Patent Box Update
The Tax Agency, with provision 4823/2022 published on 15.02.2022, provided for the implementing provisions, the content of the documentation and methods of exercising the new patent box.
In this news we will see in summary what the tax agency has clarified in terms of use of the facility.
The Admitted Subjects
The provision, retracing the reference standard to the patent box, de facto provides that all subjects, holders of business income can benefit from the concession of the patent box.
The only subjects that are in fact excluded a priori are the following:
- Companies that determine taxable income on a cadastral or lump sum basis
- Companies that are in a state of voluntary liquidation, bankruptcy, compulsory administrative liquidation, arrangement with creditors or other insolvency proceedings.
Obviously it is necessary that the company is the owner of the intangible asset that can be facilitated as owner or as holder of the right to economic exploitation, such as patent licensees.
The eligible assets
The provision lists the assets that can benefit from the 110% increase in specific expenses incurred by the investor in carrying out the activity through the exploitation of the intangible assets used directly or indirectly. The eligible costs are those related to the following assets:
a) Copyright protected software ;
b) Industrial patents, including patents for inventions, biotechnological inventions and related complementary protection certificates, utility model patents as well as patents and certificates for plant varieties and topographies of semiconductor products;
c) Legally protected designs and models
d) Two or more intangible assets among those indicated in the previous letters from a) to c), linked together by a bond of complementarity, such that the realization of a product or a family of products or of a process or group of processes is subject to the joint use of the same.
Eligible expenses
The provision clearly states that the eligible expenses are those referring to tax credits for:
- Industrial research and experimental development pursuant to article 2 of the Mise
- The activities classified as technological innovation pursuant to art. 3 of the Mise
- The activities that can be classified as design and aesthetic ideation pursuant to article 4 of the MISE decree
- The activities of legal protection of the rights on intangible assets
Section 4 of the provision lists the eligible expenses directly used in the development or maintenance of the intangible asset.
The expenses are substantially the same as those foreseen in the tax credits for research and development technological innovation, design and aesthetic innovation, of which you can also find our article .
The costs are as follows:
a) Expenses for personnel directly employed in carrying out the relevant activities.
b) Amortization quotas and financial leasing fees relating to movable assets, instruments and intangible assets used in the development of the legally protected asset.
c) Costs for consultancy services relating to the development or maintenance of the legally protected asset.
d) Expenses for materials, supplies and other products of goods used in the legally protected asset
e) Expenses related to the maintenance of rights on subsidized intangible assets
It should be remembered that the company can recover 110% of the expenses as listed above, incurred before obtaining legal protection up to the previous 8 years.
Penalty Protection
The provision of the Tax Agency dedicates paragraph 7 to the preparation of suitable documentation in order to avoid the application of sanctions.
In fact, the appropriate documentation makes it possible to avoid the application of sanctions in the event of the recovery of the deducted increase for tax purposes.
Possession of suitable documentation must be indicated in tax returns and in the event of failure to notify the envisaged sanction will still be applied.
The documentation must be presented at the request of the tax agency within 20 days.
The documentation must also be signed by the legal representative of the taxpayer or by his / her delegate by means of an electronic signature with a time stamp to be affixed by the date of presentation of the tax return.
To read the previous news referring to the Patent Box click here
Lorenzo Rogai
Chartered Accountant Statutory Auditor
Contact us
For any other information, please contact Rogai & Partners stp Srl
www.studiorogai.it
News archive