Skip to content With Ruling No. 80 of 18 March 2026, the Italian Revenue Agency regarding this tax relief clarifies that, also for university professors and researchers who transferred their tax residence to Italy before 2020, the duration of the preferential tax regime under Article 44 of Decree-Law No. 78/2010 may be further extended where additional requirements arise during an already extended benefit period, through the exercise of a new option and payment of an additional amount.
This clarification follows the interpretative approach previously adopted in Resolution No. 8/2026, which addressed an analogous issue with respect to professors and researchers who transferred to Italy from tax year 2020 onward, acknowledging the possibility of progressively extending the preferential period where additional children are born during the enjoyment of the regime.
What is the tax relief amount?
By way of introduction, it is useful to briefly recall the relevant legal framework: Article 44 of Decree-Law No. 78/2010 provides, subject to specific conditions, for a 90% exemption from employment or self-employment income earned by professors and researchers transferring their tax residence to Italy.
General conditions:
- Transfer of tax residence: the regime applies from the tax year in which the professor or researcher becomes tax resident in Italy pursuant to Article 2 of the Italian Income Tax Code (TUIR);
- Forfeiture: the benefit ceases if the individual transfers tax residence abroad during the benefit period, without prejudice to relief already validly enjoyed;
- De minimis regime: the benefit is subject to the limits set out in Article 8-bis of Decree-Law No. 148/2017;
- Non-cumulability: the regime cannot be combined with similar tax incentives (Law No. 238/2010, Legislative Decree No. 147/2015, Article 24-bis TUIR), except for the new inbound workers regime under Legislative Decree No. 209/2023, provided that the same income is not benefited twice.
Subjective requirements:
- possession of a university degree or equivalent qualification, with declaration of value where foreign qualifications are concerned;
- stable residence abroad and documented teaching or research activity for at least two consecutive years at universities or research centres;
- performance in Italy of teaching or research activity;
- acquisition and maintenance of Italian tax residence for the duration of the benefit period.
The regime provides for a different initial duration depending on the year of transfer to Italy, together with the possibility — subject to specific conditions — of obtaining an extension for individuals who became tax resident in Italy from 2020 onward or who were already benefiting from the regime as of 31 December 2019.
The issue submitted to the Revenue Agency
The request concerns a university professor who declared having transferred tax residence to Italy in 2019, after more than three years of registration with AIRE, and having benefited from the tax incentive under Article 44 of Decree-Law No. 78/2010 for the four-year period 2019–2022.
In April 2023, the taxpayer exercised the option provided for by Article 1, paragraph 763, of Law No. 234/2021, paying the required amount on the basis of one minor child born in 2018.
Subsequently, in August 2023, a second child was born.
The interpretative question submitted to the Revenue Agency concerned whether the two-child requirement could be considered satisfied for the entire 2023 tax year and, consequently, whether the taxpayer could directly access the extension up to eleven total tax years.
According to the taxpayer’s position, the birth of the second child during the same year in which the option had been exercised should have allowed immediate recognition of the longer extension.
Legal framework for transfers before 2020
For professors and researchers who transferred tax residence to Italy up to 2019, the ordinary regime under Article 44 of Decree-Law No. 78/2010 granted relief for four tax years starting from the year of acquisition of Italian tax residence.
Subsequently, Article 1, paragraph 763, of Law No. 234/2021 allowed such individuals — provided they were already benefiting from the regime as of 31 December 2019 — to access the extensions provided under paragraph 3-ter of Article 44, through the exercise of a specific option.
The system provides three levels of extension:
- up to 8 total tax years where the taxpayer has at least one minor or dependent child, or owns residential property in Italy;
- up to 11 total tax years where the taxpayer has at least two minor or dependent children;
- up to 13 total tax years where the taxpayer has at least three minor or dependent children.
Measure No. 102028/2022 issued by the Revenue Agency establishes that the relevant requirements must be met at the time the option is exercised, i.e. when the benefit is perfected through payment of the entry fee by 30 June of the year following the end of the first preferential period.
The entry fee amounts to:
- 10% of the exempt income earned in the previous tax year if, at the time of the option, the taxpayer has at least one minor child or owns residential property;
- 5% if the taxpayer has at least three minor children.
For taxpayers who benefited from the four-year period 2019–2022, the relevant deadline therefore fell on 30 June 2023.
Principle already established for transfers from 2020 onward
For professors and researchers transferring tax residence from 2020 onward, paragraph 3-ter of Article 44 directly provides for a longer preferential period where the same qualifying conditions are met.
Resolution No. 08/2026 clarified that the benefit may be progressively extended if children are born during the preferential period: individuals entering the regime without children may subsequently reach 8, 11 or 13 total years if the relevant requirements arise before expiry of the benefit period.
Revenue Agency’s ruling: the timing of the option is decisive
In the specific case, the Revenue Agency excludes that the birth of the second child in August 2023 may affect the option already exercised in April of the same year.
At the time of payment, the taxpayer only satisfied the condition of having one minor child; accordingly, the only immediately available extension is up to eight total tax years.
The relevant requirement is therefore not assessed by reference to the entire tax year, but exclusively at the time the option is exercised and perfected through payment of 5% or 10% of the exempt income relating to the previous year.
How does tax relief work?
The most relevant aspect of the ruling concerns the possibility of subsequent additional extensions.
First step: extension up to 8 years
The option exercised in April 2023 remains valid for access to the first extension:
- benefit extended up to 8 total tax years;
- payment of 10% of exempt income earned in the previous tax year.
Second step: extension up to 11 years
Although irrelevant for the option already exercised, the birth of the second child allows a further extension at a later stage.
The taxpayer may exercise a new option by 30 June 2027, i.e. in the year following completion of the eight-year benefit period, by paying an additional that amount to:
- 10% of exempt income earned in the tax year preceding the new option.
In this way, the benefit may be extended up to 11 total tax years.
Third step: extension up to 13 years
If a third child is born by the same deadline of 30 June 2027, a further option may be exercised to reach 13 total tax years.
In such case, the required payment is reduced to:
- 5% of exempt income earned in the previous tax year.
Conclusions
Ruling No. 80/2026 confirms that, also for professors and researchers who relocated to Italy before 2020, the extension mechanism does not operate rigidly but allows progressive access to the various extension levels, provided that each newly accrued requirement is invoked through a new option exercised within the applicable deadline.
From an operational standpoint, the clarification requires particular attention to deadlines and to the precise timing at which the relevant requirements are met.
In this context, A&P firm provides specialised advice in the field of international taxation and preferential tax regimes for inbound workers, assisting taxpayers in assessing eligibility requirements, managing compliance obligations and identifying the most appropriate practical solutions.