Key Measures for Workers and Businesses – “Dote Impresa Collocamento mirato” Call for Proposals
News No. 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
The purpose of this document News is to summarize the main measures set forth in the recent decrees published in the Official 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 took effect on March 22, 2022
As we await its conversion into law, which is now imminent, 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 Fuel Bonus for Employees
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) euros per employee, is not included in taxable income pursuant to Article 51 of the TUIR.
The resulting expenses, estimated at 9.9 million euros for 2022 and 0.9 million euros for 2023, will be covered by the increased revenue derived from the extraordinary solidarity contribution payable by entities operating within the territory of the State that are engaged in the production of electricity, the production of natural gas, or the extraction of natural gas, as well as 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 expand the scope to include employees of entities that are not companies—such as, for example, professional firms or third-sector organizations that engage exclusively in non-commercial activities.
This benefit applies exclusively to employees of private employers. Therefore, independent contractors (occasional self-employed workers, co.co.co. workers, and directors) would be excluded, as would other individuals receiving income from similar employment (for example, interns).
The provision of fuel vouchers will be strictly voluntary; it will therefore be up to the employer to decide whether to issue them and in what amount (up to a maximum of 200.00 euros). 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(s) lies with the employee and is limited to a maximum annual amount of 200.00 euros. Therefore, if an employee has already received fuel vouchers—up to the established maximum limit—from one employer, they cannot receive additional vouchers from another employer. In any case, we await the law converting the Decree into statute as well as valuable clarifications from the Italian Revenue Agency.
Support Measures for Businesses
The Decree provided for tax credits, installment payment plans for energy bills, access to the SME Guarantee Fund, and the transferability of these tax credits to energy-intensive companies 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 because the time limits for utilizing such benefits have been exhausted; therefore, for the year 2022, as an exception and within a certain maximum spending limit (150 million euros for the year 2022), ordinary wage supplementation benefits for up to 26 weeks, available through December 31, 2022. INPS will monitor the spending limit and, once it is reached, will not consider any 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 Allowance because they have exhausted the duration limit for using the relevant benefits (that is, who have already used all 13 weeks within the two-year rolling period for employers who, in the previous six-month period, employed an average of up to 5 employees, or all 26 weeks within 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 through December 31, 2022. INPS will monitor the spending limit and, once it is reached (including on a projected basis), will not consider any further applications.
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