Skip to content With Ruling No. 54/2026, the Italian Revenue Agency has once again addressed the conditions for accessing the new preferential tax regime for inbound workers under Article 5 of Legislative Decree No. 209/2023, providing a particularly relevant clarification regarding the role of the Employer of Record (EoR).
The ruling follows earlier administrative guidance that has progressively defined the scope of application of the new regime, but for the first time directly addresses the issue of continuity of employment in situations involving EoR entities belonging to the same corporate group.
For a broader analysis of the new inbound workers regime, reference is made to the dedicated insight available on our website.
The facts and the taxpayer’s request
The taxpayer, an Italian citizen holding both a master’s degree and a PhD, transferred his residence to Switzerland as of 1 May 2022, and was therefore considered non-resident for Italian tax purposes for the tax years 2022, 2023 and 2024.
From 1 August 2023 to 21 July 2025, he performed work in favor of the U.S. company ALFA Inc., under an employment contract formally entered into with GAMMA SWITZERLAND, acting as employer of record.
In August 2025, the individual transferred his tax residence to Italy and, from the second half of 2025, began working in Italy for the U.S. company BETA, under an employment contract formally executed with GAMMA ITALY, also acting as an employer of record and belonging to the same group as the Swiss entity.
In both arrangements, the EoR entities did not exercise managerial or decision-making authority over the employee’s performance, which was carried out in favor of different end-user companies that were not related to each other within the meaning of Article 2359 of the Italian Civil Code.
The interpretative question concerned the requirement set out in Article 5(1)(b) of Legislative Decree No. 209/2023: where two employers of record belong to the same corporate group, should the ordinary requirement of three tax years of foreign residence apply, or the enhanced requirement of six or seven years applicable when the employee returns to work for the same employer or for an entity belonging to the same group?
The taxpayer argued that the ordinary three-year requirement (2022–2024) should apply, maintaining that the mere formal continuity of the EoR did not constitute the substantive continuity required by the provision, particularly since the end-user companies were not related under Article 2359 of the Italian Civil Code.
The position of the Italian Revenue Agency
The Revenue Agency first recalls Article 5 of Legislative Decree No. 209/2023, which provides:
- the requirement that the individual must not have been tax resident in Italy for the three tax years preceding the transfer; and
- the extension of the minimum period of foreign residence to six or seven years where the employee returns to work for the same employer or for an entity belonging to the same group.
According to the Agency, the relevant factor for the application of the rule is the formal employer and its membership in a corporate group, as defined by Article 2359 of the Italian Civil Code.
The fact that the end-user companies benefiting from the services (ALFA and BETA) are not related to each other is therefore irrelevant for the purpose of assessing the continuity required by the provision.
Consequently, where two employers of record belong to the same corporate group, the minimum foreign residence requirement is increased to six tax years.
Conclusions
The ruling is particularly relevant because it provides, for the first time expressly, clarification on the role of the Employer of Record within the framework of the new inbound workers regime.
The Revenue Agency adopts a formal approach, placing emphasis on the contractual employer and its membership in a corporate group, even where the EoR does not exercise substantive managerial powers and the employee’s services are rendered in favor of independent end-user companies.
As a result, where EoR entities belonging to the same group are involved, a worker returning to Italy must verify compliance with the enhanced requirement of six tax years of foreign residence, as the ordinary three-year requirement would not suffice.
In a similar, though not identical, scenario, where the formal employer is different (for example, EoR entities not belonging to the same group), but the substantive employer belongs to companies within the same group, it cannot currently be ruled out that the Italian Revenue Agency may still consider the six-year enhanced requirement applicable. At present, however, no official clarifications or administrative guidance have been issued that would provide certainty on this point.
This clarification forms part of the ongoing interpretative consolidation of the new regime, with significant operational implications for multinational groups that rely on employer-of-record structures in managing cross-border employment relationships.
A&P assists companies and employees in assessing eligibility for the inbound workers regime and in evaluating the tax implications associated with a relocation to Italy.