Impatriati tax scheme (Art. 16, D. Lgs. No. 147/2015), a successful rule that the Italian government should not change
It is news these days that the government has decided to abolish, as of 2024, the special law for impatriati workers (Art. 16, D. Lgs. No. 147/2015).
The current legislation would be replaced by a new one with far more stringent and worsening qualitative and quantitative profiles.
Specifically, the draft law circulating these days provides that:
– beneficiaries must have been nonresidents for tax purposes in Italy for at least 3 tax periods (as opposed to only two periods at present);
– in the case of employees, the work activity must be carried out on Italian territory under a new employment relationship with a party other than the one with which the worker was employed in the country of origin, as well as any other parties belonging to the same group (e.g., a subsidiary);
– the workers must meet high qualification and specialization requirements;
– the current taxable income abatement percentages (i.e., depending on the place of residence in Italy, 70 percent and 90 percent) would be replaced by a single percentage of 50 percent;
– the duration of the relief would be for a period of 5 years that cannot be extended (the current regulations provide, subject to meeting certain legal requirements, for the extension of an additional five years to be added to the ordinary five-year period provided);
– there is also an overall income limit on which to apply the relief of € 600,000;
– Finally, the business income of sole proprietorships, a type of income that is now eligible for relief, would be excluded.
All workers who have settled in Italy as of the second half of 2023 (i.e., after July 2, 2023) would be affected by this change in the law.
One can only imagine the socio-economic impact that this provision of the law could have, if finally approved, on families and workers who have left their home countries and their jobs planning to move to Italy as of the second half of 2023 relying on the provisions of the current legislation.
As the main media in the sector reported yesterday, it would be incomprehensible to suppress/replace with a pejorative norm a law that is producing important results both in economic terms and in terms of brain return (i.e., the return to Italy of workers with high skills, qualifications and specializations)
Initiatives are currently underway by the categories involved and in general by any interest bearer so that the current special legislation for impatriate workers norm is not suppressed and replaced by a new one with a strongly pejorative profile.
Updates will follow.