Art Bonus, companies never so present. The Regions' Push

An artwork in disrepair that comes back to life thanks to the new widespread patronage strengthens the sense of belonging to the territory. This is one of the motivations behind the success of the annual donations to culture, which, through the Art bonus, now make round numbers. On the whole, in little more than ten years, the instrument has collected over 1 billion and 190 million euro, and the trend of disbursements by companies alone is definitely on the rise, rising in the last three years from 50.5 million per year to over 70 on average. Not to mention that several regions and autonomous provinces have added to the national regulations with 'discounts' on local taxes that can significantly increase the tax benefits, if combined with the national portion.

The so-called regional Art bonuses 'represent an interesting experimentation to incentivise in the territories donations in favour of projects proposed by local beneficiaries,' explains Carolina Botti, director of Ales and Art bonus referent for the Ministry of Culture. In this way, Regions and Autonomous Provinces become protagonists, with even limited investments, in the implementation of the rule that has proven to be, for companies, a strategic lever of corporate welfare and adherence to sustainability standards. The facilitation in the Autonomous Province of Trento, introduced in 2015 and adjusted in November 2022, targets IRAP taxpayers. It consists of an offsetting contribution and is equal to 35% of the amount donated if the project already enjoys the national Art bonus (otherwise the rate rises to 40%). Recipients are IRAP taxpayers, but the rule explicitly excludes companies in economic difficulty, banks, banking foundations and insurance companies.

Although the common objective is to support cultural assets and institutions, the application methods and the extent of the benefits vary, and significantly, between the different Italian territories. Tuscany has a well-established history of enhancing culture (2017 law), and not long ago substantial changes were made to make it even more attractive. While the IRAP benefit for national Art bonus projects remains at 20 per cent of the amount donated, in 2024 the IRAP benefit for projects not eligible for the national Art bonus was raised to 60 per cent. The broad target group includes businesses, freelancers and foundations (including banking foundations). The legislation of Friuli Venezia Giulia (2019), on the other hand, is distinguished by the flexibility of the tax on which the relief can be applied and by its openness to individuals. Here the tax credit can be applied on both Irap and Irpef and this is a fundamental difference, since it allows access to the benefit also to those who do not have a VAT number linked to a business activity. The measure is 20% of the amount donated for projects already covered by the national Art bonus, with the rate rising to 40% in other cases. It is more inclusive, being aimed at individuals, businesses and foundations (including banks).

So far a picture of an evolving picture, since in several cases other regions have discussed similar interventions. In order to promote widespread awareness also in municipalities of the opportunities offered by the Art bonus, highlighting good practices, a course of action was agreed upon by Anci president and mayor of Naples Gaetano Manfredi and Ales president and CEO Fabio Tagliaferri. It will serve above all those areas of the country (the data clearly describe a North-South divide) where the Art bonus has so far been little used in spite of the amount of beauty that exists but is often neglected.