24 Jan

The new budget law passed by the government involves a series of investments and tax breaks for innovation and acquisition of digital technologies, the investment envisaged by the maneuver is € 45 million over three years, for experimentation in the field of Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain and the Internet of Things.

In the context of the Internet of Things the over-amortization is reconfirmed even if in different ways, the times to take advantage of the facilitation are therefore extended until December 31, 2019, the date on which it will be necessary to pay at least 20% order.

The novelty in the amortization depreciation area is constituted by the diversification of the increase based on the investments of the companies, favoring the small and medium enterprise with the following modalities:

  • 170% for investments up to 2.5 million euro;
  • 100% for investments over 2.5 million euro and up to 10 million euro;
  • 50% for investments over 10 million euro and up to 20 million euro.
The increase is not applicable for total investments exceeding 20 million euros.

The 40% increase is also confirmed for investments in intangible assets (software, systems and system integration, platforms and applications) connected to investments in tangible assets Industry 4.0 (as per Annex B of Law 232/2016, in italian) for the subjects that benefit from the depreciation.

Other incentives especially for small businesses are represented by a voucher for the contracting of digital managers, the confirmation of the tax credit for research and development, even if reduced, and the facilities for training 4.0.

The voucher will allow the insertion of a managerial figure within the companies that will help them to extend the company's innovative organizational and management models, the modular incentive will cover up to 50% of the expenditure, up to a maximum of 40,000 € for small businesses and a maximum of € 80,000 for business networks.

Regarding the tax credit for research and development, the subsidy will be reduced from 50 to 25%, for training 4.0 the facilities have been redesigned to favor small businesses, the contribution for small businesses increases from 40 to 50%, remains at 40% for medium-sized companies and falls to 30% for large companies.

The maneuver involved also the world of startups with initiatives aimed at strengthening the venture capital sector, with particular attention to incentives for innovative startups, creating a National Innovation Fund. The thresholds for tax deductions in the startup area have been raised from 30 to 40% for simple investments and from 30 to 50% for the acquisition of the entire share capital of the startup.

In addition, a Mediterranean Technopole will be created in Taranto, which will become a center of excellence for research and experimentation of clean technologies, in addition to joining a European project on microelectronics.