Tax credit and outright grants in favor of companies in tourist industry – Updates after Ministry of Tourism provision

Content of the new provision

The Ministry of Tourism, with the provision 23/12/2021 has clarified several aspect of the benefits to companies in tourism industry, about eligible costs and timing of the procedure.

Beneficiaries

All companies in tourism industry and in particular:

hotels;
agritourism (as defined by law no. 96 of 20 February 2006, and by the relevant regional regulations);
open-air accommodation facilities;
businesses in tourism sector, recreational, trade fair and congress sector, including beach resort, thermal bath, tourist port, theme parks.

On the condition that:

the companies manage, by virtue of a flied agreement, an accommodation facility, a tourist service, areas owned by third parties or
the companies own the properties subject to eligible costs where the accommodation business or tourist service are exercised are also eligible for tax credit and outright grants.

Eligible costs

The following costs are eligible for tax credit and outright grants:

Interventions to improve the Energy efficiency (indicated by art. 5 of the Decree of the Ministry of Economic Development of 6 August 2020).
Upgrading of anti-seismic protection (pursuant to art. 16-bis, paragraph 1, letter b) of the TUIR (Consolidated Tax Act)). E.g. every expense related to the construction or purchase of goods, in order to improve buildings’ anti-seismic characteristics;
Removal of architectural barriers (as defined by art. 1, paragraph 2 of Presidential Decree 503/1996). Among which: substitution of finishes, big sized interventions (elevator and stairs), construction of sanitary facilities functional to disable people’s hospitality. Moreover, expenses pertaining to substitution of windows and doors and system or technologies to facilitate communication are also eligible;
Construction projects, functional to the implementation of interventions to improve energy efficiency, anti-seismic protection and removal of architectural barriers. E.g. demolition and rebuilding of structures, restoration or modification of building façade, balcony construction, sanitary facilities, substitution of windows and doors etc…
Construction of thermal pools and purchase of equipment for carrying out thermal activities (limited to companies operating in the thermal establishment sector).
Digitization interventions (limited to the expenses listed in art. 9 co. 2 of Legislative Decree 83/2014).
Purchase of furniture and furnishing components, qualified as movable assets, that are durable and depreciable (functional to the realization of at least one of the previous interventions above with the exception of those relating to digitization and provided that the beneficiary company completes the depreciation process of the assets).
Professional services pertaining to the abovementioned interventions (excluded the purchase of furniture and furnishing components), including reports, assessments and technical certificates, within the limit of 10% of eligible costs.
The effective incurred expenses have to be certified by the president of board of Auditors, by legal auditor or by a professional advisor (e.g. chartered accountant, labor advisor)

Time period

The tax credit is due for the expenses incurred (in accordance with art. 109 of the TUIR) for the aforementioned interventions carried out starting from 7.11.2021 and until 31.12.2024.

Tax credit and outright grants

The tax credit is assigned up to 80% of the costs incurred for the aforementioned interventions.

An outright grant can be recognized for each beneficiary, not exceeding 50% of the expenses incurred for the aforementioned interventions (in any case not exceeding the maximum limit of 40,000 euros). The maximum limit can be increased cumulatively:

up to an additional 30,000 euros, if the intervention includes at least 15% of expenses for the digitization and innovation of the structures in technological and energy efficiency;
up to an additional 20,000 euros, for businesses or companies having the requisites envisaged for female and young entrepreneurship
up to an additional 10,000 euros, for businesses or companies whose operative headquarters are located in the territories of the South.

Both incentives must be compliant with conditions and limits laid down to de minimis regulation and to the Temporary Framework.

Timing

The tax credit and the outright grants are assigned according to the chronological order of the applications. An application must be submitted within 30 days of the platform opening (roughly 21^st of February). Once the application has be approved, applicants have 6 months to start projects, that must be ended within 24 months, extendable to other 6 months (no later than 31^st December 2024)

The outright grant is distributed according to the chronological order of closing project report.

How to use

The tax credit can be used:

offsetting with model F24;
starting from the tax period following that of the completion of the interventions;
by 31^st December 2025;
with no limitations to the compensations.

The outright grant is paid according to the chronological order of communication of the conclusion of the intervention.

The tax credit can be assigned or transferred and does not contribute to the formation of tax bases for income taxes (IRES/IRPEF) and IRAP.

Both incentives cannot be combined with other concessions relating to the costs incurred for the same interventions.

Fulfillments

A specific application must be submitted through online platform, within 30 days of opening.

The application must indicate:

the possession of the requisites necessary for the use of the incentives;
the incentives requested;
the cost of interventions and eligible expenses;
start and end date of the interventions;
any indication of the expenses for which the beneficiary intends to make use of the subsidized loan (for costs not covered by the incentives);
any request for anticipation of the outright grants;
the awareness of the criminal responsibility for false declarations pursuant to art. 76 of the Presidential Decree 445/2000.

Together with the application it is necessary to attach the administrative and technical documentation of the interventions.

Further conditions

Companies must not be subject to insolvency procedure or to liquidation. They must also be in order:

with tax obligations;
with obligations toward INPS, INAIL and Cassa Edile (DURC);
with Antimafia legislation.

For any information do not hesitate to contact your reference RSM professional

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