the territory of the State. These obligations must be fulfilled by 30 June 2020.

According to the mentioned provision, it is not straightforward who are the subjects whom the suspension applies to. In particular, it is not clear whether the suspension also applies to taxable persons not established in Italy (i.e. taxable persons identified directly for VAT or through a fiscal representative).

In this regard, according to the Circular letter dated April 3, 2020, no. 8/E “as expressly provided for by Article 62 of the Decree, the suspension of the terms of tax obligations whose deadline expires between March 8, 2020 and May 31, 2020 concerns only those businesses who have their fiscal domicile, registered office or headquarters in the territory of the State, and not also foreign subjects” (see also Circular letter dated 27 April 2020, n. 6 issued by Assonime).

The above interpretation (which, indeed, a-technically refers to “foreign subjects”) would seem to be that this suspension applies only to taxable persons established in Italy and not also to those not established because they do not have their fiscal domicile, registered office or headquartersin Italy. However, this interpretation is quite uncertain though.

First of all, article 58(1) of Presidential Decree no. 600/1973 (which is also applicable for indirect tax purposes) provides a broad notion of domicile for tax purposes by providing that “Persons other than natural persons have their domicile for tax purposes in the municipality where their registered office or, failing that, their administrative seat; if that is not the case, they have their domicile for tax purposes in the municipality […] where they carry on their activity mainly”.

In the case of businesses not established in Italy (directly identified pursuant to article 35-ter, Presidential Decree no. 633/1972 or by appointment of a tax representative):

  1. the subjects directly registered according to article 35-ter, d.P.R. no. 633/1972, upon completion of the procedure for the attribution of the VAT number, a fiscal domicile is assigned at the Centro Operativo di Pescara (Italian tax authorities Director Regulation dated 6 March 2007);
  2. for businesses appointing a fiscal representative, the fiscal domicile would seem to be the domicile of the same representative (Circ. Min. 10 July 1979, no. 19).

Furthermore, the exclusion of non-residents from such a suspension seems to jeopardize the European principle of non-discrimination.

Moreover, the state of emergency does not concern only Italy and, therefore, the suspension of VAT fulfilments should not be limited to persons established on national territory.

In relation to this point, it is worth pointing out that, during the process of conversion of the Cura Italia Decree, an amendment was proposed that provided for the extension of the suspension of VAT fulfilments also “to persons identified for VAT purposes in the territory of the State pursuant to article 35-ter of Presidential Decree no. 633 of 26 October 1972, or who have appointed a tax representative in the territory of the State pursuant to Article 17 of the same decree”. Such amendment has not been implemented upon the final conversion though.

2. With the suspension of the deadline of the annual VAT return for 2019, which is the expiring deadline to register input invoices issued and received in 2019 (but not registered in 2019) in order to duly exercise the right of input VAT deduction?

In short: in order to duly exercise the right of input VAT deduction, it would seem possible to register, by 30 June 2020, the input invoices dated and received in 2019 and to include the related input VAT in the VAT return for 2019 (according to the guidelines provided by the Italian tax authorities through Circular letter no. 1/E/2018).

Article 62, paragraph 1 of the Cura Italia Decree suspended, among the others, the deadline for the submission of the annual VAT return related to the year 2019, to be fulfilled within 30 June 2020.

It is doubtful whether this provision has any impact with reference to the deadline to exercise the right of VAT deduction (pursuant to article 19, paragraph 1, Presidential Decree no. 633/1972).

The deadline to exercise the right of input VAT deduction is the expiring deadline for the submission of the annual VAT return of the year in which the right of VAT deduction arose.

With reference to the invoices issued and received in 2019 but not registered in 2019, it is not clear the deadline by which such invoices can be registered (in the light of the guidelines provided by the Italian tax authorities in its Circular no 1/E/2018), for the purposes of exercising the right of VAT deduction (where applicable) in the 2019 VAT return: is it April 30th, 2020 or June 30th, 2020?

There seems to be valid arguments to argue that the extension to 30 June 2020 may also concern the deadline for the registration of invoices issued and received in 2019 but not registered in that year.

This interpretation seems to be confirmed looking at the clarifications provided by the Italian tax authorities in its recent reply to the VAT ruling request dated April 16, 2020, no. 107. It regards the different issue of the expiring deadline for the issuance of the VAT credit notes. In this respect, the Italian tax authorities stated that, considering that taxpayer is allowed to exercise his right of VAT deduction within the deadline for the submission of the annual VAT return of 2019, the VAT credit note must be issued within the deadline for the submission of the VAT return of the year 2019, now extended from April 30 to June 30, 2020.

Finally, the abovementioned interpretation seems to be confirmed by Assonime through the Circular letter dated 27 April 2020, n. 6: “with reference to all the other taxpayers, after the suspension of the deadline for the submission of the annual VAT return provided for by article 62, paragraph 1, it seems reasonable to sustain that the deadline of 30 June 2020 should also be the relevant date for the definition of the deadline for the exercise of the right of VAT deduction, in accordance with the provisions of article 19, paragraph 1, of Presidential Decree no. 633/1972”.

3. Can the obligation to issue an e-invoice be considered as suspended in relation to activities for which closure has been ordered as from 11 March 2020 based on the D.P.C.M. of the same day? Alternatively, is it possible to invoke the force majeure exemption?

In short: the issuing of invoices is not a suspended fulfilment, without prejudice to the possibility of invoking force majeure. Under certain conditions, the obligation to certify considerations is suspended.

Article 62, paragraph 1, provides for the suspension until 30 June 2020 of the terms of VAT fulfilments other than payments whose expiring deadline is between 8 March and 31 May 2020.

One of the doubts that arose in relation to this provision concerns the possibility to apply this suspension also to the transmission of electronic invoices and the transmission of telematic considerations.

In this respect, the Italian tax authorities, through Circular of 3 April 2020, no. 8/E, point 1.7., firstly clarified that:

  1. the invoice, electronic or analogical, is issued within twelve days from the execution of the transaction, pursuant to Article 21, paragraph 4, of Presidential Decree no. 633/1972 (so-called immediate invoice);
  2. the invoice may also be issued, in certain cases, by the 15th day of the month following that in which the transaction was carried out, in accordance with the provisions of Article 21, paragraph 4, letter a), of Presidential Decree no. 633/1972 (so-called deferred invoice).

All the above clarified, taxable persons who carried out transactions for which tax point happened in the twelve days prior to the date of interruption of the business activity, the issuance of the invoice, analogical or electronic, remains mandatory and is not among the obligations suspended under Article 62. This is because such document is:

  1. intended for the other party to the contract, which is necessary to fulfil certain obligations arising from the decree; and
  2. for the purpose of exercising certain tax rights (e.g. VAT deduction).

Nevertheless, the Italian tax authorities considered the exemption from force majeure to be applicable (see article 6, paragraph 5, Legislative Decree no. 472/1997), retaining in their hands the power to assess its existence case by case. In particular, it is necessary to assess the existence of both a) the so-called objective element (related to abnormal circumstances and extraneous to the operator) and b) the so-called subjective element (consisting of the obligation of the person concerned to take precautions against the consequences of the abnormal event).

In addition, the Italian tax authorities clarify that the storage and telematic transmission of the considerations are to be understood as a single tax fulfillment functional to the exact documentation of the transaction and the related considerations (Circular of 21 February 2020, no. 3/E). Therefore, it cannot be subject to suspension pursuant to article 62, paragraph 1. In other words, the counterparty’s requirement to receive a document necessary for the fulfilment of tax obligations also prevails in this case.

However, the Italian tax authorities recognizes the possibility of benefiting from the suspension above in the following cases:

  1. the consideration has been stored and the commercial document has been issued, but the transmission has been legitimately deferred to a later date (in case of absence of internet network and/or connectivity problems of the device);
  2. by taxpayers with a turnover of less than 400.000,00 euros who still do not use a computerized recorder or the Italian tax authorities’ web procedure and continue to issue receipts or tax bills and who are only required to transmit the data of the fees electronically on a monthly basis pursuant to article 2, paragraph 6-ter of Legislative Decree no. 127 of 2015;
  3. if the operator of a vending machine is not able to carry out the telematic transmission of the data of the considerations within 60 days from the previous sending of the data (since the technician in charge of collecting the data at the master system of the vending machine is unable to do so during the emergency period), it will be possible to carry out the collection and transmission at a later date.

Finally, if the commercial exercise does not carry out any activity (for example because it is closed by order of the authority or for other reasons related to disasters), no further transactions related to the storage/sending of data must be carried out (see the technical specifications attached to the measure of the Director of the Italian tax authorities prot n. 182017 of 28 October 2016).

4. In connection with the epidemiological emergency, is there an obligation to issue transport documents when there is an electronic invoice?

In short: if there is an immediate electronic invoice, there is no obligation to issue the transport document.

The Italian tax authorities, through Circular letter of 3 April 2020, no. 8/E, point 1.8, has preliminarily mentioned that, as a result of Article 1, Presidential Decree no. 472/1996, the obligation to issue the packing list mentioned Presidential Decree no. 627/1978 has been repealed and has been replaced by the obligation to issue a transport document.

The issuance of the DDT (that can be also an electronic document, see Circular No 36/E of 6 December 2006) is necessary:

  1. in the case of movement of the goods by way of non-transfer of ownership, in order to overcome the presumption of transfer and purchase as per Presidential Decree no. 441/1997;
  2.  in case of issue of the so-called “deferred” invoices (i.e. by the 15th day of the month following the month in which the transactions detailed therein were carried out).

Out of these cases, the DDT may be replaced by an invoice. In particular, according to Ministerial Circular letter no. 225 of 16 September 1996, a so-called “immediate” invoice, i.e. issued within twelve days of the transaction being carried out, may replace the DDT, either by “escorting” the goods transported during the journey or separately from them, its issue alone being sufficient.

The alternative between DTT and the so-called immediate invoice – electronic or analogical, where normatively allowed – is therefore already provided for in our system, regardless of the epidemiological crisis.

5. Considering the epidemiological emergency, what are the measures implemented by the Italian tax authorities with reference to the entry into force of the new .XML electronic invoice?

The Provision No. 166579/2020 published on 20 April 2020 by the Director of the Italian tax authorities, established the extension of the entry into force of the new technical specifications related to the .XML e-invoice route according to the following distinction:

– from 4 May 2020 (original deadline) to 1 October 2020 for the adoption of the new route plan on an optional basis;

– from 1 October 2020 (original deadline) to 1 January 2021 for the adoption of the new route plan on a mandatory basis.

6. How does the suspension of VAT payments operate in relation to the VAT group payment procedure referred to in Article 73, paragraph 3, Presidential Decree no. 633/1972?

In short: according to the Italian tax authorities, for the application of the suspension of VAT payments, it suffices that the enterprises part of the VAT group payment procedure carry out one or more of the activities included in the Cura Italia Decree, provided that the amount of the revenues from those activities is prevalent compared to the overall amount of the revenues made at the group level. It would be advisable if the suspension of VAT payments will also apply in case, in relation to the VAT group payment procedure, the parent company or one of the participants to that procedure is established in another EU country and identified for VAT purposes in Italy.

Article 73, paragraph 3, Presidential Decree no. 633/1972, as supplemented by Ministerial Decree of Finance of 13 December 1979 and lastly modified by Ministerial Decree of Economy and Finance of 13 February 2017, sets forth an optional liquidation and compensation procedure, for VAT purposes only and subject to certain requirements. In particular, as regards the requirement of tax residence, with Resolution no. 22/E of 21 February 2005 the Italian tax authorities have extended the possibility to participate in the VAT group payment procedure to EU-based companies, if those companies have a permanent establishment, appoint a tax representative, or are directly identified for VAT purposes in Italy pursuant to article 35-ter, Presidential Decree no. 633/1972.

With Circular Letter no. 8/E of 3 April 2020, the Italian tax authorities have clarified that, for the purposes of the suspension of the VAT payments provided for hotels and accommodation businesses, travel and tourism agencies and tour operators as referred to in Article 61, paragraph 3 of the Cura Italia Decree, as well as for the persons referred to in paragraph 2 of the same article, it suffices that participants to the VAT group payment procedure carry out one or more of the activities indicated in the aforementioned provisions, if the amount of the revenues relating to those activities aggregately represents the main part of the overall revenues made by all the companies of the group.

It is not clear, however, whether the suspension of VAT payments also applies if the parent company or one of the participants to that procedure is established in another EU country and identified for VAT purposes in Italy.

A strict interpretation of the aforementioned provisions, also in light of the clarifications relating to the suspension of VAT obligations (see, in this regard, question no. 1 above), would exclude the possibility to apply the suspension of VAT payments in a similar situation. In our opinion, however, such a strict interpretation contrasts with the principles of freedom of establishment and equal treatment enshrined at EU level. From a more pragmatic perspective, it should also be underlined that the current COVID-19 emergency affects all EU countries, albeit to varying degrees.

All the above considered, a clarification from the Italian tax authorities to confirm the interpretation above regarding the application of the suspension of VAT payments would be welcome.

7. How does the suspension of VAT payments operate in relation to the VAT Group regime referred to in Article 70-bis et seq., Presidential Decree no. 633/1972?

In short: according to the Italian tax authorities, for the application of the suspension of VAT payments, it suffices that the enterprises part of the VAT Group regime carry out one or more of the activities included in paragraphs 2 and 3 of Article 61, Cura Italia Decree, provided that the amount of the revenues from those activities is prevalent compared to the overall amount of the revenues made at the group level.

Article 70-bis et seq., Presidential Decree no. 633/1972, sets forth an optional regime for taxable persons, who are closely bound to one another by financial, economic and organizational links (as defined by Article 70-ter, Presidential Decree no. 633/1972), to establish a VAT Group, upon which the participants are considered as a single taxable person for VAT purposes. The exercise of the option for a VAT Group regime requires that all the participants to the regime are established in Italy.

With Circular Letter no. 8/E of 3 April 2020, the Italian tax authorities have clarified that, for the purposes of the suspension of VAT payments provided for hotels and accommodation businesses, travel and tourism agencies and tour operators as referred to in Article 61, paragraph 3 of the Cura Italia Decree, as well as for the persons referred to in paragraph 2 of the same article, it suffices that the enterprises part of the VAT Group regime carry out one or more of the activities indicated in the aforementioned provisions, if the amount of the revenues relating to those activities aggregately represents the main part of the overall revenues made by all the companies of the group.

8. What are the requirements to apply for the VAT exemption on imports of goods needed to combat the effects of the COVID-19 emergency?

In short: public organizations and bodies, organizations specifically authorized by national authorities, first aid units, as well as all those persons who import goods on behalf of the aforementioned entities can apply for the VAT exemption.

With Decision 2020/491 of 3 April 2020, the EU Commission has established that imports of goods needed to combat the COVID-19 emergency, made from 30 January 2020 until 31 July 2020, shall be exempt from import duties and VAT on importation.

The decision by the EU Commission was implemented by the Italian customs authorities with Directorial Determination no. 107042/RU of 3 April 2020, setting forth the subjective and objective requirements that must be fulfilled in order to apply for the exemption.

In particular, as regards the subjective requirements, imports shall be made by, or on behalf of, public organizations, including state bodies, public bodies and other bodies governed by public law, or by, or on behalf of, organizations authorized by the competent national authorities. Imports of goods made by first aid units, or on their behalf, if those goods are required for their own needs and for the duration of their intervention are admitted to the same relief.

Therefore, persons other than the aforementioned entities are also admitted to the relief on import duties and VAT on importation, provided that the former act on behalf of the latter.

As regards the objective requirements, the exemption at hand applies only to goods that are intended for distribution free of charge to persons affected by the COVID-19 infection, exposed to the risk of contracting the disease, or involved in combating the pandemic outbreak, also where those goods remain the property of the subjects who make them available free of charge.

As regards operational matters, a self-certification must be produced at the time of customs clearance, by filling in a special form published on the website of the Italian customs authorities, in which the final recipient of the goods declares that he/it belongs to one of the categories of entities entitled to the VAT exemption and that the goods for which the benefit is sought are intended for one of the uses indicated above.

Finally, if the importer is not also the final recipient of the goods entitled to the exemption, he/it must produce a distinct self-certification, by filling in a special form published on the website of the Italian customs authorities.

9. What kinds of VAT reliefs or other favorable regimes are available for taxable persons who intend to donate goods in the context of the current COVID-19 emergency?

In short: although no specific rule facilitating the donation of goods has been enacted in the context of the current COVID-19 emergency, various provisions exist that enable the donation of certain goods to specific entities without for the donor the need to charge VAT or the loss of the right to deduct input VAT.

Article 66, Cura Italia Decree, which provides for “tax incentives for cash and in-kind payments as supporting measures to combat the epidemiological emergency from COVID-19”, does not contain any measures relating to VAT.

Circular Letter no. 8/E of 3 April 2020 clarifies that these payments in kind cannot automatically benefit from the (preferential) VAT treatment set forth for gratuitous transfers by Article 6, paragraph 15, Law no. 133/1999, if the objective and subjective requirements established therein are not fulfilled.

Therefore, no specific VAT relief is provided for the donation of goods in the context of the current COVID-19 emergency.

Nonetheless, various tax provisions exist that enable the donation of certain goods to specific entities without for the donor the need to apply VAT or the loss of the right to deduct input VAT.

In this connection, it is worth mentioning Article 6, paragraph 15, Law no. 133/1999, and Article 16, Law no. 166/2016, which enable the donation of certain goods, such as foodstuff and drugs, to specific entities, having certain requirements detailed in these provisions, without for the donor the need to apply VAT or the loss of the right to deduct input VAT. In practice, what these provisions do is to equate the donation of certain goods to specific entities to the destruction of those goods.

In this regard, it should also be noted that, upon the conversion of the Cura Italia Decree, new point d-bis was added to the aforementioned Article 16 (as also provided by Article 31 of Legislative Decree no. 9/2020, which was subsequently repealed), extending the aforementioned VAT relief to the donation of other products (for example, clothing as well as technological products such as computers, tablets and e-readers) that can no longer be marketed or are no longer suitable for marketing due to imperfections, alterations, damages or defects, provided that the suitability of those products for their intended use or for other similar usages is not affected.

10. Is any VAT relief available for donations of drugs for compassionate use?

In short: The Liquidity Decree has equated the donation of drugs for compassionate use to certain subjects (essentially, medical personnel and clinical centers) to the destruction of those drugs. As a result, the donor does not have to charge VAT on the transfer free of charge of those goods, but he has the right to deduct input VAT on the purchase of those goods.

Article 27, paragraph 1, Liquidity Decree provides for the inapplicability of the VAT presumption as referred to in Article 1, Presidential Decree no. 441/1997, for supplies free of charge of drugs, as part of the programs for compassionate use laid down in the Ministerial Decree of Health of 7 September 2017 and authorized by the competent ethic committee, if carried out in favor of the persons referred to in article 3 of the aforementioned ministerial decree (essentially, medical personnel and clinical centers).

Drugs part of the programs for compassionate use are defined as medical products that have undergone clinical experiments, if used outside those experiments, in patients with serious or rare diseases or whose life is in danger, when, from a medical perspective, no further valid therapeutic alternative is available, or in the event that the patient cannot take part in a clinical experiment or, for purposes of therapeutic continuity, for patients already treated with clinical benefit as part of a clinical experiment.

As clarified in the explanatory report to the Liquidity Decree, the said Article 27 aims to combat the spread of the epidemic disease, given that “in the absence of specific drugs, COVID-19 patients are treated with drugs authorized for other therapeutic uses in the context of clinical experiments or drugs still to be tested and which are part of the so-called programs for compassionate use”.

As no specific reference in the cited article is made to the exclusive treatment of COVID-19 patients, it can be argued that the scope of application of the provision at hand extends to all drugs used in the context of programs for compassionate use.

As a result of this provision, the donor does not have to charge VAT on the transfer free of charge of drugs included in the programs for compassionate use and he is entitled to deduct the VAT on purchases relating to the supplies made free of charge.

This interpretation was also confirmed by the Italian tax authorities in Circular Letter no. 9/E of 13 April 2020, which clarifies that “it can be maintained that the exercise of the right to deduct VAT on purchases is to be granted in derogation of the general principles”, since “in the situation covered by the provision at hand, businesses are not transferring (free of charge) an asset suitable to be fully marketed for the treatment of a specific disease, but they are transferring free of charge drugs authorized for other therapeutic uses in the context of clinical experiments, or drugs still to be tested and which are part of the so-called programs  for compassionate use”.

The aforementioned Circular Letter, however, does not clarify whether the VAT exemption in question requires the donor to comply with the specific documentary duties provided for in Article 16, paragraph 3, Law no. 166/2016 in respect of the transfer free of charge of surplus food, medicines and other products for social solidarity purposes, i.e., the obligations for the donor to issue transport documents and submit communications and/or summary declarations of the supplies made towards the Italian tax authorities and the Italian tax police, as well as to the obligation for the donor to issue a summary statement of the assets received towards the transferor.

11. New VAT deadlines due to the COVID-19 emergency

In the light of the COVID-19 emergency, please find below a summary of the main VAT deadlines that have been changed through the “Cura Italia” Decree as converted (Law Decree no. 18/2020) and the “Liquidity” Decree (Law Decree no. 23/2020).  


11.1. Postponement of VAT payments. 

  1. GENERAL SUSPENSION. VAT payments originally due on March 16, 2020 (i.e. VAT due in relation to February 2020 and the 2019 annual VAT balance) are suspended until 16 April 2020. This measure applies to persons both established and not established in Italy.
  2. SUSPENSION FOR “QUALIFYING” SECTORS. For taxpayers who have their tax domicile, registered office or place of business in the territory of the State and who operate in specific qualified sectors (e.g. tourism, sport, entertainment, art, culture, education, transport, food, non-profit), the payment of VAT due in March 2020, which was originally due to be made in the period between March 8, 2020 and March 31, 2020, will be suspended until May 31, 2020. The activities to which this suspension applies are indicated, according to their ATECO code, in a specific list drawn up by the Italian tax authorities (i.e. Ruling no. 12/2020 and Ruling no. 14/2020).
  3. SMALL BUSINESS AND “SENSITIVE” PROVINCES. VAT payments originally due in the period between March 8, 2020 and March 31, 2020 are suspended until May 31, 2020 for professionals and businesses having their tax domicile, registered office or transactional headquarters in the territory of the State, whose turnover did not exceed 2 million euros in 2019. No penalties and interests apply in this respect. Please note that taxpayers having their tax domicile, registered office or operating headquarters in the provinces of Bergamo, Cremona, Lodi, Piacenza and Brescia (added upon conversion of the Law Decree into Law), can benefit from such suspension regardless of the turnover threshold. 
  4. VAT PAYMENTS DUE IN APRIL AND MAY 2020. VAT Payments due on April and May 2020 (related to March and April 2020) can be made, without the application of penalties and interest, by means of a single installment by June 30 (or by installments up to a maximum of 5 equal monthly installments starting from the same month of June 2020) by professionals and companies having fiscal domicile, the registered office or place of business in the territory of the State, having FY2019 revenues not exceeding 50 million euros. In order to benefit of the deferral, the turnover of, respectively, March 2020 and April 2020 shall be decreased of at least 33%, compared with the same periods of 2019. This benefit also applies to professionals and companies having their fiscal domicile, registered office or operating headquarters in the provinces of Bergamo, Brescia, Cremona, Lodi and Piacenza, regardless of the volume of revenues, which have suffered a decrease in revenues of at least 33% in the months of March 2020 and April 2020, compared to the same periods of 2019.
  5. The benefit mentioned at point 4. applies to professionals and companies having their tax domicile, registered office or operating headquarters in the territory of the State, with revenues over 50 million euros in 2019, which have suffered a decrease in revenues of at least 50% in the months of March and April 2020 compared to the months of March and April 2019.
  6. The benefit mentioned at point 4. applies to professionals and companies having their fiscal domicile, registered office or transactional headquarters in the territory of the State that have started the activity on a date subsequent to March 31, 2019 without conditions.

In this regard, the Italian tax authorities, through the Circular Letter no. 9/2020, have provided some clarifications regarding the requirement for a reduction in revenues, in the light of which the taxpayer can benefit from the suspension of payments due in April and May 2020. In particular, it was clarified the following:

  • The calculation of turnover must be carried out in March and April 2020 respectively;
  • The calculation of turnover must be carried out by assessing the transactions which were invoiced or certified in those months and which, therefore, participated in the VAT balances of those periods. To these transactions must also be added those that do not fall within the scope of VAT (e.g. the transactions of Article 74 of the Presidential Decree no. 633/1972);
  • The date to be taken as a reference is the date in which the transaction is carried out. In particular, with reference to the immediate invoices the date is the “invoice date” indicated in field 2.1.1.3 of the .xml, with reference to the considerations is the date of the daily fees, while with reference to the deferred month-end invoices it is the date of the DDT or equivalent documents;
  • The above-mentioned criteria are valid not only for monthly taxpayers but also for quarterly taxpayers;
  • non-commercial entities which, in addition to their institutional activity, also carry out a commercial activity, in a non-prevalent and exclusive manner, may benefit from the suspension of payments if the condition of the decrease in revenues referred to above is verified.

  • 7. For taxpayers who have their tax domicile, registered office or transactional headquarters in one of the following municipalities (“red zone”): Bertonico, Casalpusterlengo, Castelgerundo, Castiglione D’Adda, Codogno, Fombio, Maleo, San Fiorano, Somaglia, Terranova dei Passerini and Vo’ the deadline for payments and fulfillment (originally scheduled between February 21, 2020 and March 31, 2020) has been postponed to June 1, 2020. The same measures apply to people established in Italy, whose tax domicile is in one of the above-mentioned municipalities. 


11.2. Deferment of VAT obligations. 


In the light of the “Cura Italia” Decree (Law Decree no. 18/2020), VAT filings other than payments due in the period between March 8 and May 31, 2020 have been postponed to June 30, 2020.

In this respect, you will find below a table summarizing the main VAT obligations for which the deadline has been deferred:

However, with the Circular Letter no. 8/2020, the Italian tax authorities clarified that the obligation to issue an invoice, also by electronic means, or issuing a commercial document to the customer is not suspended. 


Finally, according to the provisions of the “Liquidity” Decree, the payment of stamp duty on e-invoices can be made, without the application of interest and penalties:

  1. for the first quarter, within July 20, 2020 if the amount of tax to be paid in the first calendar quarter of 2020 is less than € 250;
  2. for the first and second quarter, within October 20, 2020, if the sum of tax payable for both the quarter is less than € 250.

Let’s Talk

For further discussion please contacts:

Alessia Angela Zanatto

PwC TLS Avvocati e Commercialisti

VAT – Associate Partner

Davide Accorsi

PwC TLS Avvocati e Commercialisti

VAT – Director

Francesco Pizzo

PwC TLS Avvocati e Commercialisti

VAT – Director

Andrea Werner Beilin

PwC TLS Avvocati e Commercialisti

VAT – Senior Manager

Lorenzo Ontano

PwC TLS Avvocati e Commercialisti

VAT – Senior Manager