The arrival in the Council of Ministers of the new legislative decree on tax matters containing changes regarding IRPEF and IRES has been postponed. Among the contents of the text”provisions regarding benefits paid upon payment of the thirteenth month’s salary and taxation of productivity bonuses” were envisaged and it was expected that “for the year 2024, pending the structural introduction of a replacement tax regime for employee income referable to the thirteenth month’s salary, an allowance is paid, of an amount not exceeding 100 euros, to employees who have “a total income not exceeding 28,000 euros”. Another condition: the worker must have “a spouse and at least one child, even if born outside of a recognized, adopted or fostered marriage, who are in the conditions provided for by article 12, paragraph 2, of the aforementioned consolidated income tax law”. The amount of the allowance – we read in the draft – will be defined by decree of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, to be adopted by 15 November 2024.
In the draft, among other things, it is confirmed that performance bonuses paid from 1 January 2025 will be taxed at 10% within the ceiling of 3 thousand euros. “Unless express written waiver by the employee, they are subject – we read – to a tax in lieu of personal income tax and additional regional and municipal taxes equal to 10 percent, within the overall amount limit of 3,000 euros gross. , performance bonuses of variable amounts whose payment is linked to the improvement, also taking into account the economic and social context of reference, of indicators of productivity, profitability, quality, efficiency, innovation, reputation and social responsibility and environmental sustainability, which are measurable and verifiable exclusively on the basis of criteria defined by the collective bargaining referred to in paragraph 187 and referable to the employer, to one of its production units or to the Group of which it is part pursuant to article 2359 of the civil code. The same regime applies to sums paid in the form of participation in the company’s profits”. And in another passage of the decree: “From 1 January 2025, the temporary early supplementary income (Rita) is recognized only in the case of termination of the employment relationship for reasons other than the achievement of the pension requirement of any kind”.
In the thirteenth, an allowance of up to 100 euros is provided for employees who have “a total income not exceeding 28,000 euros” but only in 2024. This is what we read in the latest draft of the legislative decree for the revision of the Irpef and Ires regime expected today in CDM. “Due to the limited resources available, this refund is paid for the year 2024 only to workers who find themselves in particularly difficult economic conditions, also in consideration of the presence, in the family unit, of fiscally dependent family members”, we read in a passage from the draft seen by AGI. As regards performance bonuses which from 1 January 2025 will be taxed at 10% within the ceiling of 3 thousand euros, “with the new provisions, the critical issues that have in some cases hindered access to the favorable measure are removed. According to the data provided by the Ministry of Labor and Social Policies in the Report of 15 March 2024 on the trend of productivity bonuses shows the number of employees benefiting from productivity measures is 3,445,579.
In general terms, out of 18,356,000 employees (of which 3,249,000 working in the public sector and 15,107,000 in the private sector), those still without productivity measures are 11,661,421. With a view to simplifying and rationalizing the current regulation in order to encourage a wider diffusion of the facilitation measure, “some changes are made in line with the principles indicated by the enabling law”, we read in the draft. “With the aim of simplifying and streamlining the systems for accessing the tax measure, the express reference to the ‘incrementality’ of the indicators established by paragraph 182 has been eliminated”, we read.
“The application of the Irpef substitute tax and the related additional taxes is connected to the provision of productivity, result, performance bonuses etc. of variable amounts whose payment is linked to the improvement, also taking into account the economic context and social reference, indicators of productivity, profitability, quality, efficiency, innovation, reputation and social responsibility measurable and verifiable on the basis of criteria defined by collective bargaining. The term ‘improvement’ allows us to capture the individual company dynamics, guaranteeing company rewards a favor of workers without necessarily linking productivity (in a broad sense) to a numerical increase, for example, in one’s budget indicators”, we read further.