On 10 June 2022, the Revenue Agency (RA) published a provision (Prot. No. 2022/202205) on 'Provisions implementing Articles 119 and 121 of Decree-Law No. 34 of 19 May 2020, for the exercise of the options relating to interventions for the recovery of the built heritage, energy efficiency, seismic risk, photovoltaic systems and recharging columns. Amendments to the Revenue Agency director's order prot. no. 35873 of 3 February 2022'.
The intervention of the AdE was necessary due to the new provisions of Article 121 of the Relaunch Decree (d.l. 34/2020, as amended by dd.ll. 4/2022 and 50/2022), concerning the alternative options to the deduction (invoice discount and credit assignment) for the main building bonuses.
In light of the possibility for the taxpayer to make two further assignments of credit to banks and financial intermediaries indicated in Article 106 of the Consolidated Banking Act (Legislative Decree No. 385/1993), and given the general option for banks and banking groups to assign, in turn, credit to private professional clients, the RA's provision of 10 June 2022 intervened to set rules and reconcile the new legislative evidence.
We schematically indicate the changes made to RA's Circular 35873/2022:
a) Elimination of the prohibition on further assignments of credit
The prohibition on further assignments of credit originally provided for is removed from RA's Circular 35873/2022.
In particular:
1. suppliers who have applied the discount on the invoice may assign the relevant credits to other parties, including credit institutions and other financial intermediaries.
Subsequent assignees may, in turn, make only one further assignment in favour of qualified entities (banks, banking groups and financial intermediaries referred to in Article 106 of the Consolidated Banking Act).
Qualified entities that have acquired the receivables may make only one further assignment exclusively in favour of other qualified entities;
2. the first assignees of the receivables may make only one further assignment in favour of qualified entities.
Qualified persons who have acquired the receivables may make only one further assignment exclusively in favour of other qualified persons.
However, if the notice of the option has been sent to the Revenue Agency by 16 February 2022, the first assignees may assign the receivables to other entities, including credit institutions and other financial intermediaries, which may then assign the receivables in favour of the qualified entities;
3. banks and banking groups may always assign the credit to private professional clients pursuant to Article 6(2-quinquies) of the Consolidated Law on Financial Intermediation (Legislative Decree 58/1998), who have entered into a current account agreement with the bank itself, or with the parent bank, without the option of further assignment;
4. The nullity of assignment contracts concluded in breach of Article 121 of the Relaunch Decree is confirmed.
b) Deadline for the communication of options
Notifications of the option are made by the transferor.
The deadline for communicating the options is set at 16 March of the year following the year in which the expenses giving entitlement to the deduction were incurred; in the case of residual instalments not used as deductions, the communication must be sent by 16 March of the year in which the ordinary deadline for filing the tax return in which the first instalment transferred not used as a deduction should have been indicated.
Communications sent in the above manner may be cancelled or replaced by the following 5 April, the deadline after which it will no longer be possible to amend the communication.
c) Prior confirmation of the option
Transferees and suppliers are required in advance to confirm the exercise of the option, exclusively through the functions made available in the reserved area of the Revenue Agency's website (Credit Transfer Platform).
The assignees use the tax credits respecting the same terms, methods and conditions applicable to the assignor, after the acceptance of the assignment, to be communicated exclusively by the same assignees through the Credit Transfer Platform.
For the credits subject to communications sent after 1 May 2022, it is necessary to communicate in advance (again through the Credit Transfer Platform) the irrevocable choice of use in offsetting, with reference to each annual instalment.
The use in compensation of each instalment can also be made in more than one solution.
