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?
The 90% exemption under Article 44 of Decree-Law No. 78/2010 applies to employment or self-employment remuneration arising from qualifying teaching or research activities carried out in Italy, subject to the statutory requirements. It does not automatically cover all income earned by a professor or researcher.
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.
For individuals transferring tax residence to Italy from 2020 onward, the ordinary benefit period is six tax years, including the year of transfer, and may reach eight, eleven or thirteen years where the statutory conditions are met. Individuals who transferred before 2020 and were benefiting from the regime on 31 December 2019 may access the extended periods through the specific paid option, subject to its additional eligibility requirements.
Legislative Decree No. 117 of 19 June 2026 approved the new consolidated income tax legislation. The decree entered into force on 4 July 2026, while the provisions of the consolidated text apply from 1 January 2027. The teaching and research incentive is consolidated in Article 226. References to Article 44 of Decree-Law No. 78/2010 remain relevant to the historical ruling and the rules applicable before that date.
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.
Article 1(763) of Law No. 234/2021 introduced Article 5(5-ter) and (5-quater) of Decree-Law No. 34/2019. The option is available to professors and researchers who had transferred to Italy before 2020, were benefiting from Article 44 on 31 December 2019, and had been registered with AIRE or are citizens of an EU Member State. The option requires the prescribed payment and compliance with the relevant family or property conditions.
The system provides three levels of extension:
- up to 8 total tax years where the taxpayer has at least one minor or dependent child, including a child in pre-adoptive foster care, or meets the statutory residential property acquisition conditions in Italy. For pre-2020 returnees, the paid option has separate entry requirements.
- 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.
Under Revenue Agency Measure No. 102028 of 31 March 2022, the option is exercised through payment in a single instalment by 30 June of the year following the end of the initial benefit period, subject to the specific transitional rules for periods already expired at 31 December 2021. Minor-child conditions are assessed when the option is exercised. The property condition may also be met through acquisition within eighteen months after the option, as expressly permitted by law.
The entry fee amounts to:
- 10% of the qualifying employment and self-employment income produced in Italy in the tax year preceding the option, calculated before the 90% exemption, where the taxpayer has at least one minor child, including in pre-adoptive foster care, or satisfies the qualifying residential property acquisition condition.
- 5% of the same qualifying income where the taxpayer has at least three minor children, including in pre-adoptive foster care, AND satisfies the residential property acquisition condition. The qualifying property must have been acquired after the transfer to Italy, within the twelve months preceding it, or within eighteen months after exercising the option. Acquisition by the spouse, partner or children, including joint ownership, is also permitted.
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 (future paragraph 4 of Article 226) 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.
For the minor-child condition, the relevant date is the date on which the option is exercised through payment of 5% or 10% of the qualifying Italian employment and self-employment income for the previous tax year, before applying the 90% exemption. The separate statutory deadline for a subsequent qualifying property acquisition remains applicable.
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 qualifying Italian employment and self-employment income for 2022, before applying the 90% exemption.
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.
In the case described in Ruling No. 80/2026, the taxpayer may exercise a new option by 30 June 2027, in the year following the end of the eight-year benefit period, and make the additional payment required for the longer extension:
- 10% of qualifying Italian employment and self-employment income for 2026, before applying the 90% exemption.
In this way, the benefit may be extended up to 11 total tax years.
Third step: extension up to 13 years
In the case described in Ruling No. 80/2026, if the taxpayer also has a third minor child when exercising the new option by 30 June 2027, the total benefit period may reach thirteen tax years, subject to the other statutory requirements. The reduced 5% payment additionally requires the qualifying residential property condition.
Where both the three-minor-children condition and the qualifying property condition are satisfied, the payment for the new option amounts to:
- 5% of qualifying Italian employment and self-employment income for 2026, before applying the 90% exemption.
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.