Tucked away in the corners of last year’s budget lies a very generous incentive to incoming workers. It comes in the form of an extension to a scheme which originally aimed to encourage graduates to live and work in Italy. The scheme was then broadened to cover anyone working in specialist or highly qualified positions and finally has now been extended to cover any persons coming to work in Italy, including those registering as self-employed.
Under the scheme, qualifying workers are granted a 50% reduction in their chargeable income. Further, where INPS (social security) is calculated on the basis of chargeable income this will also effectively be reduced by 50%. – not a bad offer in a high-tax environment. The incentives last for a period of 5 years. The qualifying requirements are that the worker is registered as resident in the local Comune, and that the work they do is carried out principally in Italy. Workers are expected to remain resident for a minimum of 2 years. The taxman is entitled to recover the value of the underpaid tax if you move away before the end of the two-year period.
You need to be quick, though – if you want to qualify you have to show that you started work, whether as employed or self-employed, within 3 months of making your permanent move to Italy.
If you want more details of this, or any of the other anti brain-drain schemes, please contact us.
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