In response to the ruling of April 6, 2022 n.172, the Revenue Agency has finally clarified its position regarding the recognition of the impatriate tax regime for those British citizens who had benefited from the facility as at 31 December 2019, and who met the requirements to request its extension.
The new regulation introduced by Budget Law 2021
With the Circular n.33 of 2020 it was specified that the Legislator introduced a temporal extension of the tax benefit to further five tax periods, with taxation in the amount of 50% of the taxable income , in the presence of specific requirements, such as, alternatively:
- have at least one minor or dependent child, even in pre-adoptive foster care; or,
- the purchase of a residential property unit in Italy directly by the worker or by the spouse, cohabitant or children, even in co-ownership.
(Article 16, paragraph 3-bis of the legislative decree 14 September 2015, n. 147 – Internationalization decree – as inserted by article 5, paragraph 1, letter c) – Growth decree).
The percentage of taxation of subsidized income produced in the territory of the State in the further five tax periods is reduced to 10% if the subject has at least three minor or dependent children.
Subsequently, article 1, paragraph 50, of law no. 178 (Budget Law 2021) has inserted paragraph 2-bis in said article 5 of the Growth decree, in order to allow the application of the measure referred to in paragraph 1, lett. c) (extension for a further five years of the use of the special regime for expatriate workers), also to those who have been registered in the Registry of Italians residing abroad or who are citizens of EU Member States, who have already transferred the residence before the year 2020 and who as of 31 December 2019 are beneficiaries of the regime provided for by article 16 of the legislative decree 14 September 2015, n. 147.
The law in question has in fact restricted the number of potential beneficiaries of the extension of the impatriate regime.
Taking into account what has just been described, the option cannot therefore be exercised:
- by subjects who have transferred their residence to Italy with effect from 30 April 2019;
- by professional sportsmen who hold the relationships referred to in the law of 23 March 1981, n. 91 (see article 5, paragraph 2-quater, Growth decree).
As a result of the joint reading of the provision that allows the exercise of the option only to persons “who have already transferred their residence before the year 2020” and of the one that precludes this possibility for those who have moved as of April 30, 2019 , the application of article 1, paragraph 50, of the 2021 budget law is, in fact, reserved for those who acquired Italian tax residence before 30 April 2019 (provided that as of 31 December 2019 they are beneficiaries of the subsidized regime).
In fact, although beneficiaries at 31 December 2019 of the special regime for expatriate workers, they are in any case excluded from the possibility of exercising the option:
- those who have not been registered with AIRE;
- non-EU citizens even if they are beneficiaries of the special regime for expatriate workers.
Impatriate tax regime for British citizens: the position of the Revenue Agency
In response to the ruling of 6 April 2022 n.172, the Revenue Agency has finally clarified its position regarding the recognition of the impatriate tax regime for those British citizens who had benefited from the facility as at 31 December 2019, and who met the requirements to request its extension. The Revenue Agency has in fact recalled the provisions of the Brexit Agreement, which entered into force on 1 February 2020.
This Agreement prohibits discrimination against British citizens on the basis of their nationality and prohibits the same benefits being denied to workers of English citizenship tax granted to other EU workers.
In fact, the Agency stated that “in the present case, on the basis of Article 24 of the aforementioned Agreement which, making explicit reference to EU Regulation no. 492/2011, guarantees to the citizens of the United Kingdom to enjoy “the same social and fiscal advantages of national workers”, the extension of the facility for expatriate workers can be recognized “.