Background information

During the COVID-19 crisis, the Italian Government introduced some law provisions aimed to lighten the tax burden of businesses, employees and citizens. Amidst these measures, the Law Decree No. 34 of 19 May 2020 (art. 24) provided for the exemption from the payment of the regional production tax (IRAP) balance due for 2019 and the first instalment of the IRAP advance due for 2020. The measure is mainly aimed to allow smaller businesses and self-employed to stay afloat.

Content of measure

The exemption from the payment of the regional production tax (IRAP) introduced by the Law Decree No. 34 of 19 May 2020 (art. 24) is relating to:

• the balance due for 2019; and
• the first instalment of the IRAP advance referring to the year 2020, and equal to 40% of the overall amount due.

Eligible are businesses and self-employed workers with revenues not exceeding € 250 million in the last tax period. The measure does not constitute a deferral of payments, but a whole cancellation. It aims in fact at supporting the liquidity of businesses within the economic crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Use of measure

No information available

Target groups

Workers	Businesses	Citizens
Does not apply to workers	Applies to all businesses	Does not apply to citizens

Actors and funding

Actors	Funding
National government	National funds

Social partners

Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:

	Trade unions	Employers' organisations
Role	No involvement	No involvement
Form	Not applicable	Not applicable

Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:

• No involvement
• Main level of involvement: N/A

Involvement

Social partners were not involved in designing, implementing and monitoring the measure.

Views and reactions

The employer association Confindustria lamented that the Government's measures in support of businesses were too slow and piecemeal.

Sources

• 19 May 2020: Law Decree No. 34 of 2020 (www.gazzettaufficiale.it)