Edited by Giovanni Marra, Alketa Aliaj, Fabiana Verduci and Antonio Maresca
On 30 December 2023, the Budget Law 2024, Law 30 December 2023, n.213 “State budget forecast for the financial year 2024 and multi-year budget for the three-year period 2024-2026” was published in the Official Journal (GU General Series n.303 on 12/30/2023 – Ordinary Supplement n. 40/L), which entered into force starting from 1 January 2024.
Among changes introduced by the Budget Law regarding incentives for businesses, the main changes are: (i) the definition of a national budget for the SEZ tax credit applicable for 2024; (ii) the refinancing of the “Nuova Sabatini” pursuant to art. 2 of Legislative Decree 69/2013; (iii) the refinancing of Development Contracts relating to industrial development projects pursuant to art. 1 co. 253 – 254 of Law 213/2023; (iv) the extension for the years 2024 and 2025 of the tax credit for the purchase of paper in favor of newspaper and periodical publishing companies; (v) the new regulation about the tax credits for film and audiovisual production companies; (vi) introduction of the prohibition of offsetting in case of tax debts recorded in the register for collection exceeding 100.000 euros. Below we report a brief analysis of these changes.
Tax credit for investments in the SEZ area (art. 1 paragraph 249)
In relation to the tax credit 2024 for investments in the SEZ area, art. 1 par. 249 of Law 213/2023 replaces art. 16 co. 6 of Legislative Decree 124/2023 bringing some changes to the national budget available to finance this measure. In particular, the tax credit at hand is recognized within the maximum limit of 1,800 million euros for the year 2024 (investments made in the period 1° January – 15th November), leaving the definition of the methods of access to the benefit, as well as the criteria and methods of application and use, to a subsequent Ministerial Decree.
As already provided for by Legislative Decree 124/2023, the tax credit will be recognized in a variable amount depending on the size of the company and the location of the investments made in the regions of Southern Italy – which become a single special economic zone – relating to the purchase of new capital goods (plants, equipment, and machinery) and the purchase of land and the construction of buildings.
Nuova Sabatini – Refinancing (art. 1. paragraph 256)
Since it was launched in 2014 to date, the “Nuova Sabatini” has progressively assumed strategic importance in the panorama of industrial policies, becoming a structural tool to support the SME system for the purchase or leasing acquisition of capital goods which have proved effective, also from an anti-cyclical perspective, for the growth and relaunch of productive investments.
To ensure continuity of the measures to support the productive investments of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, implemented pursuant to article 2 of the legislative decree of 21 June 2013, n. 69, converted, with amendments, by law 9 August 2013, n. 98, the spending authorization referred to in paragraph 8 of the same article 2 is increased by 100 million euros for the year 2024.
Industrial development contracts – Refinancing (art. 1 paragraph 253)
The Development Contracts, established by article 43 of the legislative decree on 25 June 2008, n. 112, converted, with amendments, by law on 6 August 2008, n. 133, constitutes the main national measure to support the realization of large investments and the implementation of national industrial policies (investments exceeding 20 million euros), whose management is entrusted to Invitalia. The Development Contracts operate along three main lines, supporting:
- industrial development programs, including programs concerning the transformation and marketing of agricultural products, aimed at the production of goods and/or services;
- development programs for environmental protection, aimed at safeguarding the environment;
- development programs for tourist activities, aimed at developing the tourist offer through strengthening and improving the quality of the accommodation offer.
The Budget Law 2024 provides for a refinancing amounting to 190 million euros for the year 2024, 310 million euros for the year 2025 and 100 million euros for each of the years from 2026 to 2030 of the development contracts relating to industrial development projects.
Tax credit for newspaper and periodical publishing companies for the purchase of paper (art. 1 paragraph 319)
This paragraph extended the tax credit introduced by article 188 of Legislative Decree no. 19 May 2020. 34, converted with amendments, by law 17 July 2020, n. 77, in favor of newspaper and periodical publishing companies, registered in the register of communication operators, in relation to the expenses incurred for the purchase of the paper used for printing the published newspapers.
Specifically, the new regulation provides that the tax credit in favor of these companies is also recognized for the years 2024 and 2025 to the extent of 30% of the expenses incurred, respectively in the years 2023 and 2024, with a national budget of 60 million euros for each year.
Tax credit for cinema and audiovisual production companies (art. 1 paragraph 54)
The Stability Law introduced changes in reference to the tax credit for cinematographic and audiovisual production companies regulated by Law 220/2016. In particular, art. 17 par. 1 of L.220/2016 provided that cinema companies are granted a tax credit of no less than 20% and no more than 40% of the total expenses incurred for:
- the construction of new cinema halls or the restoration of inactive ones;
- the restructuring and technological adaptation of cinema halls;
- the installation, renovation, renewal of systems, equipment, furnishings and ancillary services of the halls.
Furthermore, in favor of SMEs, the maximum rate can be raised up to 60%. With one or more decrees to be issued within 120 days from the date of entry into force of this Stability Law, will be defined:
- the limits amount for each work or for each company or group of companies;
- the rates to be paid to the different types of works or companies or groups of companies and to the different types of cinemas;
- the differentiations of the rate on the basis of the provisions of article 12, paragraph 4, letter b) and in relation to certain eligible costs or eligible cost thresholds, the basis for commensuration of the benefit;
- the conditions and procedures for requesting and recognizing the tax credit and the cost certification methods;
- the liability regime of the entities responsible for certifying eligible costs;
- the methods of controls and the cases of revocation and forfeiture;
- the possible payment into the State budget of a contribution for preliminary investigation costs.
The law clarifies that the subjects in charge of certifying costs who issue unfaithful certifications will be subject to a pecuniary administrative sanction ranging from 10,000 to 50,000 euros for each unfaithful certification issued.
Introduction of the prohibition of offsetting tax credits in case of tax debts recorded in the register for collection exceeding 100.000 euros (art. 1 par. 94)
Budget Law 2024, with art. 1, par. 94, introduces an ‘absolute’ prohibition of offsetting tax credits for taxpayers with debts registered in the register for the collection, exceeding 100 thousand euros.
This prohibition will be applied in cases of expired roles or executory assessments entrusted for collection. However, the provision does not apply to notices, notices for the recovery of tax credits, notices of liquidation, non-executory assessments and debts related to non-state taxes, such as the municipal property tax. The new provision will take effect from July 1, 2024 and it will apply to every type of tax credit, including those indicated in the RU form of the tax returns.
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Among the changes regarding the incentives for businesses, the decree connected to the Stability law, introduced the followings: (i) the extension of the deadlines for submitting the application to access the procedure for spontaneous repayment of the unduly compensated R&D credit (tax amnesty) and (ii) the regulations concerning the transfer of economic activities to Italy (so-called “Reshoring”). Below is a brief discussion of the aforementioned benefits.
Provisions regarding procedures for reversing the tax credit for R&D activities (Law 191/2023, conversion of Legislative Decree 145/2023)
Law 191/2023, converting Legislative Decree 145/2023, further extended the deadlines for submitting the application for access to the spontaneous repayment procedure (so-called “amnesty”) of the tax credit for R&D activities. Legislative Decree 145/2023 art. 5, in fact, had extended this deadline to 30th June 2024. Law 191/2023 also determined new deadlines of 30th July. The payment of the sums unduly compensated, in a single solution or of the first installment in the case of payment in installments, therefore, must take place by 16 December 2024, at the same time postponing the deadlines for the payment of the second and third installments to 16 December 2025 and 16 December 2026 respectively.
In the art. 5 of Legislative Decree 145/2023, furthermore, paragraph 1-bis has been inserted which grants the possibility to taxpayers who have already submitted an electronic request for access to the credit transfer procedure but who have not yet made the total payment or the first installment, to fully revoke the request by the deadline of 30 June 2024. The methods for carrying out the revocation will be established subsequently with a provision from the Director of the Revenue Agency.
Transfer of economic activities to Italy: so-called Reshoring – (Legislative Decree 209/2023 art. 6)
On 28 December 2023, in the Official Journal no. 301, Legislative Decree 209/2023 on international taxation was published. As part of the policies aimed at the so-called reshoring, art. 6 introduces into national law a tax relief aimed at encouraging the repatriation, within the territory of the Italian State, of business in foreign countries not belonging to the European Union and/or the Economic Area European (EEA), including artistic and professional activities carried out in an associated form.
In detail, in the tax period in progress at the time the transfer takes place and in the five subsequent tax periods, a 50% exemption for CIT and Regional tax purposes is granted for income deriving from the repatriated assets and activities. For the determination of eligible income, the taxpayer is required to maintain separate evidence, from an accounting point of view, to allow verification of the correct determination of the income and the value of net production eligible for IRAP purposes.
To prevent any undue exploitation of the tax advantage, activities carried out in the territory of the State in the 24 months preceding their transfer are excluded from access to this benefit. Furthermore, a monitoring period of five tax periods following that of repatriation of the assets and activities is envisaged (ten periods in the case of large companies), in the event that the beneficiary will transfer outside the territory of the State, even if only partially, the activities subject to the tax exemption. In this case, the recapture mechanism is applied by the Tax Administration including both unpaid taxes and the related interests.
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