Skip to content With Ruling No. 12/2026, the Italian Revenue Agency (Agenzia delle Entrate) provides significant clarifications on the application of the inbound workers regime, governed by Article 5 of Legislative Decree No. 209 of 27 December 2023. In particular, the tax authorities address the eligibility for the tax incentive of individuals returning from abroad who, during their period of foreign residence, continued to perform their work activity in Italy as so-called “cross-border workers”.
The case submitted to the tax authorities
The request for an advance tax ruling concerns an employee of an Italian company who began his employment relationship in 2016 at a facility located in Italy. After an initial period of stay in Italy, the taxpayer moved abroad in 2018, registering with the AIRE and filing income tax returns with the foreign tax authorities from that date onward. Despite the transfer of residence, he continued to commute daily to Italy to perform his work activity, thus falling within a typical cross-border employment scenario.
In view of a permanent return to Italy and the transfer of his tax residence, also in connection with the purchase of real estate in Italy, the taxpayer asked whether he could benefit from the new inbound workers regime, relying on his high professional qualification and arguing that the performance of work activity in Italy during the period of foreign residence should not preclude the application of the incentive.
The requirement of high qualification: inadmissibility of the ruling request
As a preliminary matter, the Italian Revenue Agency addresses the requirement of high qualification or specialisation set out in Article 5(1)(d) of Legislative Decree No. 209/2023, which refers to the definitions contained in Legislative Decree No. 108/2012 and Legislative Decree No. 206/2007.
In this respect, the tax authorities reiterate a principle already expressed in previous administrative guidance, namely that the concrete assessment of academic qualifications, professional licences or highly qualified work experience constitutes a technical evaluation rather than an interpretation of tax law. Consequently, advance ruling requests seeking a direct assessment of such requirements must be deemed inadmissible pursuant to Article 11 of Law No. 212/2000, as they fall outside the scope of tax rulings.
Temporal requirements and the relationship with the employer
Of greater practical relevance are the clarifications concerning the minimum period of foreign tax residence and the relationship with the employer. The Agency recalls that Article 5 of Legislative Decree No. 209/2023 allows access to the new regime for taxpayers who transfer their tax residence to Italy starting from the 2024 tax period, provided that they have not been tax resident in Italy in the three tax periods preceding the return.
However, this minimum period is extended to six or seven years where the worker returns to perform employment activities for the same employer (or a company belonging to the same group) for whom they were employed abroad or in Italy prior to expatriation. In such cases, the provision aims to prevent opportunistic use of the tax incentive by strengthening the requirement of a substantial period of residence abroad.
Work activity performed in Italy during the expatriation period
A key aspect of Ruling No. 12/2026 concerns the place where the work activity was carried out prior to the return. The Agency reiterates that, unlike the previous regime, the new inbound workers regime no longer requires a “functional” link between the transfer of tax residence to Italy and the commencement of a new work activity.
Most importantly, the legislation does not impose any condition as to where the work activity must be performed during the period of foreign residence. As a result, the fact that the taxpayer worked in Italy as a cross-border worker during the expatriation period does not, in itself, constitute an obstacle to the application of the tax incentive, provided that the formal requirement of foreign tax residence for the minimum period prescribed by law is met.
The conclusions of the Italian Revenue Agency
In the case examined, the taxpayer states that he moved abroad starting from 2018 and intends to return to Italy in 2026 to work for the same employer for whom he had performed work both before expatriation and during the period of foreign residence. In this context, the Agency concludes that, subject to the fulfilment of all other statutory requirements, the worker may apply the new inbound workers regime, as the requirement of seven prior tax periods of foreign residence is satisfied.
Ruling No. 12/2026 therefore confirms a substantive interpretation consistent with the rationale of the reform, enhancing legal certainty in the application of the new regime and broadening its accessibility even in complex situations, such as those involving cross-border workers.