Key measures for workers and businesses – Call for proposals “Dote Impresa Collocamento mirato” (Targeted Placement Business Grant)
- Studio Piceci
- May 15, 2022
- Reading time: 9 min
News . 21/2022
Subject: Key measures for workers and businesses – From the Energy Decree to the Aid Decree and the new "Targeted Business Grant" call for applications
This News bulletin News the main measures contained in the recent Decrees published in Gazzetta , which concern economic measures in favor of workers and businesses.
Measures provided for by Decree Law No. 21 of March 21, 2022 – Energy Decree, also known as Ukraine bis – which came into force on March 22, 2022
While awaiting its conversion into law, which is now imminent, we would like to remind you that this Decree, designed by the legislator to establish urgent measures to counter the economic and humanitarian effects of the Ukrainian crisis, has provided for various support measures for businesses and employees.
Support measures for employees – Focus on Fuel Bonuses for employees
Title I – Containment of diesel and gasoline prices, Article 2 – Fuel Bonus for employees
The legislator has specified that, for the year 2022, the value of fuel vouchers or similar securities given free of charge by private companies to employees for the purchase of fuel, up to a limit of €200.00 (two hundred/00) per employee, does not contribute to the formation of income pursuant to Article 51 of the TUIR (Consolidated Law on Income Tax).
The resulting costs, estimated at €9.9 million for 2022 and €0.9 million for 2023, will be covered by the increased revenues deriving from the extraordinary solidarity contribution payable by entities operating in Italy in the production of electricity, methane gas or natural gas extraction, and entities engaged in the production, distribution and trade of petroleum products.
Pending clarification from the Revenue Agency, an amendment to the conversion bill would extend the scope to employees of entities that are not companies, such as professional firms or third-sector entities that exclusively carry out non-commercial activities.
The benefit applies exclusively to employees of private employers. Therefore, collaborators (occasional freelancers, contract workers, administrators) would be excluded, as would other individuals receiving similar income (e.g., interns).
The granting of fuel vouchers will be on a voluntary basis only; it will therefore be up to the employer to decide whether to issue them and for what amount (up to a maximum of €200.00). The vouchers must be made available to employees by December 31, 2022. Fuel vouchers may be granted to employees hired on both fixed-term and permanent contracts, both full-time and part-time.
The maximum value of the fuel voucher(s) is granted to the employee and is limited to a maximum amount of €200.00 per year. Therefore, if the employee has already received fuel vouchers up to the maximum limit from one employer, they cannot receive any more from another employer. In any case, we await the law converting the Decree and valuable clarifications from the Revenue Agency.
Measures to support businesses
The Decree provided for tax credits, installment payments for energy bills, access to the SME Guarantee Fund, tax credits and their transferability to energy-intensive companies and companies with high natural gas consumption.
Measures for employment
The Decree has laid down provisions on wage supplementation for employers in energy-intensive and strategically important companies, who can no longer resort to wage supplementation schemes due to the expiry of the time limits for the use of the relevant benefits. For the year 2022, therefore, by way of derogation and within a certain maximum expenditure limit (€150 million for the year 2022), ordinary wage supplementation for a maximum of 26 weeks, available until December 31, 2022. INPS will monitor the expenditure limit and, once it has been reached, will not consider any further applications.
In order to address particularly difficult economic situations in 2022, employers in the tourism sector with up to 15 employees with ATECO codes as listed inAnnex I, who can no longer resort to the wage supplementation allowance due to the exhaustion of the time limit for the use of the related benefits (i.e., they have already used all 13 weeks in the rolling two-year period for employers who employed an average of up to 5 employees in the previous six months or 26 weeks in the rolling two-year period for employers who employed an average of more than 5 employees in the previous six months), are granted (within the spending limit of €77.5 million for 2022) exceptionally, an additional eight weeks of wage supplementation available until December 31, 2022. INPS will monitor the spending limit and, upon reaching it (even prospectively), will not consider further applications.