2.Clarification on how EoR links extend in-bound workers requirements
The Italian Tax Authorities’ ruling no. 54 issued on 27 February 2026 provides important clarifications on the tax incentive regime for inbound workers regime introduced under Legislative Decree no. 209/2023.
The ruling addresses how to determine the required minimum period of foreign residence (three vs. six or seven years) when the worker returning to Italy is employed through an Employer of Record (EoR) belonging to the same corporate group as the foreign EoR.
If a worker returns to Italy continuing to operate through an EoR that belongs to the same group as the EoR used abroad, this continuity is considered relevant for the purposes of applying the extended minimum foreign‑residence requirement.
As a result, the ordinary requirement of three years of foreign residence does not apply.
Instead, the Tax Authority held that, due to the continuity at the level of the formal employer (EoR), the worker must satisfy the “strengthened” requirement, meaning:
• six years of foreign residence; or
• seven years, where the worker also had previous employment in Italy with the same employer or group.

3.Taxation of accessory or deferred compensation under the conventional wages regime
With ruling no. 37 of 12 February 2026, the Italian Tax Authorities confirm that, when an employee is taxed in Italy under the conventional wages regime for work performed abroad, any additional remuneration (fringe benefits, stock options, performance shares, bonuses, allowances, etc.) is absorbed into the conventional amount and is not subject to separate taxation, provided the compensation relates to the same foreign work activity covered by that regime.
The ruling reiterates existing guidance (e.g., Circular Letter 11/E/2013 and previous rulings) stating that, once conventional remuneration applies, no analytical taxation of accessory or deferred compensation is permitted; the conventional base fully replaces the ordinary calculation of taxable income for the relevant periods.

4.Tax treatment of San Marino pensions for former frontier workers
The parliamentary question time reply no. 5‑04972 of 3 February 2026 addressed the issue of conflicting tax qualifications regarding pensions paid under the San Marino social security system to former Italian frontier workers.
The issue stems from several interpretative circulars issued in San Marino concerning the application of Article 18 of the Italy-San Marino tax treaty. According to these interpretations, pensions paid by the San Marino Social Security Institute (ISS, equivalent to the Italian INPS) to residents of Italy should be taxed exclusively in San Marino, as the State of source (under Art. 18(3) of the above-mentioned treaty).
Italy, however, does not classify these pensions as “social security pensions” under its domestic rules. As a result, the general rule would apply, and pensions paid to individuals who have become Italian tax residents should be taxed only in Italy (Art. 18(1)).
One of the potential solutions mentioned is the possibility of amending the bilateral tax treaty through a Protocol. Such an amendment could resolve the conflict by allowing shared (concurrent) taxation of these pensions in both jurisdictions.

5.Court ruling on cross‑border pension taxation
With its decision no. 4314 of 26 February 2026, the Italian Supreme Court held that Italian pensions paid to individuals residing in Portugal following the termination of private employment are subject to exclusive taxation in Portugal, pursuant to Art. 18 of the Italy–Portugal tax treaty.
For this purpose, it is irrelevant whether the pension income is subject to reduced taxation or even exempt in Portugal (as occurred in the years under dispute, due to incentives then available under Portuguese law). The treaty rule in Art. 18 alone is sufficient to exclude Italy’s taxing rights over such pensions.

6.Securities brokerage firms are not required to report for FATCA/CRS purposes
In ruling no. 43 of 20 February 2026, the Italian Tax Authorities clarified that securities brokerage firms (“Società di Intermediazione Mobiliare” or SIMs) which exclusively provide investment advisory services (i.e., personalised recommendations relating to assets held with authorised third‑party intermediaries) are not subject to FATCA or CRS reporting obligations.
These reporting obligations apply to depositary institutions, custodial institutions, insurance companies, and investment entities. The latter are required to report when they conduct investment activities on behalf of clients, or when they are managed by a depositary institution, custodial institution, insurance company, or another investment entity and their gross income derives primarily from investing, reinvesting, or trading in financial assets or crypto‑assets.
Since none of these conditions are met in the case of SIMs that solely provide investment advice, FATCA and CRS reporting is not required.

7.Annual Pillar 2 tax return form published by the Italian Tax Authorities
The Italian Tax Authorities’ Ordinance no. 46523 of 6 February 2026 approved the annual tax return form relating to the Pillar Two top-up taxes, including the components of the Income Inclusion Rule (IIR), the Undertaxed Profits Rule (UTPR), and the Qualified Domestic Minimum Top-up Tax (QDMTT) referred to in Art. 53 of Legislative Decree 209/2023, together with the related instructions.
The form consists of a cover page – containing the personal details of the taxpayer submitting the return and of the signatory representative – and the following sections:
• Section A – Group data and simplified or exclusion regimes
• Section B – Calculation of the top-up tax
• Section C – IIR
• Section D – UTPR
• Section E – QDMTT
• Section F – Tax payments
The form must be submitted electronically to the Italian Tax Authority within the fifteenth month following the last day of the financial year to which it refers (or within the eighteenth month for “transition year”, which in several cases is 2024). The first filing deadline, regardless of the start or duration of the financial year, may not fall before 30 June 2026.

8.Italian Supreme Court clarifies criteria for determining corporate tax residence
According to the Italian Supreme Court decision no. 3591 of 17 February 2026, when assessing the tax residence of companies, the evaluation of the connecting factors set out in Art. 73(3) of the TUIR (registered office, place of management, and main object of the activity, given that the case concerns fiscal years prior to 2024, before the criteria to establish Italian tax residence were amended) must be carried out regardless of whether the foreign‑law company is real or fictitious; for these purposes, the relevant inquiry is not whether the foreign entity is fictitious, but rather the determination of the actual place where the company’s administrative functions are performed. This includes identifying where management activities are effectively carried out, where directors reside and meet, and where strategic and operational business decisions are made.
Applying this criterion, the Court confirmed the Italian tax residence of a company incorporated under foreign law (which although genuine and not fictitious in its State of incorporation, being San Marino) was effectively managed and directed from Italy.

9.EU Council updates the list of non‑cooperative Tax Jurisdictions
At its meeting on 17 February 2026, the Council of the European Union updated the EU list of non‑cooperative tax jurisdictions, adding the Turks and Caicos Islands and Vietnam, and removing Fiji, Samoa, and Trinidad and Tobago.
Following this update, the list now includes 10 jurisdictions: Anguilla, the Russian Federation, Guam, Turks and Caicos Islands, U.S. Virgin Islands, Palau, Panama, American Samoa, Vanuatu, and Vietnam.
The Turks and Caicos Islands were added because they facilitate the establishment of offshore structures lacking real economic substance.
Vietnam’s inclusion stems from deficiencies in the exchange of tax information, despite its commitment to implementing the recommended country‑by‑country reporting measures.
Under Italian law, this EU list is used to identify foreign counterparties to which the rules set out in Article 110(9‑bis) et seq. of the TUIR apply. According to these rules, costs arising from transactions with enterprises resident or located in such “non‑cooperative” jurisdictions, where they exceed arm’s‑length value, are deductible only to the extent of the excess if the taxpayer can demonstrate an actual economic interest.
Even where such costs are fully aligned with market value, they must nonetheless be separately disclosed in the Italian income tax return.

10.Update of OECD’s Manual on Effective Mutual Agreement Procedures
On 2 February 2026, the OECD released the updated Manual on Effective Mutual Agreement Procedures (MEMAP), which provides practical guidance on how mutual agreement procedures (MAPs) under tax treaties should operate.
This new edition represents the first comprehensive revision since 2007 and reflects developments arising from the BEPS Action 14 minimum standard and more than a decade of practical experience.
The key topics addressed in the updated manual include:
• eligibility criteria for accessing MAP, with the aim of ensuring consistent and treaty‑aligned access for taxpayers;
• procedures for submitting MAP requests, with specific emphasis on avoiding unnecessary administrative barriers;
• unilateral remedies, where available, that may be applied by jurisdictions as an alternative to bilateral negotiations.
The updated MEMAP also introduces best practices and provides detailed guidance on dispute prevention, competent authority organisation, and – new in this edition – MAP arbitration.

L'articolo INTERNATIONAL TAX FOCUS – MARCH 2026 proviene da Studio Ciccioriccio e Associati.

2.Social security amounts paid abroad are deductible from the overall income
With ruling no. 5 of 15 January 2026, the Italian Tax Authorities confirmed that, for individuals who are resident in Italy while working abroad and whose employment income is subject to taxation in Italy under the conventional wages regime, social security amounts paid in the foreign State in are not deductible from the employment income but from the overall income.
The answer is in line with what the Italian Supreme Court maintained in its decision no. 17747 of 27 June 2024.

3.Indemnities in lieu of notice are taxable in the work State under tax treaty law
According to ruling no. 1 of 12 January 2026, the indemnity in lieu of notice paid by an Italian company to a non-resident individual is also taxable in Italy (with the consequent obligation for the company to act as a withholding agent) to the extent that it refers to work physically performed in Italy. This is because:
• the indemnity is considered to be derived from Italy pursuant to Art. 23(1)a) of the TUIR, as it is paid by a person resident in Italy for tax purposes;
• it falls within the scope of Art. 15 of the OECD Model Convention (whose letter is faithfully replicated by the tax treaty between Italy and Finland, the residence State of the recipient), which grants the work State the right to tax income deriving from the employment activities carried out therein, including forms of deferred remuneration.

4.Shares assigned to an Italian tax resident are always taxable therein
According to ruling no. 8 of 16 January 2026, where shares are assigned to a beneficiary who is resident for tax purposes in Italy at the time of assignment:
• the beneficiary is required to subject to taxation in Italy (State of residence at the time of assignment) the entire value of the shares received, even if they refer to the work carried out abroad at the time when he was also resident abroad;
• the double taxation that arises as a result of the potential taxation in any other State on the same income is mitigated with the credit that Italy is required to recognize pursuant to Art. 165 of the TUIR.
This statement of practice is in line with the position held with ruling no. 199 of 4 August 2025.

5.Individuals working on foreign ships for more than half of a fiscal year are not taxable in Italy
Ruling no. 10 of 20 January 2026 states that income derived from the work activities carried out by seafarers of Italian nationality on ships flying a foreign flag is not subject to taxation in Italy if the activity is carried out on such ships for a period exceeding 183 days over a 12 month period.
For the purposes of this exemption, it is necessary to assess if the time threshold above is met, also by taking into account the existence of one or more employment contracts that can have a duration straddling several calendar years which, analysed together, ensure that the worker stays abroad for more than 183 days per fiscal year.

6.The Italian Supreme Court rules again on beneficial ownership
The Italian Supreme Court issued two decisions concerning the tax regime of interest and royalties paid to non-residents.
Decision no. 1635 of 25 January 2026 confirmed that the beneficial owner status for the purposes of applying the 5% withholding tax provided for by the Italy-Germany tax treaty on royalties paid by an Italian company to its German subsidiary needs to be ascertained by applying a three-step test:
• the “substantive business activity test”, aimed at verifying that the receiving company carries out an effective economic activity and does not represent an artificial arrangement;
• the “dominion test”, which assesses the company’s ability to freely dispose of the income received, without being obliged to remit the income to a third party;
• the “business purpose test”, which verifies the economic reasons for the interposition of the receiving company in the income flow.
With decision no. 1849 of 27 January 2026, on the other hand, the Italian Supreme Court stated that the reimbursement of the withholding tax on interest paid by an Italian company to its Swedish parent company, due under the Interest&Royalty Directive, also applies in the event that the withholding tax has been paid to the Italian Treasury by the subsidiary but subsequently reimbursed to the latter by the Swedish parent company following an internal agreement.

7.Foreign tax credit should be granted even if not correctly reported in the tax return
According to the Italian Supreme Court decision no. 1651 25 January 2026, the foreign tax credit is to be granted if a company has not reported the relevant foreign income in its tax return for the purpose of transferring such credit to the tax unit and, similarly, has omitted to indicate in the same return the tax surpluses that gave rise to the credit.
According to the Supreme Court:
• the wording of Art. 165 of the TUIR does not sanction reporting errors with the loss of the right to offset the foreign tax credit;
• even if so, this would be superseded by the applicable tax treaty, which does not provide for constraints related to reporting obligations;
• the request for reimbursement of the credit submitted to the Italian Tax Authorities should present them with all the elements to assess whether the credit exist and its amount.

8.Foreign governmental bodies exemption from the inheritance and gift tax
The Italian Tax Authorities’ ruling no. 16 of 22 January 2026 clarified that the exemption from inheritance and gift tax for transfers in favour of the State, Regions, Provinces and Municipalities, cannot be applied with respect to the shares in a company based in Italy received by a Swiss public body in the Canton of Ticino.
In this case, in fact, the “reciprocity requirement” provided for by the law is not met.

9.Clarifications on the new 2 Euros contribution due on low value shipments
With its Circular Letter no. 1 of 7 January 2026, Customs and Monopolies Agency have provided for new clarification regarding the transitional period of application of the 2 Euros contribution on shipments of modest value from non EU countries.
In particular, periodic accounting registrations and payments can be used both for transactions declared in simplified form (H7) and for those in ordinary form (H1).
The contributions on the shipments due for imports made from 1 January 2026 to 28 February 2026 will be accounted for and paid on the basis of the declaration drawn up according to the form attached to the previous Circular Letter 37/2025, to be submitted by 15 March 2026.

10.The Italian Supreme Court describes the VAT exemption on brokerage insurance requirements
The Italian Supreme Court, with its decision no. 1425 of 23 January 2026, identified the requirements that need to be met for the VAT exemption regime for brokerage activities in the insurance sector to apply.
The exemption applies if the service provider is in a direct or indirect relationship (where the provider is a subcontractor of the broker or intermediary) with the insurer and the insured and if the services provided are typical of an insurance intermediary activity (such as finding and connecting potential customers with the insurer and assisting in post conclusion of the service including policy renewals).
The services described differ from those of a consultancy nature, for which the ordinary VAT taxation regime would apply.

11.New Protocol between Italy and Switzerland on frontier workers about to enter into force
Law no. 217 of 29 December 2025, concerning the ratification of the Protocol amending the Italy-Switzerland Agreement of 23 December 2020 relating to the taxation of frontier workers, was published in the Italian Official Gazette on 19 January 2026.
The Protocol will enter into force once the exchange of instruments of ratification between the two States will be completed.
The text of the Protocol contains a provision that allows frontier workers to carry out up to 25% of their activity in remote working without losing their cross-border status.

12.The Side-by-Side Package on Pillar Two has been issued by the OECD
The “Side-by-Side Package”, published by the OECD/G20 Inclusive Framework on 5 January 2026, redefines the interpretative guidelines necessary for the coordinated operation of the Global minimum tax.
The most significant element of the package is represented by the so-called Side-by-Side System, which aims at eliminating the potential Pillar Two top-up taxes (whether calculated with the IIR or UTPR mechanisms) when the group’s UPE is located in a jurisdiction with a “Qualified Side-by-Side Regime”.
Currently the United States of America have been recognized as having such a regime

L'articolo INTERNATIONAL TAX FOCUS – FEBRUARY 2026 proviene da Studio Ciccioriccio e Associati.

2.Concept of Beneficial Ownership under the Parent-Subsidiary Directive
The Italian Supreme Court has addressed twice the issue of identifying the beneficial owner for the purposes of withholding tax exemption under the Parent-Subsidiary Directive.
In both cases, the dispute concerned the failure to apply withholding tax on dividends paid by the Italian subsidiary to the intermediate Danish holding company, which was itself owned by a U.S. parent company.
In the decision no. 32149 of 10 December 2025, the Italian Supreme Court noted that, in carrying out the so‑called substantive business activity test, the Court of second instance erred in excluding that the Danish company carried out genuine economic activity on the grounds of the “substantial absence” of an operational structure.
The judges failed to take into account the specific features of a pure holding or sub‑holding company, which does not directly conduct commercial activities but merely manages shareholdings in other companies.
In this way, the Italian Supreme Court appears to acknowledge that, in the context of dividend‑exemption provisions, beneficial ownership may still be recognised even where the entity has a lighter structure than what might be considered adequate for exemption in the parallel context of interest and royalty payments.
In decision no. 32467 of 12 December 2025, however, the Italian Supreme Court denied beneficial‑owner status to the Danish sub‑holding, identifying the U.S. parent company as the actual beneficial owner. As a result, a 5% withholding tax applied pursuant to Article 10 of the Italy-U.S. Tax Treaty.
The Danish company did not have material or legal availability of the dividends received from the Italian subsidiary, as the funds were pooled into a common cash account. Moreover, the Danish company did not carry out any real economic activity, not even that typical of a pure sub‑holding, and the effective management of the European business segment originated from the U.S. parent company.

3.Italy Suspends Tax Treaty Benefits with Russia and Belarus
Article 10 of Legislative Decree no. 192/2025 establishes that if a foreign jurisdiction unilaterally suspends the application of one or more provisions of a double tax treaty in force with Italy, the application of those same provisions is likewise suspended in the Italian legal system, as a countermeasure, with the same effective date.
This issue directly concerns relations with the Russian Federation and Belarus, both of which have unilaterally suspended their respective tax treaties signed with Italy.
As a result of the new rule, outbound income flows from Italy are subject to withholding tax at the full domestic rates, rather than at the reduced tax treaty rates.

4.Implementation and transposition of DAC 8 Directive
The Legislative Decree no. 194 of 10 December 2025, implementing Directive (EU) 2023/2226 (DAC 8) on the automatic exchange of data relating to crypto‑assets, has been published in the Italian Official Gazette.
The new provisions entered into force on 1 January 2026, as from when information concerning holders of crypto‑assets within the European Union, as well as data relating to those assets, will be automatically exchanged among the tax authorities of the Member States.
The Legislative Decree also:
• extends the “traditional” categories of income (employment income, directors’ fees, etc.) from four to five for which Italy undertakes to transmit data on its residents to other Member States;
• broadens the range of cross‑border rulings that must be reported;
• introduces stricter requirements for collecting and reporting the TIN (tax identification number) of non‑resident taxpayers, to be phased in gradually between 2028 and 2030.

5.Italy joins the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement on the Exchange of Readily Available Information on Immovable Property (IPI MCAA)
In a press release issued on 4 December 2025, Italy announced that it has joined the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement on the Exchange of Readily Available Information on Immovable Property (IPI MCAA), a framework that will govern the automatic exchange of information on properties located abroad and on the related purchase and sale transactions.
The first 25 participating jurisdictions include:
• 14 EU Member States: Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Malta, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden;
• 4 non‑EU States and territories within geographical Europe: Iceland, Norway, the United Kingdom and Gibraltar;
• 7 non‑European States: Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Korea, New Zealand, Peru and South Africa.
The IPI MCAA is structured into two modules:
• the first covers information on immovable property held, sold, or purchased by non‑residents;
• the second concerns information on “recurring income” generated by the property (e.g., rental income).
The new measures are expected to become fully effective in 2029 or 2030.

6.Remote Working Implications for Income Sourcing, Corporate Residence, Permanent Establishments, and Transfer Pricing
The OECD document “Global Mobility of Individuals”, which analyses a series of issues relating to worker mobility that may have consequences for the application of various treaty provisions, was open for public consultation until 22 December 2025.
With regard to the position of employees, the main issues concern:
• the individual’s tax residence;
• the territoriality of the income generated;
• the possible divergent qualification of the income (as employment income or self‑employment income) in the jurisdictions involved;
• the interaction with national incentive regimes aimed at attracting highly skilled workers or digital nomads.
With regard to the employer’s position, the issues examined include:
• whether a remote worker could create a permanent establishment (physical, agency, or service PE) in the other State;
• the company’s tax residence, particularly in situations where the board of directors and/or shareholders’ meetings are held remotely;
• transfer pricing implications.

L'articolo INTERNATIONAL TAX FOCUS – JANUARY 2026 proviene da Studio Ciccioriccio e Associati.

2.Liquidations of a foreign voluntary pension funds are only taxable in Italy
According to the ruling reply no. no. 290 of 12 November 2025 of the Italian Tax Authorities, the sums paid to the heir, resident in Italy, of an Italian and US citizen, resident in the USA, as liquidation of the US pension fund, are only taxable in Italy.
In particular, the deceased held a voluntary individual pension account; with its death, the fund was liquidated to the heir (that withdrew the amounts in the United States).
According to the Italian Tax Authorities, the amount received one-shot by the heir as a liquidation of the pension fund, gross of the withholding tax suffered abroad, has to be qualified as “pensions of all kinds and equivalent allowances” referred to in Art. 49(2) a) of the TUIR and must be subject to separate taxation regime.

3.The mere transport is not sufficient for the VAT exemption to apply
The Italian Supreme Court decision no. 30183 of 16 November 2025 stated that the mere transport of the goods abroad is not sufficient to provide proof of a “triangular” supply within the EU.
In order to apply the VAT exemption regime referred to in Art. 58 of Legislative Decree 331/93, the relevant VAT person is required to provide proof that the transaction was intended from the outset as a national supply with a view to subsequent transport to a purchaser established outside the European Union.

4.The in-bound workers regime may be applied even through an amended tax return
With its decision no. 30569 of 20 November 2025, the Italian Supreme Court allowed a person eligible for the in-bound workers regime to obtain the benefits of such regime through the filing of an amended tax return and not directly through the employer in its capacity of withholding agent.
The approach that seems to be consolidated at an Italian Supreme Court level is that the above-mentioned regime may be benefited from even without submitting a specific request to the employer but by making a request in the tax return or by means of a request for reimbursement, even if the latter is submitted as part of an amended tax return.

5.How to compute employment activities performed in Italy by non-tax residents
With the statement of practice no. 15 of 25 November 2025 the Italian Tax Authorities clarified that, in order to assess the part of the employment activity that is considered to be performed in Italy by non-resident flight personnel (in this case, pilots) operating on international routes involving Italy, the share of the service physically performed in Italy has to considered, including Italian airspace for these purposes. This portion is taxable in Italy pursuant to Italian domestic law (Art. 23(1) c) of the TUIR).
In order to calculate the part of the employment activity carried out in Italy, the taxpayer needs to make a ratio between the hours of work performed in Italy (including Italian airspace) and the total hours of work in the given fiscal year.

6.Supplementary pension fund income is employment income if the recipient is not a pensioner
With the ruling reply no. 296 of 26 November 2025, the Italian Tax Authorities analyzed the treatment of sums received as early redemption of an Italian supplementary pension fund by a person residing in Singapore, who had previously worked in Italy and who, in the year of disbursement of the sums, did not qualify as a pensioner yet.
The Italian Tax Authorities highlighted that, under domestic law, supplementary pension benefits constitute income assimilated to employment income pursuant to Art. 50(1)
h-bis) of the TUIR and, given that the payer is an Italian tax resident, the latter is required to apply a withholding tax.
Further, the Italian Tax Authorities have clarified that tax treaty treatment provided for pensions and “other similar remuneration” (Article 17 of the Italy-Singapore treaty) only applies to persons who may qualify as pensioners. As in the case at stake the person receiving the income did not qualify as a pensioner, the relevant income qualifies as employment income paid by a governmental entity and governed by Art. 14 of the above-mentioned treaty. In the present case, the social security position accrued entirely in the years in which the person was working in Italy: hence the income is therefore taxable in Italy as well.

7.BO and tax residence status must be proved by the taxpayer
The Italian Supreme Court, with its decisions no. 30850 and no. 30855 of 25 November 2025, rules on the proof of tax residence and beneficial owner status for the purposes of the applicability of the reduced withholding tax on fees paid as royalties pursuant to Art. 12 of the tax treaty concluded between Italy and Switzerland.
The Court emphasizes, in particular, that the burden of proving the status of beneficial owner and tax residence lies with the taxpayer, since it is not sufficient to exclude that the foreign company is a simple intermediary or intermediary in order to be able to benefit from the reduced tax treaty rates.

8.Different treatments between local and foreign foundations may be justified
The European Court of Justice, in its decision of 13 November 2025 in Case C-142/24, affirmed that a national legislation that, in connection to the transfer of assets to a family foundation, taxes such transfer providing for lower deductions from the tax base and higher tax rates if the foundation is established abroad by a resident founder compared to those applied to family foundations set-up in that State if the more favorable tax treatment assigned to the latter is aimed at offsetting the tax levy that they (unlike foreign foundations) suffer by way of substitute inheritance tax is compatible with the EU principle of the free movement of capital.

9.Withholding refunds may not be refused if the exchange of information mechanism applies
According to the decision of European Court of Justice n. C-525/24 dated 27 November 2025:
• do not conflict with Art. 63 TFEU the laws of the Member States (in this case, Portugal) allows for a reduced withholding tax on dividends paid to non-resident pension funds to the issuance of a declaration attesting to the existence of the requirements for the aforementioned reduced levy, confirmed and certified by the authorities in charge of the supervision of pension funds in their respective States of residence; this, to the extent that those authorities have the necessary powers and competences to make such a declaration and it can be obtained within a reasonable time-frame;
• on the other hand, it is an unlawful restriction of the free movement of capital principle the circumstance that such a declaration is an essential element for the purposes of the reimbursement of withholding taxes already withdrawn: in this situation, in fact, the counterparty of the pension fund is not the company that distributes the dividends, but the tax authorities of the other State, which can verify the relevant information through the exchange of information mechanism.

10.OECD amends the Commentary to give guidance on remote working and PEs
The OECD has published an update document that contains important clarification regarding the OECD Commentary on the OECD Model Convention.
Particularly significant are the amendments to the OECD Commentary on Art. 5, introduced in paras. 44.1 to 44.21 which provide for the guidelines to assess whether a person who works in a foreign State remotely (at home or in another place of business) for a company resident in the other State may give rise to a permanent establishment of the latter.
According to the OECD, there are two main factors that have to be taken into account: the time factor (i.e., how much of the total amount of working time carried out from home or from a place of business that does not coincide with premises that are typically part of the company) and the “functional” factor (i.e., what are the motivations for which the person works from that particular place).

11.Public consultation on the new OECD document on mobility of individuals
The OECD document “Global Mobility of Individuals” has been issued for a public consultation period, until 22 December 2025. The document investigates a series of issues concerning the mobility of workers that could have consequences on the application of various tax treaty provisions.
With respect to the workers, the main issues concern:
• the tax residence of the person;
• the territoriality of the income produced;
• the possible different classification of income (from employment or self-employment) in the jurisdictions concerned;
• the interrelations with national allowances or rules aimed at attracting qualified personnel or digital nomads.
In relation to the employer’s position, the issues examined concern:
• the possibility that the remote worker give rise to a permanent establishment (physical permanent establishment or agency permanent establishment) in the other State;
• the residence of the company, especially in situations where the board of directors and/or the shareholders’ meeting are held remotely;
• potential transfer pricing issues.

L'articolo INTERNATIONAL TAX FOCUS – DECEMBER 2025 proviene da Studio Ciccioriccio e Associati.

According to the ruling no. 228 issued by the Italian Tax Authorities on 1 September 2025, amounts paid by the State as an allowance for periods where an individual is unemployed do not fall within the scope of the former in-bound workers regime provided for by Art. 16 of Legis-lative Decree 147/2015 and must therefore be fully sub-ject to taxation.
The allowance referred to above – so called ‘New Social Insurance Benefit for Employment’ – is a monthly unemployment allowance that provides income support to employees who have involuntarily lost their jobs.
These amounts are therefore not paid in exchange for performing work activities but rather due to the termina-tion of the employment relationship; consequently, they are not eligible under the inbound workers regime, which is intended to incentivize the performance of work activi-ties in Italy.

2.Tax treatment of deferred compensation under the in-bound workers regime

Ruling no. 274, issued on the 29 October 2025, by the Italian Tax Authority addressed the taxation of amounts received as deferred compensation, specifically bonus-es accrued for work performed in Italy by individuals who later relocated to Greece and received the bonuses after becoming Greek tax residents.
From a territoriality perspective, the connection to Italy must be assessed with reference to the vesting period (i.e., the period during which the right accrued) and not to the period of payment (when, in this case, the individuals had already become non-residents), which merely rep-resents the time when such income is actually subject to taxation.
Since the amounts relate to activities carried out in Italy, they are therefore taxable in Italy.
The Italian Tax Authorities also denied the benefits of the in-bound workers regime on the reasoning that Restrict-ed Stock Units (RSU) and other equity incentives accrued during the period when the individual was resident and working in Italy but granted in a subsequent year – when the worker had moved abroad and become resi-dent in another State – cannot benefit from the re-gime’s tax relief (as the worker is not tax resident in Italy where the amounts become taxable).

3.DAC 8 Implementation: Crypto-asset reporting and data exchange updates

On 8 October 2025, the Italian Council of Ministers ap-proved the draft Legislative Decree implementing Di-rective 2023/2226/EU (DAC 8), concerning the automatic exchange of data on crypto-assets.
The directive and the implementing decree also include certain amendments relating to rulings for individuals.
Further changes are introduced to the procedures for the automatic exchange of financial account data, aimed at identifying cases where non-resident shareholders hold accounts in Italy through legal entities over which they maintain control.

4.Implementation and transposition of DAC 9

Published in the Official Gazette No. 252 on 29 October 2025, the Ministerial Decree of 16 October 2025 sets out the implementing provisions regarding reporting obliga-tions on top-up taxation and the transposition of Directive 2025/872/EU, which extends automatic exchange of information to GIR – Globe Information Returns – related to the global minimum tax.
The decree addresses three key aspects:
• the content of the relevant communication and the procedures and conditions for its submission, including for entities applying the transitional simplified jurisdictional reporting framework;
• the transposition of Directive 2025/872/EU (DAC 9), which provides for the automatic exchange of these communications within the EU within three months after the filing deadline;
• the standard communication template, designed to ensure a common set of information and a consistent, uniform approach across jurisdictions implementing the global minimum tax, while fa-cilitating compliance for multinational groups op-erating in multiple countries.

5.Simplifications established for the duty-free reintroduction of previously exported goods

Circular no. 28 of 23 October 2025 issued by the Cus-toms and Monopolies Agency simplifies and harmoniz-es certain procedural aspects related to the simplifica-tions for the duty-free reintroduction of previously ex-ported goods, both in Business-to-Business (B2B) and Business-to-Consumer (B2C) contexts.
The circular:
• provides clarifications on the verification of re-quirements necessary to access the simplifica-tion;
• specifies the timelines for handling the adminis-trative process;
• streamlines the procedure by introducing an an-nual renewal mechanism for the granted simpli-fication, if proposed by the local office following a positive monitoring outcome;
• revises the parties involved in the administrative process and their respective roles.

6.Agency contracts and VAT: the ECJ clarifies the territorial scope

In its judgment of October 9, 2025, in Case C-101/24, the European Court of Justice ruled on the conditions for applying Art. 28 of Directive 2006/112/EC. Under this provision, where a VAT person acts in their own name but on behalf of another party and participates in a sup-ply of services, they are deemed to have received and supplied those services personally.
In essence, the rule establishes a legal fiction of “two identical services supplied consecutively” whereby the agent is considered first to have received the services from the principal and then to have supplied them per-sonally to the customer.
The Court noted that applying this legal fiction under Art. 28 of Directive 2006/112/EC does not affect the determi-nation of the place of supply for VAT purposes.

7.VAT on factoring services: ECJ clarifies debt recovery treatment

In its judgment in Case C-232/24 on 23 October 2025, the European Court of Justice ruled on the VAT treat-ment of services provided by a factoring company.
The company offered factoring services partly through pledges and partly through the sale of receivables, charging among other things:
• a financing commission, calculated also based on the risk assumed by the factor;
• fees for opening the files.

The Finnish tax authority considered both the financing commission and, in part, the opening fees to be exempt from VAT as financial services.The Court, however, held that both amounts constituted consideration for a single debt recovery service subject to VAT because Art. 135(d) of Directive 2006/112/EC, while providing VAT exemption for transactions relating to credit, excludes debt recovery from VAT exemption.

8.Member States update EU list of non-cooperative tax jurisdictions

On 10 October 2025, the Council of the European Union confirmed, without modifications, the EU list of non-cooperative tax jurisdictions, which therefore continues to include the same 11 jurisdictions as the previous ver-sion: Anguilla, Russian Federation, Guam, Fiji Islands, U.S. Virgin Islands, Palau, Panama, Samoa, American Samoa, Trinidad and Tobago, and Vanuatu.
During the meeting, decisions were also taken regarding the signing of protocols amending agreements on the automatic exchange of financial information between the European Union and Andorra, Liechtenstein, Mona-co, San Marino, and Switzerland.
These amending protocols aim to extend to the original agreements the changes introduced in 2022 to the Common Reporting Standard, with the goal of including among monitored assets certain electronic money in-struments and central bank digital currencies, as well as indirect investments in crypto-assets through derivatives and investment vehicles.

L'articolo INTERNATIONAL TAX FOCUS – OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2025 proviene da Studio Ciccioriccio e Associati.

The Italian Supreme Court, with the decision no. 22419 of 4 August 2025, stated that, with respect to withholding taxes on interest and capital income referred to in Art. 26(3) of the Presidential Decree 600/73, the notion of “paying bank” in charge (in the case at stake) of placing shares of Luxembourg funds on the market does not necessarily coincide with that of resident entity that “intervenes” in the collection of interest.
According to the Italian Supreme Court, for the purposes of applying the withholding tax pursuant to Art. 26(3) of the Presidential Decree 600/73, a person needs actually to intervene in the interest collection and such requirement is not met by mere marketing activities.

2.Partners of tax transparent trusts are treaty entitled if taxed on the income

According to the Italian Tax Authorities’ answer to ruling no. 203 of 6 August 2025:
• dividends received by a Japanese company through one or more transparent trusts may be eligible for tax treaty benefits, insofar as the dividends are attributed, for tax purposes, to the partners of the transparent entity in the partners’ country of residence; the trusts (which are not liable to tax), on the other hand, are not treaty entitled;
• a cumulative certificate of residence issued by the foreign State is allowed, provided that the list of tax numbers of each beneficiary and the specification of the reference year of residence are attached to it (in this case at stake, all beneficiaries were Japanese residents);
• the request for reimbursement of the higher tax paid in Italy compared to the rate provided for by the relevant tax treaty cannot, however, be cumulative, but must on the contrary be submitted by each of the partners concerned.

3.Italy-Russia tax treaty still applies despite the suspension decree issued in Russia

The Italian Tax Authorities, with their ruling no. 206 of 7 August 2025, clarified that dividends paid by Italian companies to companies that are tax resident in the Russian Federation must be subject to the withholding tax provided for by the tax treaty.
The Italy-Russia treaty, in fact, must be applied despite the fact that the President of the Russian Federation has issued a decree of suspension. Indeed, pursuant to international tax law, the procedure to suspend the tax treaty has not been correctly carried out.

4.Even individuals resident abroad may benefit from the “risparmio amministrato”

Ruling no. 208 of 14 clarifies that an individual transferring his/her tax residence outside of Italy may still benefit from the Italian “regime del risparmio amministrato”, pursuant to which an Italian appointed intermediary is in charge of withholding the taxation on interest and capital gain on the assets that the individual puts under the account.

5.Italian tax residence of foreign entities can only be claimed under the abuse of law doctrine

With its decision no. 23842 of 25 August 2025, the Italian Supreme Court has confirmed that the Italian tax residence of foreign based entities cannot be challenged where the foreign entity does not qualify as wholly artificial arrangement and such entity carries out a real economic activity abroad.
In the case brought to the attention of the Italian Supreme Court, the foreign company had offices in Madeira, where such company as registered, as well as non-Italian tugboats and employees; the meetings of the board of directors and the shareholders’ meetings had always been held abroad. In addition, emphasis is placed on the fact that the activity, being geographically carried out in places (the Atlantic Ocean) adjacent to Madeira, was presumed to have actually been carried out on site.
Therefore, the Italian Supreme Court rejected the Italian Tax Authorities challenge as they claimed that such company was to be considered as tax resident in Italy.

6.Simultaneous contributions of non-controlling interests are not tax neutral

In its ruling no. 217 of 19 August 2025, the Italian Tax Authorities ruled on the application of Art. 178 and 179 of the TUIR to a complex group reorganization operation, which provides for three separate contributions of participations.
In the case analyzed by the Italian Tax Authorities, two contributions are simultaneous, as in particular:
• a French company (Alfa) transfers to another French company (Alfa 2) its interest (equal to 53.96% of the capital) in an Italian company (Alfa Italia);
• another Italian company (Beta, another transferor) transfers its stake in Alfa Italia (equal to 26.05% of its capital) to Alfa 2.

Once the simultaneous contributions have been completed, Alfa Italia would be wholly owned by Alfa 2.
According to the Italian Tax Authorities, Beta holds a minority stake in Alfa Italia, which, considered individually, would not lead Beta to integrate a controlling stake in Alfa 2, given the shareholding in Alfa Italia already held by the French company (19.99%). Furthermore, the contribution by Beta does not derive from the need to increase the percentage of control in Alfa Italia held by Alfa 2 by virtue of a legal or statutory obligation.
Therefore, the Italian Tax Authorities denied the application of the tax neutrality regime provided for by Arts. 178 and 179 of the TUIR to the simultaneous contribution.

7.The inbound workers regime may be applied through a refund request

With its decision no. 23526 of 19 August 2025 the Italian Supreme Court allowed the refund of the higher taxes paid by an individual who met the requirements to access the in-bound workers regime provide for by Art. 16 of Legislative Decree 147/2015, even in the absence of a specific request to the employer (in its quality of withholding agent) and absent the indication in the tax return of the reduced taxable amount.
The Court confirms that, in the presence of the legal requirements, the worker can benefit from the regime either:
• by submitting a specific request to the employer in order to obtain the application of the reduced withholding on his/her salary;
• directly in the tax return; or
• by means of a refund application pursuant to Art. 38 of Presidential Decree 602/73 within the relevant statute of limitation.

8.Long-term incentive plans are taxable in Italy when the residents cash them out

The Italian Tax Authorities, in response to ruling no. 199 of 4 August 2025, examines the tax treatment of long-term incentive plans, paid to individuals tax resident in Italy but relating to work activities carried out abroad.
According to the Administration, first of all, the bonuses paid to employees according to long-term incentive plans qualify as employment income (see Art. 51 of the TUIR) and, as such, are subject to taxation on a cash-basis.
For tax treaty purposes, Italy, as the State of residence, may tax the remuneration referred to the bonuses received during the periods of residence in Italy of the relevant employee; however, with respect to income derived from work activities carried out abroad, the Italian tax resident may benefit from the tax credit regime provided for by Art. 165 of the TUIR.

9.The VAT plafond cannot be transferred if not mentioned in the relevant contracts

According to the Italian Tax Authority (ruling no. 200 of 4 August 2025), the VAT plafond cannot be transferred to the transferee, if the transfer of such plafond is not mentioned in the contract for the sale of the going concern.
Furthermore, if the transferee is resident abroad, he must be identified for VAT purposes in Italy directly or through a tax representative.
The fact examined in the above-mentioned ruling concerns a corporate reorganization involving three persons: an Italian company that transfers a going concern to a legal entity set-up under English law which, in its turn, partially transfers it to a company established in Italy. Since the conditions for the transfer of the VAT plafond accrued by the Italian company to the English company were not met, the latter, in turn, cannot transfer this asset to the newly established Italian company.

10.TP adjustements are relevant for VAT purposes

According to the Italian Tax Authorities (ruling no. 214 of 19 August 2025), transfer pricing adjustments (due to the application of the TNMM method) are relevant for VAT purposes, as the parties in the contract agreed on a provisional price to be followed by periodic adjustments.
Such adjustments will trigger the issuance of VAT variation notes.

11.Transactions between PEs and head offices are VAT relevant if one joins a VAT group

With its ruling no. 216 of 19 August 2025, the Italian Tax
Authorities clarified that when the head office belongs to a VAT Group in an EU Member State then the transactions occurring between such company and its permanent establishment are considered to be relevant for VAT purposes.
In the fact pattern analyzed by the Italian Tax Authorities, since the head office joined a VAT Group in an EU Member State, its two permanent establishments must be considered as separate taxable persons for VAT purposes: as a consequence, the supplies of services provided by the English branch to the Italian branch (IT and back office services) will be relevant in Italy for VAT purposes pursuant to Art. 7-ter(1) a) of Presidential Decree 633/72.

12.Excess VAT charged on non-VAT persons should not be paid to the treasury

The European Court of Justice, in its decision relating to the case C-794/23 dated of 1 August 2025, ruled that the VAT in excess charged to a non-VAT person is not to be collected and paid by the supplier, since there is no risk of loss of tax revenue.

L'articolo INTERNATIONAL TAX FOCUS – SEPTEMBER 2025 proviene da Studio Ciccioriccio e Associati.

With their ruling no. 175 of 4 July 2025, the Italian Tax Authorities have clarified that the capital gain derived by a US opaque trust from the sale of shareholdings in a Swiss company whose assets are represented solely by a real estate property located in Italy is subject to tax in Italy.
Indeed, in similar fact patterns, the connecting factors provided for by Art. 23(1-bis) of the TUIR deem the income to be derived from the territory of the Italian State.

2.Proceeds derived from Italian transparent entities are taxable in Italy only if there is a PE

The Italian Tax Authorities, through their ruling no. 186 of 8 July 2025, have analyzed the tax on profits attributed pursuant to a regime of tax transparency to a limited partner resident in Spain (and registered with AIRE) of an Italian limited liability partnership operating exclusively in Italy.
The Italian Tax Authorities confirms that, based on Art. 23 (1)(g) of the TUIR, the income of partnerships attributed for transparency to shareholders (including non-residents) pursuant to Art. 5 of the same TUIR are considered to be derived from the territory of the State. Such income is, therefore, subject to taxation in Italy, with the consequent obligation to declare.
However, even if, under Italian domestic law, such income is considered to be sourced in Italy, taxes might actually be levied in Italy only to the extent that the activity of the Italian limited liability partnership qualifies as a permanent establishment under the tax treaty concluded between Italy and Spain.

3.No capital gain arises in case of transfers of residence where a PE is under the branch exemption regime

According to ruling no. 185 of 8 July 2025:
• where an Italian tax resident company – which has a permanent establishment abroad to which the Italian branch exemption regime (Art. 168-ter of the TUIR) applies – transfers its tax residence abroad, such transfer does not trigger any Italian tax liability with respect to the assets which are effectively connected to such permanent establishment;
• the general principle of tax irrelevance of the values of the exempt branch is not, in fact, limited to the sale transactions which it is transferred for consideration, but extends to other implementation transactions, including the transfer abroad of the residence referred to in Art. 166 of the TUIR.

The transfer of the main entity, therefore, may trigger taxable capital gains, determined as the positive difference (if any) between the residual tax value of the assets and liabilities of the main entity and their market value, including goodwill. However, for the purposes of determining such potential capital gain, it is necessary to exclude the values of the assets and liabilities effectively connected to the exempted permanent establishment.

4.Withholding levied are relevant to ascertain fair level of taxation of inbound dividends

Through its ruling no. 191 of 21July 2025, the Italian Tax Authorities have clarified that:
• in order for foreign-sourced dividends not to be considered as black listed dividends, the criteria established by Art. 47-bis of the TUIR (level of the effective tax rate or nominal tax rate) must be met both in the year in which profits accrued and in the year in which they are distributed;
• in the event that the test fails, dividends can still benefit from the Italian dividend exemption regime (i.e. taxation of 5% of the dividends received) if the so-called “second exemption” (being that the income derived by an Italian resident should not be considered as localized in a black-listed Country) is met. In order to check whether the dividend received were actually subject to a fair level of taxation, one has also to consider any withholding levied by the foreign Countries from which the dividends have been paid.

5.The centre of vital interest under tax treaty prevails on the AIRE registration

The decision issued by the Italian Supreme Court no. 19459 of 15 July 2025 established that, where an individual has maintained his/her registration in the registry of the Italian population residing abroad (so called AIRE) but has his/her center of vital interests in another State, he/she must be considered resident in that other State.
Indeed, the provisions of the tax treaty with the other State (in the case of decision, Spain) prevails over Italian domestic law pursuant to, among the others, Art. 117 of the Italian Constitution.

6.VAT margin scheme does not apply to phones re-imported from a Third Country

The Italian Supreme Court, with its decision no. 19102 of 11 July 2025, excluded the applicability of the VAT margin regime on the sale of used mobile phones that had first been sent to China to be regenerated and then had been imported into an EU member state (Belgium) to be finally released for consumption in Italy.
In the specific case, according to the Italian Supreme Court, the subjective condition for the application of the special regime, which provides that the used goods subject to resale have been purchased from a private individual (or in conditions “assimilated” to the purchase from a private individual) in the territory of the State or in another EU State, was not met.
In the case examined, the goods come from a non-EU country and the fact that they have been imported and that they arrived in Italy not from China but from Belgium does not change the outcome.

7.The EU Council adopts a Directive on IOSS

The EU Council, in its meeting of 18 July 2025, formally adopted the directive which, effective 1 July 2028, introduces new VAT rules aimed at incentivizing the use of the special IOSS (Import One Stop Shop) scheme, in order to make the collection of tax on distance sales of imported goods more effective.
The scheme allows to register in a single Member State to declare and pay the VAT due in relation to distance sales of imported goods, with a value not exceeding Euro 150, made in all Member States.
By amending Directive 2006/112/EC, the new provisions provide that suppliers who make sales falling within the scope of the IOSS, without being registered under the special scheme, normally become liable for import VAT and VAT on distance sales in the Member States of final destination of the goods, with the consequent obligation to register for VAT in each of those States.
The directive will now have to be published in the Official Journal of the European Union to enter into force.

8.USA and EU reach an agreement on import duties

On 27 July 2025, a framework agreement was reached between the President of the United States of America and the President of the European Union on the application, as of 1 August 2025, of duties on most products of EU origin that will be imported into the United States.
According to the European Commission, this rate would apply to most sectors, including automobiles, semiconductors and pharmaceuticals.
The generalized rate of 15% should not be on top of the import duty rates that are provided for in the United States, for each category of products, because of the tariff classification that distinguishes them.

L'articolo INTERNATIONAL TAX FOCUS – AUGUST 2025 proviene da Studio Ciccioriccio e Associati.

With the statement of practice no. 6 of 3 June 2025, the Italian Tax Authorities have clarified that, in online games, gaming bonuses are not relevant to determine taxable base for digital services tax purposes (so-called “web tax”, governed by Art 1(35) and ff. of Law 145/2018, which provides for a 3% tax on the amount of revenues deriving from digital services).
In fact, gaming bonuses do not generate (actual) digital revenues for the platform manager (which operates as an intermediary).
On the contrary, according to the Italian Tax Authorities, the amounts that are relevant for the purpose of the digital tax are equal to the commission retained by the intermediary which is usually the residual share of the amount collected by such intermediary net of the prize pool and the tax due on it (so-called “imposta unica”).

2.In-bound workers regime may be applied even without sending a request to the employer

According to the Italian Supreme Court’s decision no. 15234 of 7 June 2025, workers may benefit from the in-bound-workers regime even if they have not sent a request to the employer in order for the latter to apply the benefits of such regime directly in its capacity as withholding agent.
Where such request has not been filed, the workers may benefit from the regime in the tax return or they may file a reimbursement request pursuant to Art. 38 of Presidential Decree 602/73.
In its decision, the Italian Supreme Court recalls the clarification of the Circular letter no. 14/2012 (§ 2.2) issued by the Italian Tax Authorities according to which “on a residual basis, the interested party may submit a request for reimbursement pursuant to Article 38 of Presidential Decree no. 602 of 1973”: it is therefore allowed to benefit from the regime at stake through one or more reimbursement request even in the absence of a written request to the employer, as there is no specific law provision that explicitly provides for the regime not to apply in the absence of such request to the employer.

3.CFC and anti-hybrid penalty protection rules amended

Art. 4 of Law Decree no. 84 of 17 June 2025 amends the Italian controlled foreign companies regime (contained in Art. 167 of the TUIR). In particular:
• the criteria to allocate the QDMTT to constituent entities located in the foreign jurisdiction in order to calculate the effective tax rate for CFC purposes have been amended;
• the optional regime that allows the Italian controlling person to pay a substitute tax equal to 15% of the net accounting result of the potential CFC(s) has been amended as well.

Such amendments will be effective as of the fiscal year 2024.
Art. 5 of the same Law Decree no. 84/2025 also amends the transitional rules relating to the penalty protection regime on anti-hybrid measures introduced by Art. 61 of Legislative Decree 209/2023.
The new rule sets as the deadline for the preparation of the anti-hybrid documentation on the same day of the deadline for the filing of the tax return for fiscal year 2024.

4.Assonime analyses the Italian anti-hybrid penalty protection regime

Assonime has published its circular no. 14/2025 through which the association analysed the requirement that the anti-hybrid documentation needs to meet to grant the penalty protection provided for by Art. 61 of Legislative Decree 209/2023.
The deadline for 2024 and 2023 is set for 31 October 2025.
The circular also examines other aspects relating to Annexes A and B of the documentation: the second, in particular, outlines the procedure and the information to be collected in connection with the anti-hybrid documentation.

5.VAT exemptions may still apply even when formal omissions occurred

In its decision relating to case C-125/24 of 12 June 2025, the European Court of Justice stated that, lacking a fraud, the violation of formal customs obligations does not entail that VAT exemption in the event of the reintroduction of goods into the Member State (Art. 143(1)(e) of Directive 2006/112/EC) of export is not applicable anymore.
In the case analyzed by the Court, an individual had transported two horses to Norway to participate in some competitions and then had reintroduced them into Sweden without presenting them to customs, thus failing to present the declaration of release for free circulation.
According to the above-mentioned decision, since the substantive conditions required for the VAT exemption to apply are met, the failure to comply with the formal obligations (due to negligence and not to fraud), while giving rise to the customs debt, does not prevent the application of the duty-free regime for re-imported goods.

6.Peru ratifies and Antigua and Barbuda join the MLI

On 9 June 2025, Peru deposited its instrument of ratification of the Multilateral Convention on the Implementation
of Tax Treaty-Related Measures to Prevent Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS Convention).
The MLI will enter into force, for Peru, on 1 October 2025.
On 18 June 2025, also Antigua and Barbuda signed the Multilateral Convention for the Implementation of Tax Treaty-Related Measures to Prevent Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS Convention).
The jurisdictions adhering to the agreement thus become 105.

7.G7 reaches an agreement on cohexistence of Pillar Two and US rules

At the G7 summit on 28 June 2025, the jurisdictions party to the Inclusive Framework agreed to exempt US groups from the application of Pillar Two rules.
As a result, the United States of America eliminated from the draft of the financial bill the proposed Section 899 of the Internal Revenue Code, which was aimed at increasing the levy on U.S.-sourced income produced by persons resident in “hostile” States.

L'articolo INTERNATIONAL TAX FOCUS – JULY 2025 proviene da Studio Ciccioriccio e Associati.

The ruling reply no. 131 of 13 May 2025 provided clarifications on the identification of the “preferential” nature of foreign dividends (which precludes the exemption of 95% of such income).
If the foreign company distributing the dividends is not controlled by the Italian shereholder, art. 47-bis(1) of the TUIR establishes that the company is considered to be under a preferential regime if the nominal level of taxation of the State of residence is less than 50% of that applicable in Italy.
According to the Italian Tax Autorities, the test of the nominal level of taxation must be carried out:
• not taking into account, among the Italian taxes, IRAP;
• not taking into account, among foreign taxes, the taxes withheld at source by the other State at the distribution of profits.

The threshold of the nominal foreign taxation below which the foreign regime is considered privileged is, therefore, equal to 12% (50% of the nominal rate of IRES).

2.Income and capital gains realized by a non resident company from the participation and from the sale of a real estate fund

According to the ruling reply no. 143 of 27 May 2025, income realized by a Singaporean company from the participation in an Italian real estate fund is exempt in Italy pursuant to Art. 7(3) of Legislative Decree 352/2001 even in the event of a participation through a “non-umbrella venture capital company” (VCC) established on the basis of Singapore law.
In the case at stake, the requirement of collective asset management and the autonomy of the management company, as well as that of the plurality of investors, are satisfied.
With regard to supervision, the certificate of registration of VCC with the ACRA (“Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority” of Singapore) as a “variable capital company” (VCC), and in particular as a “Non-umbrella VCC”, has been produced.
In addition, the capital gains deriving from the sale of the shares of the real estate fund (art. 67(1) lett. c-ter) of the TUIR) are exempt in Italy pursuant to art. 5(5) of Legislative Decree no. 461/97.

3.Taxation of an English trust with Italian beneficiaries

The ruling replies no. 144 and 145 of 28 May 2025 examined the tax regime of a trust established by an individual resident in Italy and subject to English law, in which the settlor intended to contribute his or her shareholding in an Italian company, so that it could be administered (by the trustee, a trust company under Maltese law) in favour of the beneficiaries (wife, daughter and other future descendants).
The act also provided:
• the “investment adviser” (Swiss financial advisory firm) who was given the power to manage the trust’s investments;
• the protector of the trust, an Italian lawyer who is not related to the settlor.

In the present case, the settlor has not retained any power of disposal over the trust assets, nor the power to revoke the trustee, which belongs to the protector.
Therefore, according to ruling no. 145/2025, the trust thus established can actually be a taxable person, since it is not interposed.
On the other hand, ruling no. 144/2025 excluded, with reference to the same trust, the application of the reduced withholding tax of 1.20% on dividends paid by the Italian company, since the trust is not a corporation.

4.Social security pensions paid by the German government to Italian beneficiaries

The answer to parliamentary question no. 5-03917 of 28 May 2025 examined some issues relating to the certification procedure of social security pensions of German source paid to Italian residents, with reference to the conventional treatment of this income.
If the pension is one of those paid under social security legislation, Art. 19(4) of the Italy-Germany DTC provides for the exclusive taxation of such pensions in the source State, in the event that the beneficiary has only the nationality of that State without possessing the nationality of the State of residence.
Answer no. 5-03917 also incidentally addresses the question of the inclusion of this case in art. 19, and not in art. 18 of the DTC, which in fact involves the assimilation (by the German law) of pensions paid under social security legislation to public pensions.

5.Requirements of the enforceable title in the Mutual assistance between Member States

The Italian Supreme Court decision no. 13279 of 19 May 2025 ruled on the mutual assistance between Member States in the recovery of foreign tax debts (previous Legislative Decree 69/2003 applicable to the case at hand).
According to the Supreme Court, first of all, there is no obligation to attach to the payment notice the translation of the foreign enforceable title for which recovery is being carried out, since this is a requirement relating to the first phase of transmission of the enforceable title from the requesting foreign State to the requested State. Furthermore, the expiry of the five-year period provided for by the reference rule does not entail the forfeiture, but only the absence of the obligation of mutual assistance between the Member States.

6.Global Information Return – EU Directive 2025/872 (DAC 9)

The new Directive no. 2025/872 (“DAC 9”) has been published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 6 May 2025, establishing new rules on the automatic exchange of information relating to supplementary tax returns (so-called Globe information return), introduced by States in application of the global minimum taxation of 15% to large-sized groups.
In particular, the introduction of a standardized and centralized system for reporting tax information is envisaged, which allows, instead of the submission of separate returns in each State, the submission of the return by a single entity of the group.
Member States shall adopt and publish, by 31 December 2025, the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with this Directive.

L'articolo INTERNATIONAL TAX FOCUS – JUNE 2025 proviene da Studio Ciccioriccio e Associati.

On the 10 April 2025, the Chartered Accountants Italian Association has issued its document no. 229 which analyses the new participation exemption regime introduced in Italy with respect to capital gains derived by companies resident in the EU or EEA on the sale of stakes into Italian companies.
According to the association, such regime should also be extended to capital gains derived by persons resident in third Countries; if not, the Italian participation exemption regime rule might be considered as in breach of the free movement of capital principle enshrined in Art. 63 of the TFEU.

2.Foreign tax credit to be granted in proportion to the Italian taxable base

According to the ruling reply no. 101 of 15 April 2025, the principle contained in Art. 165(10) of the TUIR, according to which, if foreign income are subject to tax partially in Italy, the foreign tax that can be credited against taxes due in Italy shall also be proportionately reduced, is applicable to capital gains on participation taxable both abroad and in Italy (where they are taxed only with respect to 5% of their amount).
The case analyzed by the Italian tax authorities addressed a capital gain realized by an Italian company following the sale of a stake in a French company, taxable (partially) in both States by virtue of the protocol to the tax treaty entered into between Italy and France.

3.Severance payments paid to former Italian tax residents are taxable in Italy

According to the Italian tax authorities’s ruling no. 98 of 14 April 2025, the amounts paid by an Italian company to a non-resident as a severance payment following a settlement for the termination of the employment relationship:
• are only taxable in Italy for the portion related to the employment period during which the person was a resident in Italy and the work was performed in Italy;
• they are equally taxable in Italy for the portion related to the work period during which the person was a resident in a State which has not entered into a tax treaty with Italy and the work was performed in such foreign State (in this case, Cuba). Indeed, in such a case, according to Art. 23(2)a) of the TUIR, these amounts are taxable in Italy for non-residents if paid by an entity resident in Italy.
In addition, these amounts fall within the scope of Art. 15 of the OECD Model Convention as they qualify as employment income; thus, in order to assess the correct allocation of taxing rights the person’s tax residence and the place where the work was carried out must be taken into consideration.

4.Non-compete payments are not taxable in Italy

With ruling no. 111 of 17 April 2025, the Italian Tax Authorities clarified the tax regime which is applicable to sums paid by Italian companies to non-resident individuals under non-compete agreements.
These sums, if aimed at ensuring that the ex-manager does not take on managerial roles in other companies, are not taxable in Italy as they are only taxable in the State of residence of the recipient.
This regime applies even if, according to Art. 23(2) a) of the TUIR such amounts are territorially relevant in Italy when paid by Italian companies as the relevant tax treaty prevents Italy from levying any tax.

5.The location of an intangible asset affects the taxation of the related royalties

In ruling no. 112 of 17 April 2025, the Italian tax authorities examined the taxation of royalties paid by a non-resident company to a non-resident taxpayer.
According to the Italian Tax Authorities, the place where the relevant intangible asset is located is relevant in order to determine the territoriality and tax treatment of the royalties.
This is because, for such income, the territoriality criteria are established by Art. 23(1) f) of the TUIR, which considers taxable in the hands of non-residents miscellaneous income deriving from activities carried out in Italy and from assets located in Italy.

6.Taxes on management fees levied abroad may be credited against Italian taxes

According to the ruling reply no. 116 of 18 April 2025, the services related to the development of a plant carried out by an Italian company for the benefit of an Egyptian company are to be considered as “management fees”. Therefore, the payments:
• do not fall under the scope of Art. 22 of the Italy-Egypt tax treaty, which provides for exclusive right to tax in the residence State of the recipient;
• do not fall under the scope of Art. 7 of the same tax treaty, which provides exclusive right to tax of the State of residence of the recipient in the absence of a permanent establishment in the other Contracting State;
• are taxable in both Contracting States.

In the case analysed in the ruling:
• the services were carried out from Italy;
• the Italian company had a permanent establishment in Egypt, but such permanent establishment was not involved in the development of the plant.

As the taxation in Egypt occurs in accordance to the provision of the tax treaty, the Italian company can therefore offset taxes levied in Egypt from the Italian IRES, to the extent that such taxes are final (as defined by Article 165 of the TUIR).

7.Rental fees for boxes and pallets fall under Art. 12 of the OECD Model

In their ruling reply no. 117 of 18 April 2025, the Italian Tax Authorities clarified that boxes and pallets for fruit transport are classified among the “industrial, commercial or scientific equipment”. Accordingly, where the income is derived by a non-Italian resident, a 30% withholding tax comes due on the fees agreed upon.
In this specific case, the territorial requirement was considered to be met, as the rented goods were located within the Italian territory (Art. 23(1)f) of the TUIR).
However, as the requirements for Art. 12 of the tax treaty between Italy and the residence State of the recipient (being Spain) are met, the Italian domestic withholding is to be reduced to 8% of the gross fee.

8.Pro-rata taxation on stock options if part of the vesting occurred while working in Italy

On 23 April 2025, the Italian Supreme Court issued its decision no. 10606, addressing the case of an individual residing in the Czech Republic who received stock options which partly vested while he was working in Italy.
Both Italian domestic law (Art. 23(1)c) of TUIR) and Art. 15 of the tax treaty between Italy and Czechoslovakia does not give raise to any Italian tax liabilities with respect to the portion of income related to the period during which the individual resided abroad and did not carry out his employment activities in Italy.
On the contrary, if stock options are allocated to a worker that is not residing in Italy who, however, performed part of its employment activity in Italy during the vesting period, then the income is taxable in Italy on a “pro-rata” basis, meaning only for the portion that represents compensation for work performed within the Italian territory.
The taxable amount in Italy is determined using the proportional ratio between the number of days of employment that were rendered in Italy and the total number of working days within the vesting period.

9.Research carried out by Czech researcher in Italy

Ruling no. 97 issued by the Tax Authority on 15 April 2025 addresses the tax treatment of funding granted to a Czech citizen by the Ministry of the Czech Republic, through a Czech university, for a two-year research project conducted in Italy at an Italian university.
According to Italian domestic law, such income is considered to be taxable in Italy as employment income.
However, under Art. 20 of the tax treaty entered into between Italy and Czechoslovakia (which remains applicable to rela-tions with the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic), compensation received by professors and teachers who temporarily reside in a foreign state for the purpose of teaching or conducting scientific research for a period not exceeding two years is exempt from taxation in the host state.
Therefore, in this case, the fees received by the Czech researcher might not be subject to taxation in Italy.

10.Pension payments are taxable only in the residence State regardless to actual taxation

The Italian Supreme Court, in its decision no. 11085 of 28 April 2025, confirmed that pension benefits paid by INPS to an Italian citizen being tax resident in Switzerland are not taxable in Italy, regardless to the circumstance that such amounts are taxed or not in Switzerland. Therefore, for the purpose of refunding withholdings made by INPS on pensions paid to a Swiss resident, the actual payment of Swiss taxes on these pensions is not relevant.
Additionally, the Italian Supreme Court stated that the tax residence certificate mentioned in Article 29(2) of the Italy-Switzerland tax treaty is valid even if it is issued by the Cantonal Authority, taking into account the division of the Swiss Confederation into Cantons.

11.Prescription period to avail of tax credit for taxes paid abroad

As per the Italian Supreme Court’s decision no. 10642 of 23 April 2025, taxpayers retain the right to claim the tax credit for taxes paid even if this right is not claimed in the tax return for the fiscal year in which the foreign income was generated. In the absence of an explicit time limit under Art. 165 of the TUIR, this right can be asserted within a ten-year limitation period (being the general statute of limitation for credits in Italy).

12.Payment code to be used by frontiers workers in Switzerland has been issued

The Italian Tax Authorities’ statement of practice no. 27 of 10 April 2025 has introduced the payment code “1863” relating to the special regime of substitute taxation for frontier works in Switzerland. This regime applies to workers residing within certain municipalities identified in annexes 1 and 2 of the decree no. 113/2024, which are located entirely or partially within a 20 km zone from the Swiss border.
The established code permits the payment of a substitute tax for IRPEF (and local surcharges) amounting to 25% of the taxes levied in Switzerland on income earned from employment therein.
In order to benefit from this regime, effective as of 2024, an election must be made in the relevant income tax return, together with the payment of the substitute tax that need to occur by the deadline for paying the balance of income taxes. Once this option is exercised, taxes paid in Switzerland on income subject to substitute taxation may not be off-set against Italian taxes due.

13.Administrative penalties waived with reference to FATCA obligations

The Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance, in a FAQ dated 4 April 2025, confirmed the waiver of administrative penalties for Italian financial institutions that fail to fulfill the obligations to acquire and report the US TIN (tax identification number) concerning FATCA communications for the fiscal years 2025, 2026, and 2027.
This waiver applies to institutions that comply with the conditions outlined by IRS practice in Notice 2024-78.

14.Price adjustments are relevant for VAT purposes

In case C-726/23, the Advocate General of the European Court of Justice analyzed the VAT implications of the amounts paid by a company to its parent company located in another Member State. These payments were made to adjust inter-company prices to arm’s length values in accordance with transfer pricing rules.
The Advocate General concluded that such remuneration should be considered as compensation for services provided by the parent company for a fee, pursuant to Article 2 of Directive 2006/112/EC, and therefore subject to VAT.

L'articolo INTERNATIONAL TAX FOCUS – MAY 2025 proviene da Studio Ciccioriccio e Associati.