With Ruling No. 67/2025 of March 7th 2025, the Internal Revenue Agency provided important clarifications on the determination of total income for the purpose of verifying the status of a fiscally dependent family member, in the context of the application of the facilitation tax regime for professors and researchers, governed by article 44 of Legislative Decree 78/2010.
Find out more about incentives for professors and researchers.
The issue at hand
The request of clarification was submitted by a taxpayer who, after living abroad performing research and teaching activities, returned to Italy in 2022. By applying the special tax regime for professors and researchers, she was able to benefit from a 90% exemption on compensation received for research and teaching activities.
The question submitted to the Internal Revenue Agency regards the determination of total income for the purpose of recognizing the deduction due to dependent family members. In particular, whether the income to be considered is only that which was actually taxed (equal to 10% of the total compensation received) or whether it should also include the exempted portion.
Find out more on the recent news regarding the compatibility between the incentives for researchers and professors and the impatriate regime.
The Agency’s Ruling
The Agency clarified that, under article 12 of the TUIR, a family member is considered dependent for tax purposes if their total annual income does not exceed €2,840.51 (or €4.000 for children up to 24 years old), calculated before deductible expenses.
In order to calculate this limit, all income received is considered, except for that which is exempt or subject to substitute tax. As a matter of fact, article 3 of the TUIR states that exempt incomes do not contribute to the formation of the taxable sum. Since there is no rule that includes the share of subsidized income for professors and researchers among those relevant for computing the total income, the Agency confirmed that the exempt amount should not be considered. Therefore, if the taxpayer’s taxable income, net of the exempt portion, falls within the threshold of €2.840,51, she is to be considered fiscally dependent on her spouse, who will benefit from the relevant tax deduction.
Conclusions
In other words, this interpretation clarifies that the facilitation scheme for professors and researchers does not affect the determination of total income for the purpose of verifying the limit for deductions due to dependent family members. Hence, professors and researchers who have returned to Italy and who benefit from such regime can be considered fiscally dependent on their spouses if their actually taxed income does stay within the limits set by article 12 of the TUIR.
This clarification is particularly relevant for those who intend to take advantage of the facilitation regime and verify their tax position with respect to the possibility of being considered fiscally dependent.
To learn more about the taxation applicable to professors and researchers who have returned to Italy, both regarding the facilitation scheme and other tax deductions provided by the Italian tax system, Studio Arletti & Partners provides specialized and personalized consultancies.
