Edited by Maurizio Pavia, Francesco Pizzo, Piera Penna
The “Decreto Bollette” and the IRAP increase
The Council of Ministers met last Wednesday 18 February 2026 approving a decree-law,(the so-called “Decreto Bollette” D.L. 21/2026) which introduces urgent measures to reduce the cost of electricity and gas for households and businesses, to enhance business competitiveness and to decarbonize industry, as well as urgent provisions on addressing the virtual saturation of electricity grids and on integrating data centers into the power system.
There are many measures that affect the sector. With more specific regard to tax matters, it is noted that the most important new development introduced compared with previous drafts is a 2% percentage points increase in the IRAP rate for companies that operate predominantly in the energy sector. The measure is envisaged for the 2026 and 2027 tax periods (for taxpayers whose financial year coincides with the calendar year) for businesses whose activity has an ATECO code included among those listed in the annex to the decree itself.
In determining the advance payment due for the tax period following the one in progress as of 31 December 2025, the tax for the previous period is taken to be the amount that would have been determined by applying the increased rate.
The decree-law was published last 20 February and entered into force the following day; it must be converted into law within the following 60 days.
Renewable energy producers: according to the Council of State, the CUP is payable at the flat-rate amount of 800 euros
The recent ruling of the Council of State No. 542/2026 addressed the issue of the Single Patrimonial Fee (“CUP”), following in the wake of earlier judgments of Section VII of the Council of State (8062/2025 and 9447/2025), also cited in the decision at issue, and concluded that EUR 800 is the maximum amount applicable to entities operating in the generation of electricity from renewable sources.
By way of reminder, the CUP was introduced by paragraphs 816 et seq. of Law No. 160 of 2019, which consolidated several local levies and provided that it applies to the occupation of areas belonging to the public domain or to the local entites’ unavailable assets, and of spaces above or below public land, as well as to the dissemination of advertising messages.
The general regime provides that, for cables and lines, a fee is set according to tariffs, with a minimum amount of 800 Euro. That regime was supplemented – inter alia – by an authentic interpretation provision.
The judgment under comment clarifies that “Art. 5, paragraph 14-quinquies, of Decree-Law No. 146/2021, inserted by Conversion Law No. 215/2021, provided that paragraph 831 of Art. 1 of Law No. 160/2019 (which sets out a special set of rules on payment of the CUP for permanent occupations of public land by means of cables and pipelines carried out for the provision of public utility services) “is to be interpreted as meaning that: […] b) by permanent occupations of public land with facilities directly functional to the provision of the network service are also meant those carried out by companies performing activities ancillary to the supply of public utility services, such as the transmission of electricity and the transport of natural gas. For such occupations, the annual fee is payable in the minimum amount of 800 euros”.
Available guidelines for the waiver to c.d. “Tremonti Ambiente”
The Authority for Electric Services (“Gestore dei Servizi Elettrici”, “GSE”) has published the operating procedures to remedy any conduct that breaches the prohibition on cumulation between Tremonti Ambiente and the Conto Energia (III, IV and V Conto Energia), a possibility that had recently been introduced by Art. 43 of Law 182/2025. On this point, see our newsletter.
The GSE document sets the final deadline of 9 March 2026 for submitting the application via PEC (certified electronic email) together with operating instructions, including the recipient’s address and the email subject line, and the documentation to be attached.
It is important to remember that the request must also be accompanied by a certified statement from independent professionals authorised to issue the “visto di conformità” referred to in Legislative Decree 241/1997.
If the Application is submitted while administrative or tax litigation is pending, the same party is required to file it with the court, in order to allow the Judge to stay the proceedings.
Excise duty on natural gas – Implementing decree published in the G.U.
On 5 January 2026, D.M. 29 December 2025 was published in the Official Gazette, entitled “Methods for applying the excise duty on natural gas” referred to in Articles 26, 26-bis, 26-ter and 26-quater, implementing Art. 26-quinquies of the Consolidated Excise Act.
The measure fits within the regulatory framework introduced by Legislative Decree No. 43/2025 and aims to implement the revision of the system for the assessment, settlement and payment of the tax.
Below there are the main innovations introduced by the aforementioned Decree with reference to authorisations, payments, operating procedures for out-of-scope use cases, for mixed-use cases and to the use of PEC.
Authorisations and advance guarantee
Obligated parties must notify their activity in advance to the office of the Customs Agency with territorial jurisdiction. Furthermore, they must provide a guarantee equal to 15% of the estimated annual excise duty.
The liable persons must adjust the amount of the security provided so that it is not lower than the arithmetic mean of the excise duty due in the three previous months, by the end of the month following the reference quarter.
Monthly communications
Starting from 1 April 2026, sellers must report to the competent Office, exclusively by electronic means and by the end of each calendar month, the data relating to the quantities of gas billed monthly, for each territorial area, in the previous month.
Payments and declarations
A mechanism is established for the payment of excise duty based on monthly advance instalments calculated, for sellers, on the excise duty due on the quantities of natural gas invoiced in the previous calendar month and, for self-consumers, on the quantities of natural gas consumed in the previous month.
Settlement is carried out electronically by means of a six-monthly return, to be filed by 30 September for the first half-year (i.e., 1 January – 30 June) and by 31 March of the following year for the second half-year (i.e., 1 July – 31 December).
Cases of exclusion from the application of excise duties
For cases of exclusion from the application of excise duties (e.g. metallurgical, mineralogical uses, etc.), the documentation produced by the consumer applying for the benefit must be sent, within 30 days, to the competent customs office by the seller.
Mixed use of natural gas
In cases of mixed use of natural gas, the final consumer may request that the seller apply excise duty rates relating to the different uses, as well as the exemption or exclusion from the application of excise duty. In this regard, the final consumer must provide the supplier, in addition to the so-called self-certification, with a technical report by a qualified professional confirming the percentages of gas used for the various purposes.
The documentation produced by the consumer applying for the incentive must be sent, within 30 days, by the seller to the competent customs office.
Use of PEC
With the exception of monthly communications and six-monthly declarations, every document to be submitted to the Customs Agency for the purposes of the decree must be sent via PEC.
Finally, the transitional provisions provide for the obligation to adjust the guarantee starting from 1 April 2026 and the confirmation of the treatment for non-domestic uses (tracked as industrial uses in contracts in force as of 31 December 2025) to be requested from the final consumer by means of a self-certification.
Waste collection subject to reduced VAT at 10%; TARI management subject to the standard rate
With Ruling No. 310 of 11 December 2025, the Italian Revenue Agency clarified that the reduced 10% VAT rate applies exclusively to municipal waste collection, transport and disposal activities. Services relating to the management of TARI and dealings with users, on the other hand, remain subject to the standard rate, as they are considered standalone activities and not ancillary.
According to the Agency, neither the existence of a single waste-management contract nor the unitary scope defined by ARERA resolutions and by the MTR2 tariff method allows the reduced rate to be extended to the management of the waste tax. Where a single fee relates to services subject to different rates, the higher rate applies, unless the amounts are stated separately.
Lastly, the management of TARI cannot be classified as ancillary to the urban sanitation service, a service which, according to what has been established by the Revenue Agency, benefits from the reduced 10% rate pursuant to item no. 127 – sexiesdecies, Part III, Table A, d.P.R. no. 633/1972, since it is, rather, an administrative activity aimed at collecting the tax and not functionally indispensable to the performance of the waste collection and disposal service.
VAT and provincial surcharge on electricity: restitution of undue payment
With judgment no. 43 of 15 April 2025, the Constitutional Court declared the provincial surcharge on the excise duty on electricity, provided for by D.Lgs. no. 26/2007 and repealed in 2012, unconstitutional.
According to the Court, the measure did not meet the specific-purpose requirement laid down by EU law, since the establishing provision merely allocated the revenue to the provinces in a generic manner.
On the back of that ruling, the Court of Cassation (order no. 31169 of 28 November 2025) clarified that VAT charged on a levy later declared unconstitutional is likewise unduly paid. The purchaser may therefore request from the supplier the refund of the VAT charged by way of recourse, by bringing an action for restitution of undue payment pursuant to Art. 2033 of the Italian Civil Code.
The possibility of bringing such a refund claim is not lost even if the assignee has already exercised the right to deduct the VAT, or if the VAT has already been deducted by the assignee, since any recovery of VAT unduly deducted falls within the remit of the tax authorities.
CER withholdings on GSE amounts: transactions outside the scope of VAT
With reply no. 22/2026, the Italian Revenue Agency clarifies that the amounts withheld by Renewable Energy Communities (CER) from the incentives intended for their members do not fall within the scope of VAT.
The communities receive various contributions from the GSE – such as the incentive tariff on shared energy and the Arera contribution – which are then distributed to the “self-consumers”.
Since the technical and administrative management of self-consumption arrangements generates increasing costs, the entity intends to withhold part of the incentives when membership fees are not enough to cover expenses. However, the Agency clarifies that these amounts are not commercial in nature: in practice, they amount to an upfront reduction of the sums to be distributed or to the recovery of membership fees and do not constitute VAT transactions.
Ultimately, the amounts withheld by CERs from the GSE incentives earmarked for members fall outside the scope of VAT, as they lack the conditions required by the legislation.
The Court of Cassation weighs in on the issue of IMU relating to areas under a state-owned property concession
The Court of Cassation, with order No. 108/2026, filed with the court registry last 2 January, addressed the issue of IMU in the presence of a concession over a state-owned asset.
Central to the case is the fact that the concessionaire had transferred to a third party the management of part of the business by means of a business lease, authorized by the granting Municipality.
In its judgment, the Court first drew a distinction between the lease of a business unit and the sub-concession of state-owned premises, as they are contracts with a different underlying purpose.
Subconcession is found where the grant of use to a third party is aimed at the public interest, requiring the sub-concessionaire to undertake essential behavioural obligations within the contract.
Decisive is the nature of the third party’s activities in relation to the assets, with a sub-concession being found where the third party uses them in carrying out an activity functionally connected to that of the concessionaire, not mere enjoyment of the asset but rather a right shaped in accordance with that granted to the concessionaire. More precisely “[…] the contract falls outside the scope of a lease if the assignee of the enjoyment of the asset is not only required to comply with a specific intended use, but also to carry it out, through an activity that is indispensable and in any event useful for the transferor’s business”.
The Court adds that “Accordingly, one is faced with a sub-concession when the property located within a public-domain area is granted for use to a third party so that it may use it to carry out an activity among those that the concessionaire would otherwise have carried out directly itself, since they constitute a normal component of the maritime service understood as a single whole (see, in the reasoning: Cass., Sez. 3, 17 January 2007, no. 972)”.
The Court therefore concludes stating that “And it is precisely the “replacement” of the sub-concessionaire for the concessionaire in the instrumental use of public-domain assets, for the sole purpose of contributing—through the exercise of ancillary and subsidiary activities—to the management of the public service, which, marking the dividing line from a lease (which would in any event be abstractly admissible under Articles 35 of Law no. 392 of 27 July 1978, and 695 of the Navigation Code), justifies the attribution of a right shaped (as to its content) like that originally conferred on the concessionaire (in these terms: Cass., Sez. Un., 4 July 2022, no. 21139) which, therefore, may be considered a prerequisite for the recognition of taxable-person status for ICI and IMU purposes”.
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