The Budget Law 2017 (Law 232/2016), continuing on the path already mapped out by the previous Stability Law (Law 208/2015 and inter-ministerial decree dated 25.03.2016), intervened in the field of corporate welfare, introducing significant changes around the detaxation of performance bonuses and benefits granted to workers in the execution of collective second-level contracts.
Below, we will offer a brief overview of the most interesting changes introduced by the Italian tax legislator in order to encourage the implementation of flexible forms of work organisation (so-called work life balance), in order to allow companies operating in Italy to achieve profitable targets in terms of increased productivity and competitiveness.
The aforementioned budget law has widened the audience of potential beneficiaries of the so called fiscal reward, increasing from 50,000 to 80,000 euros per annum the maximum income limit declared by the worker (for now, of the private sector only) in the year preceding of enjoying the benefits (which will also allow the top categories of employees and managers, to be able to benefit from this tax advantage).
As for the amount of the premium to which the tax exemption can be applied (read, substitute rate of IRPEF Personal Income Tax Withholdings) to 10%, in most cases it amounts to € 3,000 gross (with an increase, therefore, compared to € 2,000 gross, from the previous legislation), which become, in reality, € 4,000 gross (rather than the previous € 2,500 gross) in case of collective agreements that provide for the joint involvement of workers in the organisation of work.
Furthermore, Law 232/2017, in favour of the worker, added the possibility of choosing goods and services exempt from tax instead of the productivity bonus, according to the principle of substitutability, in whole or in part, between monetizable remuneration and goods or services (fringe benefits), such as the use of company cars also for personal purposes, the provision of loans, the leasing, in use or in loan, of buildings, etc.
With a view to absolute favour both for the employer and for the worker, Law No. 232/2017 has therefore established that they do not contribute to form the income of employed work, nor can contributions be subject to substitute tax in the measure of 10% nor paid to supplementary pension schemes, even if higher than the limit of deductibility required by law, nor those of health care paid to institutions or bodies exclusively for welfare purposes, as well as shares distributed to all employees, provided that these are not repurchased, then, by the entrepreneur (issuing company or employer) or transferred before at least three years have elapsed since their assignment.
Likewise excluded from the tax of income from employment base are also contributions and premiums paid by the employer on behalf of employee details (or categories of employees) for performance, even in the form of insurance, to cover the risk of non-self-sufficiency in carrying out daily routines or the risk of contracting serious illnesses.
During 2017, the Decree Law 50/2017 (converted, with amendments, into Law 96/2017) intervened to clarify some aspects already introduced by the aforementioned 2016 Stability Law, which had extended the tax exemption of benefits enjoyed by employees to their family members, with reference to educational and educational services also in pre-school age (including canteen services), summer or winter centres (climatic colonies) and playrooms (for educational purposes) and the introduction of the IRPEF exemption also for services and welfare benefits for elderly or non self-sufficient family members.
In particular, the Legislative Decree 50/2017 establishes that employees can benefit from the substitute tax of 10% up to a maximum of € 3,000 and that, in companies that equally involve workers in the organization of work, the higher limit of the amount will no longer be applicable. subject to tax exemption (€ 4,000); this, however, against the recognition of a lower cost for the employer who saves 20% of the contribution on a taxable maximum of € 800 per year, sum on which, moreover, the worker will not be subject to any tax levy.
From a strictly operational standpoint, it should be noted that the benefits in question can only be accessed by companies that have entered into collective agreements art. 51 of Legislative Decree 81/2015 (which provide for the payment of performance bonuses, including variable amounts, linked to productivity, profitability, quality, efficiency and innovation that can be measured and verified) after 24.04.2017, while, for the agreements stipulated previously, the provisions of the previous stability law continue to apply.
To this end, it should be noted that it is always necessary, according to the inter-ministerial decree of 25.03.2016, to proceed to the electronic filing within 30 days following its subscription, of the collective agreement de quo at the offices of the local Labour Inspectorate.
In conclusion, on the basis of the normative reconnaissance outlined above and also in the awareness of the possibility of implementing welfare plans so called pure (that is, outside the boundaries of the legal provisions mentioned above or not contracted with the trade unions), the main goods and services that can become part of a company welfare plan for the benefit of collaborators may concern the following areas:
- supplementary health care and supplementary pension contributions;
- works and services for education, training, recreation, social and health care or worship;
- reimbursement of expenses for education and training services;
- reimbursement of expenses for assistance to elderly or non-self-sufficient family members;
- goods and services in kind (shopping vouchers, fuel cards, top-ups for users, etc.);
- repayments of interest expense on mortgages. (EP-ET)
