Studio PonchioSTP
Tax Observatory
A review of tax developments, administrative guidance and case law, selected and rewritten by the firm.
The società benefit: incorporation, governance and the impact report
A status, not a new type of company: the clause in the articles, the impact officer, the annual report under paragraphs 376-384 and the tax aspects. The firm’s practical guide, with worked cases and specimen documents.
Latest analyses
61 items
Tax debts and over-indebtedness procedures in Italy: what Circular 9/E tells tax offices
Circular 9/E of 21 October 2026 sets out how Italian tax offices must evaluate consumer debt restructuring, the minor composition with creditors, supervised liquidation and discharge when unpaid taxes are among the debts.
Italy’s consolidated Act on tax compliance and assessment: new article numbers from 2027 for rules that are largely unchanged
Legislative Decree 141/2026 brings together the Italian rules on tax returns, audits and assessment. What changes in tax notices from 2027 and the first correspondences between old and new articles, checked against the text.
Reverse merger after an acquisition: the Italian Revenue Agency allows the acquisition vehicle’s losses to be carried forward in three cases
In three rulings issued in August and September 2026, the Italian Revenue Agency allowed, in the cases examined, an acquisition vehicle’s losses and interest expense to be carried forward without the limits of Article 172 of the Italian Consolidated Income Tax Act and, in one case, also the target company’s tax attributes.
Italian fringe benefits in 2026: the €1,000 and €2,000 thresholds and the checks to make before year-end
In 2026, goods and services provided to employees, reimbursements of household utility bills and of rent and mortgage interest on the employee’s main home are again tax-free up to €1,000, or €2,000 for employees with dependent children. Exceeding the threshold by even one euro, however, makes the whole amount taxable income: the calculation must be done before the year-end payments.
Overdue tax debts above €50,000: when the F24 offset ban applies and how to lift it
From 1 January 2026, an overdue tax debt of more than €50,000 enrolled for collection that is neither suspended nor being paid in instalments is enough to bar the taxpayer from offsetting almost all credits in the F24 payment form, including tax credits granted as incentives. Before sending an F24 form with credits, taxpayers need to check their position with the tax collection agency.
2023 revenue out of line with e-invoices and daily takings: the Italian Revenue Agency’s letters and how to respond
The Italian Revenue Agency is comparing 2023 electronic invoices and electronically transmitted daily takings with the revenue reported in the 2024 income tax returns. Before correcting the return, taxpayers need to establish whether the difference is real or only apparent.
St Francis’s Day fell on a Sunday: who is entitled to the extra amount in the October payslip
Since 2026, 4 October has been a public holiday in Italy, and this year it fell on a Sunday. The legal basis for the extra amount in the payslip is not the same for everyone: it depends on how the employee is paid, on the sector and on the collective agreement applied.
Occasional self-employment in Italy: the €5,000 threshold is not a tax exemption
Individuals who work occasionally without an Italian VAT number pay personal income tax (IRPEF) from the first euro: the €5,000 threshold concerns only INPS social security contributions. The 20% withholding tax, the tax return, the INPS Separate Fund, notification to the Labour Inspectorate and the line between occasional and habitual activity.
E-invoices and unpaid payment notices: how Italy’s collection agency identifies receivables to attach in the hands of customers
From 2026 the Italian Revenue Agency can report to Agenzia delle entrate-Riscossione, the collection agency, how much businesses and professionals with debts entered on the collection roll have invoiced to each customer holding a VAT number. What data is transmitted, what happens to a customer who receives a payment order, and what remedies the debtor has.
Form 770/2026: file by Monday 2 November, and what you risk if you miss it
The Italian withholding agents’ return for 2025 must be filed by 2 November 2026, because 31 October falls on a Saturday. Who must file it, what it contains, how to remedy late filing and why the offence of failing to pay over withholding tax no longer becomes complete at the Form 770 deadline.
Ongoing leases in Italy: subsequent years, extension, assignment and termination within 30 days
Registering a lease does not settle matters with the Agenzia delle entrate, the Italian Revenue Agency. Throughout the lease, each subsequent year, any extension, assignment or early termination has a 30-day deadline, a tax of its own and, in the event of delay, a penalty. What changes under the cedolare secca, what a late payment costs and how to remedy it.
Settling municipal and regional payment notices in Italy: applications from 16 October to 15 December 2026
Around 1,500 regional and local authorities have opted into the facilitated settlement of debts entrusted to the Agenzia delle entrate-Riscossione, the Italian collection agency, between 2000 and 2023: IMU, TARI, vehicle tax and traffic fines. Debtors pay the original debt without penalties, interest or the collection fee (for traffic fines, the fine itself remains payable), in a lump sum or in up to 54 two-monthly instalments. The settlement applies only if the creditor authority has opted in, and the application is separate from the one for the central-government rottamazione-quinquies.
Second-quarter VAT settlement return due by 30 September: filing late within 15 days halves the penalty
Wednesday 30 September 2026 is the deadline for filing the return on periodic VAT settlements for April, May and June. A missing, incomplete or inaccurate return carries a penalty of EUR 500 to 2,000, but the penalty is halved if the return is filed or corrected by Thursday 15 October, and voluntary correction (ravvedimento operoso) reduces it to a few tens of euros. The remedy changes if the annual VAT return has been filed in the meantime or if the VAT shown in the settlement has not been paid.
Contributing holding company shares to an Italian simple partnership: no controlled realisation, tax on normal value
In ruling No 176 of 21 September 2026 the Italian Revenue Agency (Agenzia delle entrate) held that a contribution of the shares of a holding company to a simple partnership (società semplice) cannot benefit from the controlled realisation regime (realizzo controllato) under Article 177(2) of the Italian Income Tax Code (TUIR). A simple partnership is not required by law to draw up financial statements or to keep accounting records, so there is no book equity against which the realisation value can be measured. The contribution is valued at normal value and may give rise to an immediate taxable capital gain, even though the partners receive no cash.
Filing the Italian tax return late: until 1 February 2027 it costs 25 euro; after that the return counts as not filed
The Redditi income tax return and the IRAP return for 2025 must be filed by Monday 2 November 2026. Taxpayers who miss the deadline can still file a valid return within the following ninety days, that is, until 1 February 2027, with the penalty reduced to 25 euro for each return. From the next day the return is treated as not filed: the penalty rises to 75 per cent of the tax due if the return is filed spontaneously and to 120 per cent if the failure is established by the tax office in an assessment, voluntary correction (ravvedimento operoso) is no longer available and, above certain thresholds, criminal liability may arise.
Second IRPEF payment on account for 2026: with the rate cut to 33 per cent, the historical method may lead to overpaying
The second instalment of the 2026 payment on account of IRPEF, the Italian personal income tax, is due on 30 November 2026. Under the historical method the payment on account is based on the 2025 tax, calculated at the former 35 per cent rate, whereas the 2026 tax is already calculated at 33 per cent. For taxpayers with income above 28,000 euro, the forecast method can reduce the payment by up to 440 euro (the saving may be smaller, or nil, for total income above 200,000 euro), but it exposes them to penalties if the estimate proves too low. Taxpayers who have filed a 730 return (the simplified return for employees and pensioners) and wish to reduce the second payment on account must notify their withholding agent in writing by 12 October.
VAT paid in another EU Member State in 2025: refund applications are due by 30 September
Fuel, tolls, hotels, vehicle hire and trade fairs abroad: VAT paid in 2025 in another Member State can be recovered through an electronic refund application filed with the Italian Revenue Agency (Agenzia delle entrate) by Wednesday 30 September 2026. The deadline is a strict time limit, the deductibility of the VAT on each expense is governed by the rules of the foreign State, and taxpayers under the Italian flat-rate regime are excluded.
Business travel: no traceable payment, no deduction
From 2025 (from 18 June for part of self-employed work) board, lodging, taxis and NCC (hire cars with driver) paid in cash in Italy lose the deduction and the exemption from tax.
Retention of title (riserva di proprietà): taxed on delivery or on final payment?
Ownership passes with the last instalment, but VAT and revenue accrue on delivery: rules, entries and depreciation under retention of title, with an example.
Partnerships (società di persone): mandatory joinder (litisconsorzio) also applies to VAT
Without every partner joined, the judgment is void: the Corte di cassazione remits the 2005 notices to first instance and confirms the rule even for VAT.
Errors in a 730 return already filed: how to correct them, and by when
An expense left out, a dependant claimed by mistake, income omitted: after filing, the Italian 730 return can still be corrected, but which route to take depends on who benefits from the correction. If the outcome favours the taxpayer, a supplementary 730 must be filed by 26 October 2026; if it is unfavourable, the correction has to go through the Redditi return: as a corrective return by 2 November, or as a supplementary return at any time up to 31 December 2031.
Italian flat-rate taxpayers: the tax authorities once again have five years, as the reduction in the assessment period is abolished
Article 21 of Legislative Decree No 148 of 7 August 2026 removes, from the 2026 tax year, the one-year reduction in the assessment period that the law granted to taxpayers under the flat-rate scheme (regime forfettario) whose turnover consisted entirely of electronic invoices. For 2026 income declared in 2027, the notice of assessment may be served until 31 December 2032. For the years up to 2025 the reduction remains, but only for those who met the requirement and can prove it.
Italy’s €2 charge on non-EU parcels: third postponement, now to 1 December 2026
Article 4 of decreto-legge No 162 of 17 September 2026 (a decreto-legge is an emergency government decree with immediate force of law) moves the application of the charge on low-value consignments arriving from third countries to 1 December 2026. The provision does not postpone a starting date: it excludes the charge for goods imported before that date. That wording raises a question which no administrative guidance has yet resolved, namely the treatment of the sums paid in the first half of the year. And for importers the calendar does not begin on 1 December.
Italian sickness benefit: the day before the certificate counts, even without a home visit
With circular no. 92 of 4 September 2026, INPS has changed its position. The day immediately before the medical certificate is issued now falls within the sickness benefit paid by the State even where the worker was seen at the doctor’s surgery, and not, as previously, only where the doctor called at the worker’s home. The one-day limit remains, as does the exclusion of Saturdays, Sundays and midweek public holidays.
DURF: what actually goes into the 10 per cent calculation
With ruling No 174 of 16 September 2026, the Revenue Agency has further expanded the scope of payments contributing to the 10 per cent threshold required for the issue of the DURF, the Italian single tax compliance certificate: it now includes withholding tax on bank interest income and, up to the amount of the tax credit available, taxes paid abroad. We explain how the fraction is calculated, what has been admitted since 2020, and what to do if the certificate is not issued.
INPS contributions: from 16 September, late payment costs 8.15 per cent a year and an instalment arrangement 4.65
INPS circular 11 September 2026, No 98, aligns civil penalties and interest on instalment arrangements with the new rate on the main refinancing operations of the Eurosystem, which has risen from 2.40 to 2.65 per cent. Consequently, the cost of voluntary correction within one hundred and twenty days, which coincides with that rate, also increases; repayment schedules already notified remain unchanged.
Company cars in mixed business and private use: the flat-rate regime returns for used cars too, and two increases are introduced
Article 2 of Legislative Decree No. 148/2026 has rewritten Article 51(4)(a) of the TUIR (the Italian Income Tax Code): the new-registration requirement and the contract date both fall away, the value increases by 50 per cent after 31 December of the fifth year following the year of first registration and by 5 per cent where there are accessories not included in the ACI tables. The new rules apply from tax period 2026 and, for some vehicles, already from 2025.
Two-year preventive agreement 2026-2027: the deadline moves to 31 October, and renewals follow new rules
For the 2026-2027 period the 30 September deadline does not apply: the law has moved it to 31 October, which falls on a Saturday. Meanwhile, Legislative Decree 148/2026 has changed the rules for those who renew and has opened a special settlement scheme (ravvedimento) for the years 2020 to 2023, at the price of an extension of the assessment time limits.
Does an amending return in the taxpayer’s favour, filed after the notice of irregularity, save you from the collection notice?
The Corte di cassazione (Italian Supreme Court) takes as settled the validity of a dichiarazione integrativa (amending tax return) filed after the comunicazione di irregolarità (notice of irregularity) and before the tax roll. On its own, however, it does not set aside the cartella di pagamento (tax collection notice): the court examines the merits and requires proof of the corrected figures.
Rottamazione-quinquies: no grace period for the second instalment due on 30 September
On 30 September 2026 the second instalment of the settlement of debts entrusted to the collection agent between 2000 and 2023 falls due.
Accertamento con adesione and conciliazione do not fix the evaded tax: when the criminal court may redetermine it
Accertamento con adesione (settlement of a tax assessment by agreement) and conciliazione (judicial tax settlement) do not fix the evaded tax for criminal purposes: the court redetermines it on its own and departs from the agreed amount only on the basis of concrete factual elements.
Stamp duty on electronic invoices: List B can be corrected until 10 September
Until 10 September 2026 a taxpayer may correct the list the Italian Revenue Agency has pre-populated with second-quarter invoices on which stamp duty appears to be due.
Sports volunteers: the reimbursement is not income, but it eats into the €15,000 allowance
Flat-rate reimbursements to sports volunteers, up to €400 a month, are not income, but they take up room within the €15,000 allowance for sports-work fees.
Omitted VAT return: the Agenzia computes the tax without an assessment
From 1 January 2026 the Agenzia delle entrate (the Italian revenue authority) may compute the VAT of an undeclared year, without an assessment, from the electronic invoices, the electronic daily takings and the periodic VAT statements already in its possession; the implementing rules are dated 28 August 2026.
Short-term rentals: the entrepreneurship threshold drops to two properties
From the 2026 tax year, the flat tax on short-term rentals stays available only up to two properties per tax year.
Partial autotutela: is it a fresh, separately challengeable assessment?
No, not if the underlying notice of assessment has already become final.
Digital VAT reporting: recapitulative statements end on 1 July 2030
From 1 July 2030 Articles 265 to 271 of the VAT Directive are deleted and recapitulative statements give way to the transmission of data transaction by transaction, at the time the invoice is issued.
Call-off stock: last dispatch on 30 June 2028, the regime closes in 2029
30 June 2028 is the last day on which goods may be dispatched under call-off stock arrangements; on 30 June 2029 the simplification ceases to apply.
Daily takings by software solution: twelve hours without a connection and the till stops
The technical specifications for the software solution for daily takings were updated to version 1.4 on 7 August 2026.
Excise duties: the guarantee waiver gives way to SOAC status
The waiver of the obligation to provide a guarantee, granted to operators found to be reliable and of established solvency (affidabili e di notoria solvibilità), is due to lapse: in its place comes the status of accredited liable person (SOAC), introduced into the Italian consolidated excise act by Legislative Decree no. 43 of 28 March 2025.
Unpaid VAT: does an instalment plan rule out the offence?
Since 29 June 2024, failing to pay declared VAT is not automatically a criminal offence: Article 10-ter of Legislative Decree 74/2000, as replaced by Legislative Decree No. 87 of 14 June 2024, punishes an omission exceeding €250,000 per tax period only if the debt is not being extinguished through a validly requested and duly honoured instalment plan; if the benefit of the instalment plan is lost, the offence is punishable where the residual debt exceeds €75,000.
EU e-commerce: how the EUR 10,000 place-of-supply threshold changes in 2027
From 1 January 2027, the EU’s EUR 10,000 threshold for distance sales will neither increase nor disappear: its scope will be clarified.
The INPS Guarantee Fund: unpaid TFR and final wages where the employer is insolvent
When the employer does not pay, the end-of-service indemnity and the wages for the last three months are not necessarily lost: the Guarantee Fund established within INPS steps in, subject to conditions, ceilings and time limits that are all laid down in the legislation.
CBAM: the 50-tonne threshold and the new monitoring function in the register
Since 1 January 2026 the CBAM obligations do not apply to an importer whose net mass for the calendar year does not exceed 50 tonnes.
POS terminals and electronic cash registers: the 5 per cent tolerance does not cover failure to link
The corrective decree introduces a 5 per cent non-punishability threshold for discrepancies between electronic payments accepted and transactions recorded.
Origin of goods: whoever declares it must be able to prove it
In a customs declaration, origin is a statement the business makes and the authorities may ask it to substantiate.
Carried interest: when the manager’s return is investment income or other income
Shares and quotas carrying enhanced economic rights (diritti patrimoniali rafforzati) allotted to directors and employees generate a return which art. 60 of d.l. 50/2017 classifies ex lege as reddito di capitale (investment income) or reddito diverso (other income, covering capital gains and similar items) where the conditions set out in the provision are met.
Company struck off: who can challenge the tax assessment after five years?
Once five years have elapsed since the request for cancellation, the company no longer has standing: the appeal must be brought by the shareholders, as successors to the tax liability.
Input VAT: more time, and a new rule for year-end invoices
The corrective decree implementing the tax reform (Legislative Decree No. 148 of 7 August 2026, Article 12, published in the Gazzetta Ufficiale (Official Journal) No. 185 of 11 August 2026 and in force since 12 August 2026) restores the second following year as the deadline for deducting and recording, and would allow invoices received in the following year to be attributed to the year of the transaction.
Service of a tax demand: specific challenge and proper reasons
A denial of copies takes effect only if it is specific, document by document; the court’s duty to give reasons on each ground, by contrast, does not depend on it.
Shareholder loans and the presumption of unrecorded revenue
A shareholder’s payment does not by itself explain the increase in company funds: absent proof of its title and origin, the Italian Tax Office may treat it as unrecorded revenue.
Electronic retail receipts: what the omnibus decree actually says
As things stand there is no obligation to issue the retail receipt electronically at the customer’s request: the corrective decree before the Italian Parliament contains no provision on the documento commerciale (retail receipt), and the rule of prior agreement with the recipient still applies.
Assessment signed before the sixty-day period from the PVC (audit report): unlawful
The Court of Cassation ties the breach of the waiting period to the signature of the assessment, not to its service: relevant to proceedings still pending.
IRAP and professional partnerships: the tax is not automatic
The Italian Constitutional Court sets aside the automatic link with legal form: in professional associations IRAP is due only where the service has genuinely been depersonalised.
Capital gains: no more spreading on operating assets from 2026
The 2026 Budget Law (art. 1, paragraphs 42 and 43, L. 199/2025) removes the five-year spreading option, except for disposals of businesses or business units held for at least three years: what can still be spread, and how disposal planning has to change.
Sale of a business in fraud of the tax authorities: unlimited liability for the buyer
The ordinary limits on the buyer’s liability, the discharging effect of the pending-liabilities certificate and the six-month fraud presumption.
Static holding companies and retained dividends: the line between a lawful choice and abuse
Deferring tax on dividends is inherent in the system only while it is temporary: what the current audits are challenging, and how to document the non-tax purposes.
Composizione negoziata: handling tax debts
The checks, the documents and the treatment of tax debts needed to enter the procedure on a sound footing.
Cassetto fiscale: new documents and tracked service of notices
More documents in the secure area and the status of served notices now tracked: what changes for compliance.
Reconstructing revenue: the limits of the analytical-inductive assessment
Mark-up percentages, stock and financial investigations: when an adjustment arises and how to defend against it.
Parallel books: when informal records become evidence
Day books and internal files count as serious, precise and consistent presumptions: a blanket denial is not enough.
Judicial liquidation: tax debts and the public prosecutor’s initiative
Under the Italian crisis code the prosecutor may apply to open the procedure: the warning signs, the conditions and how to prevent it.
Non-operating (shell) companies in the 2026 REDDITI return
The operating test, the grounds for exclusion and for disapplication, to be handled correctly in the return.
DAC8: the automatic exchange of information on crypto-assets
Crypto-asset service providers must report their EU clients’ transactions: what changes for intermediaries and for holders of virtual currencies.
Contributions of shareholdings and controlled realisation under art. 177 TUIR
Contributions and exchanges of shareholdings without an immediate taxable gain: the conditions for controlled realisation and the tax base recognised.
Allowance days and unpaid absences: the payroll rules
Employment tax allowances are calculated on the days carrying a right to pay: which absences stay in the count and which reduce it.
A first statutory audit engagement: where the compliance work starts
Independence, the engagement letter, understanding the business and setting up the working papers: the right sequence for accepting a first engagement.
Full carry-forward of losses and a new productive activity
Corte di Giustizia Tributaria of Lecce, judgments nos. 1345 and 1346 of 2026: the conditions of art. 84(2) TUIR for newly incorporated companies.
Summer suspensions 2026: payments, informal notices and tax litigation
Payments due between 1 and 20 August deferred, time limits for avvisi bonari (informal notices) suspended, and the court recess suspension of procedural time limits.
Off-the-books profits: the presumption that they are distributed to shareholders
In closely held companies, off-the-books profits found on assessment are presumed to have been distributed: the scope of the presumption and the defences available.
Concordato preventivo biennale: election by 31 October 2026
The requirements, how the proposal is calculated and a cost-benefit analysis with the substitute tax by ISA band, within the €85,000 cap.
The new consolidated income tax act
The recodification of the TUIR within the reorganisation of Italian tax law: structure, coordination and commencement dates.
The new OIC 5: the criteria for liquidation accounts change
The updated standard redefines the measurement criteria and the disclosures in liquidation accounts.
Assessments using the «Radar» system: benchmarking and safeguards
The tax administration’s new benchmarking tool and the taxpayer’s procedural safeguards.
Rent arrears after eviction for non-payment: how they are taxed
The income tax treatment of rent never received and later recovered after the eviction is confirmed.
Sale of building land by private individuals: the gain and the costs
Calculating the gain on a sale of building land and the costs that may be deducted.
Alternatives to tax litigation: choosing the best option
Adesione, acquiescenza, ravvedimento operoso (voluntary settlement) and conciliation compared, together with the prior hearing under art. 6-bis.
Rottamazione-quinquies: with ContiTu you choose the demands
The settlement scheme for amounts referred for collection, and the ContiTu feature for choosing which demands to settle.
Service of a tax demand valid without the second registered letter
The case law on whether service is valid without the second registered letter of notice.
Access, inspections and audits of non-profit bodies and amateur sports clubs
Investigative powers, the L. 398/1991 regime and traceability: what a breach actually entails (a penalty, not loss of the regime).
Tax and compliance in amateur sports employment
The reform of sports employment after d.lgs. 36/2021 and corrective decree no. 120/2023: the exempt amount and the social security thresholds.
Tax and accounting treatment of the contratto di rete
Rete-contratto and rete-soggetto: the common fund, recharging costs and invoicing with and without agency.
Agriturismo: administrative and tax aspects
The flat-rate regime under L. 413/1991: taxable income at 25% and a flat-rate VAT deduction of 50%.
Fringe benefits and employee welfare 2026
Thresholds of €1,000/€2,000 over the three-year period, cars in mixed use for contracts from 1 January 2025, and performance bonuses.
The regime forfettario: entry, staying in, and whether it pays
The €85,000 threshold, the profitability coefficients and the 5%/15% substitute tax compared with the ordinary regime.
Tax offences and the entity’s liability under D.Lgs. 231/2001
Thresholds for criminal liability, grounds for exemption from punishment and the entity’s liability, in the light of d.lgs. 87/2024 (the consolidated act in d.lgs. 173/2024 will apply from 1 January 2027).
Electronic invoicing and digital archiving
Issue deadlines, reverse charge (TD17), the esterometro cross-border report and the penalties reformed by d.lgs. 87/2024.
CBAM and DAC8: the new international obligations
CBAM in its definitive regime from 1 January 2026 and DAC8 on crypto-assets: single 50-tonne threshold, certificates, CBAM factor, penalties and 2027 rules.
The ViDA package: e-invoicing and digital reporting in EU VAT
«VAT in the Digital Age»: mandatory electronic invoicing and digital reporting, with the European timetable.
International observatory
The institutional sources and international reviews the Studio draws on in its daily work.