Prepared by Vitalba Passarelli, Giovanni Marra, Fabiana Verduci and Simona Cimino
It officially came into force with the publication in the Official Gazette n.52 of 2 March 2024 – the so-called Decree PNRR IV (Legislative Decree n.19/2024) – containing further urgent provisions for the implementation of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR). The Decree, in art. 38, provides for a new “Transition Plan 5.0”, which represents a new program aimed at promoting investments aimed at energy efficiency, the use of renewable energy and the training of employees.
The new Plan introduces incentives in the form of tax credits, for investments made over the period 1 January 2024 – 31 December 2025, in favor of companies that invest in:
- purchase of tangible or intangible capital goods 4.0;
- purchase of goods necessary for self-production and self-consumption from renewable sources;
- expenses for training staff in green transition skills.
Beneficiaries and requirements for accessing the tax credits
Companies of any size can access the incentives – without distinction of legal form, sector and tax regime – which present an innovation project aimed at guaranteeing certain energy standards such as:
- the reduction of energy consumption of the production structure to which the innovation project refers by at least 3%;
- or an energy saving in the processes affected by the investment in digital goods 4.0 of at least 5% compared to the consumption registered “ex ante” for the same processes.
Similarly to the 4.0 plan, companies in a state of voluntary liquidation, bankruptcy, compulsory administrative liquidation, composition with creditors without business continuity, or subjected to other insolvency proceedings provided for by the Bankruptcy Law, by the business crisis and insolvency code or by other special laws, or who have proceedings underway for the declaration of one of these situations are excluded.
Type of eligible investments
It is possible to facilitate the purchase of tangible and intangible capital goods provided for in Annexes A and B of the Transition 4.0 plan (Law 11 December 2016, n. 232) which are technologically advanced and interconnected to factory systems. An expansion of the eligible software included in Annex B is also envisaged, thus providing eligibility for incentives for:
- software, systems, platforms or applications for the intelligence of systems that guarantee the continuous monitoring and visualization of energy consumption and self-produced and self-consumed energy, or introduce energy efficiency mechanisms, through the collection and processing of data also coming from IoT sensors (Energy Dashboarding);
- software relating to business management if purchased together with the software, systems or platforms referred to the point above.
Innovation projects that achieve a reduction in energy consumption make it possible to facilitate:
- investments in goods necessary for self-production and self-consumption from renewable sources with the exception of biomass, including systems for storing the energy produced;
- expenses for training staff in skills for the digital and ecological transition of production processes, eligible within the limit of 10% of investments made in capital goods and up to a maximum of 300,000 euros.
With regards to self-consumption and self-production, only systems with photovoltaic modules that present the technical and territorial requirements referred to in Article 12, paragraph 1, letters a), b) and c) of Legislative Decree no. 9 December 2023 are considered eligible. It includes:
a) photovoltaic modules produced in the Member States of the European Union with a module-level efficiency of at least 21.5%;
b) photovoltaic modules with cells, produced in the Member States of the European Union with an efficiency at the cell level of at least 23.5%;
c) modules produced in the Member States of the European Union composed of bifacial silicon heterojunction or tandem cells produced in the European Union with a cell efficiency of at least 24%.
An increase of 120% and 140% respectively of the calculation base is envisaged for systems that include the higher efficiency panels envisaged in letters b) and c) mentioned above. Further exclusions are also provided for in order to guarantee compliance with the principle of not causing significant damage to the environment (DNSH), therefore considering the following investments ineligible for tax credits 5.0:
- activities directly related to fossil fuels;
- activities under the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) that generate expected greenhouse gas emissions not lower than the relevant benchmarks;
- activities connected to waste landfills, incinerators and mechanical biological treatment plants;
- activities whose production process generates a high dose of polluting substances classifiable as special hazardous waste pursuant to Regulation (EU) no. 1357/2014 of the Commission, of 18 December 2014 and whose long-term disposal could cause damage to the environment.
Tax credit calculation rates
Without prejudice to the maximum limit of eligible costs of 50 million euros per year for each beneficiary company, the tax credit rates are as follows:
- 35% of the cost, for the share of investments up to 2.5 million euros;
- 15% of the cost, for the share of investments over 2.5 million and up to 10 million euros;
- 5% of the cost, for the share of investments over 10 million and up to the maximum limit of 50 million euros.
For investments in the assets referred to in Annex B to law 11 December 2016, n. 232 used through cloud computing solutions, the costs relating to expenses for services attributable on an accrual basis are also added, while for investments made through financial leasing contracts, the cost incurred by the lessor for the purchase of the goods is considered. Furthermore, an increase in the tax credit measures mentioned above is expected, respectively at:
- 40%, 20% and 10%, in the case of a reduction in energy consumption of the production structure located in the national territory exceeding 6% or, alternatively, a reduction in energy consumption of the processes affected by the investment exceeding 10%;
- 45%, 25% and 15%, in the case of a reduction in energy consumption of the production structure located in the national territory exceeding 10% or a reduction in energy consumption of processes exceeding 15%.
How is the reduction in consumption calculated?
The reduction in consumption is calculated with reference to the energy consumption recorded in the financial year preceding that in which the investments were made, net of changes in production volumes and all external factors that influence energy consumption. In the case of a newly incorporated companies, the energy saving is calculated on the basis of the average annual energy consumption referable to a counterfactual scenario, identified according to specific criteria defined in paragraph 17 of the Decree.
Double certification requirement
The positive impact of the projects must be subject to double certification by an independent evaluator who certifies:
- “ex ante”, that the projects intended to be facilitated effectively respect all the eligibility criteria aimed at reducing energy consumption;
- “ex post”, the actual implementation of the declared interventions, in accordance with the provisions of the ex ante certification, and the successful interconnection of the goods to the company production management system or to the supply network.
The subjects authorized to issue certifications include Energy Management Experts (EGE) certified by an accredited body, according to the UNI CEI 11339 standard and Energy Service Companies (ESCo) certified by an accredited body according to the UNI CEI 11352 standard.
With a subsequent decree, to be adopted within 30 days of the entry into force of the Decree in question, the requirements that the certifiers must have will be established – especially in terms of independence, impartiality, integrity and professionalism – and the insurance coverage they must have in order to be able to protect companies in the event of incorrect technical assessments.
The Ministry of Business and Made in Italy exercises, also making use of the GSE, the control activity on the certifying bodies, verifying the formal correctness of the certifications and the correspondence of their content with what is established by the Decree and the implementing measures. Furthermore, for SMEs, it is envisaged that the expenses incurred to fulfill the certification obligation are recognized as an increase in the tax credit for a value not exceeding 10 thousand euros.
New obligations
The Decree introduces some important innovations in terms of obligations, the most important concerns access to the benefit. In fact, in order to access the credit, companies will have to present – electronically and on the basis of a standardized model made available by the Energy Services Manager (GSE) – the above certifications and a communication regarding the description of the project and its associated costs. Once the correctness of the documentation has been verified, the managing body sends the list of subjects who have requested access to the tax credit and the corresponding booked amount to the Ministry of Business and Made in Italy, always verifying that the total amount of the projects does not exceed spending limits.
Furthermore, for the purposes of use, the company requesting the tax credit will have to submit periodic communications to the GSE relating to the state of progress of the project and on the basis of these communications the amount of the tax credit due will then be established, within the maximum limit of the amount booked. It will then be required to communicate the completion of the investment and to present the relevant “ex post” certification, under penalty of forfeiture. The GSE subsequently communicates to the Revenue Agency the list of beneficiaries with the amount of the related tax credit that can be used.
Cumulation with other incentives
The incentive in question cannot be cumulated, in relation to the same eligible costs, with the Industry 4.0 tax credit and with the tax credit for investments in the so-called “ZES unica mezzogiorno”. Otherwise, it can be cumulated with other benefits which have as their object the same costs provided that such cumulation, also taking into account the exemption for the calculation of income and the taxable base of the regional tax on productive activities referred to in the previous period, does not lead to exceeding the cost incurred. The provisions of the art. 9 of Regulation (EU) 2021/241 remain unchanged.
Utilization of the tax credit
The tax credit, which cannot be subject to assignment or transfer even within the tax consolidation, can be used exclusively as compensation of CIT, Regional tax, VAT, WHT and social and security contributions, after five days from the transmission by the GSE to the Revenue Agency of the list of beneficiaries and of the respective credit amount due, by 31 December 2025, via form F24. The amount that has not yet been used as of 31 December 2025 can be carried forward and will be usable in five annual installments of the same amount.
Furthermore, if the goods subject to the relief are sold to third parties, intended for purposes unrelated to the operation of the business or destined for production structures other than those entitled to the relief, even if they belong to the same entity, or in the case of acquisition through financial leasing, for these assets the redemption option is not exercised by 31 December of the fifth year following the completion of the investment, the tax credit is reduced by excluding the related cost.
In the event that the increased tax credit has already been used as compensation, the beneficiary will have to repay the excess portion within the deadline for the payment of the balance of the income tax due for the tax period in which such payments occur. hypothesis, without application of penalties and interest.
Controls
Companies that make use of the tax credit will have to keep suitable documentation to demonstrate that the costs were actually incurred and correct, under penalty of revocation of the benefit. For this purpose, invoices, transport documents and all other documents relating to the acquisition of the goods must contain the express reference to the art. 38 of the Decree.
The costs incurred and the related correspondence with the company’s accounting documentation must be shown in a specific certification issued by the auditor in charge of the statutory audit of the accounts. For companies not required by law to carry out a statutory audit of accounts, this certification must be issued by a statutory auditor or an auditing company registered in section A of the register referred to in art. 8 of Legislative Decree 27 January 2010 n. 39. Furthermore, for these companies, the expenses incurred to fulfill this obligation are recognized as an increase in the tax credit for an amount not exceeding 5 thousand euros.
On the basis of the documentation produced by the company, the GSE carries out – within the deadlines agreed with the Revenue Agency – checks aimed at verifying the existence of the technical and non-technical requirements for the use of the tax credit. Should the checks have a negative outcome, the GSE will communicate it indicating the conditions, the legal reasons and the means of proof on which the recovery is based, the latter increased by sanctions and interest.
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