Amateur athletes, bonuses exempt from 20% withholding tax up to 300 euro

Bonuses paid toathletes in the context of amateur sports events, for the period from 28 March to 31 December 2026, are not subject to the 20% withholding tax if the total amount paid in 2026 by the same withholding agent to the same person does not exceed €300. However, since this is a threshold and not an exemption, exceeding the €300 limit during 2026 entails the application of the withholding tax on the entire amount paid by the same withholding agent to the same athlete. This is the novelty contained in the article 9 of decree-law 38/2026, of interest for the sports sector, which traces a similar measure in force during 2024, which was not, however, extended for the 2025 tax period.

According to the current regulatory framework, all sums paid to athletes under Article 36, paragraph 6-quater of Legislative Decree 36 of 28 February 2021 fall under the special exemption threshold. These are, in particular, sums paid to their own members, as athletes and technicians operating in the amateur area, by way of reward for results obtained in sporting competitions, also by way of participation in rallies, as members of national discipline teams in national or international events, by CONI, CIP, national sports federations, associated sports disciplines, sports promotion bodies, amateur sports associations and societies.

The legislator's intervention is part of a complex and constantly evolving regulatory framework. At first, in fact, the article 18 of Legislative Decree 192 of 18 December 2025 repealed paragraph 9 of the Article 45 of Legislative Decree 33/2025 (Consolidation Act on Payments and Collection - Tuvr), i.e. the provision according to which the exemption below the threshold of EUR 300 was to operate from 2026 onwards and thus be stabilised. In turn, Decree-Law 200/2025 (the so-called Milleproroghe) postponed the entry into force of the Tuvr until 1 January 2027.

In the meantime, until 31 December 2026, the provision introduced by Article 9 of Decree-Law 38/2026 will apply, which, however, does not cover the entire tax period but only the sums paid to athletes as of its entry into force, that is, as of 28 March.

In this context it is worth recalling that with the answer to interpello 265 of 2025 it was clarified that the obligation to withhold must be verified in relation to the rules in force at the time the remuneration was paid and not those in force on the date on which the deadline for the payment of withholding taxes expires.