Key Measures for Workers and Businesses – “Dote Impresa Collocamento mirato” Grant Program

News . 21/2022

Subject: Key Measures for Workers and Businesses – From the Energy Decree to the Aid Decree and the New “Dote Impresa Collocamento mirato” Call for Proposals

This News the main measures outlined in the recent decrees published in Gazzetta , which concern economic measures designed to support workers and businesses.

Measures provided for in Decree-Law No. 21 of March 21, 2022—the Energy Decree, also known as “Ukraine II”—which entered into force on March 22, 2022

As we await its imminent enactment into law, we would like to remind you that this Decree—designed by the legislature to establish urgent measures to counter the economic and humanitarian effects of the crisis in Ukraine—has provided for various support measures for businesses and employees.

• Support Measures for Employees – Focus on the Employee Fuel Bonus

Title I – Controlling Diesel and Gasoline Prices, Article 2 – Fuel Bonus for Employees

The legislature has specified that, for the year 2022, the value of gasoline vouchers or similar instruments provided 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, is not included in taxable income pursuant to Article 51 of the TUIR.

The resulting costs, estimated at €9.9 million for 2022 and €0.9 million for 2023, will be covered by the increased revenue derived from the extraordinary solidarity contribution payable by entities engaged in the production of electricity, natural gas, or the extraction of natural gas within the territory of the State, and by 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 organizations that engage exclusively in non-commercial activities.

This benefit applies exclusively to employees of private employers. Therefore, contractors (occasional self-employed workers, co.co.co. workers, and directors) would be excluded, as would other individuals receiving income from similar employment (such as interns).

The provision of fuel vouchers will be strictly voluntary; therefore, it will 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, whether full-time or part-time.

The right to receive the maximum value of the fuel voucher or vouchers lies with the employee, up to a maximum annual amount of €200.00. Therefore, if an employee has already received fuel vouchers up to the maximum limit from one employer, they cannot receive additional vouchers from another employer. In any case, we await the law converting the Decree as well as valuable clarifications from the Revenue Agency.

• Support measures for businesses

The Decree provides for tax credits, installment payment plans for energy bills, access to the SME Guarantee Fund, and the transferability of tax credits to energy-intensive businesses and companies with high natural gas consumption.

• Employment measures

The Decree has established provisions regarding wage supplementation for employers in energy-intensive industries and sectors of strategic interest, who can no longer access wage supplementation benefits due to the expiration of the time limits for utilizing such benefits; therefore, for the year 2022, by way of exception and within a certain maximum spending limit (150 million euros for the year 2022), an ordinary wage supplementation benefit for a maximum of 26 weeks, available until December 31, 2022. INPS will monitor the spending limit and, once it is reached, will not consider further applications.

In order to address situations of particular economic hardship in 2022, employers in the tourism sector with up to 15 employees and ATECO codes listed inAnnex I, who can no longer access the Wage Supplement due to having exhausted the duration limit for the use of such benefits (i.e., they have already used all 13 weeks in the two-year rolling period for employers who, in the previous six-month period, employed an average of up to 5 employees, or the 26 weeks in the two-year rolling period for employers who, in the previous six-month period, employed an average of more than 5 employees), are granted (within a spending limit of 77.5 million euros for 2022) , on an exceptional basis, an additional eight weeks of wage supplementation available until December 31, 2022. INPS will monitor the spending limit and, upon reaching it (including on a prospective basis), will not consider further applications.

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