SME bill arrives, push for aggregations and crackdown on fake online reviews
It implements Article 18 of the 2011 Company Statute, which provides for the approval of an ad hoc measure every year but which has remained unimplemented to date
2' min read
2' min read
Simplifying, supporting, and incentivising the activities of small and medium-sized enterprises by moving along two main lines: encouraging aggregations and pushing generational turnover. The annual bill on SMEs is expected on Monday, 23 December, at least for an initial examination, on the table of the Council of Ministers and, in the intentions of the Minister for Enterprise and Made in Italy, Adolfo Urso, it will make it possible to enhance those that represent the beating heart of Italy's economic fabric.
The bill aims to reintroduce, after the 2010 precedent, the tax benefit for companies that sign or adhere to a network contract, in the form of a tax suspension on operating profits destined, after allocation in a special reserve, to the common equity fund. A clampdown on false online reviews is coming, to protect tourism and catering businesses.
The Council of Ministers is expected to appoint Ernesto Ruffini's successor at the head of the Revenue Agency and the new commissioner for the flooding in Emilia Romagna. In the first case, according to rumours in the last few hours, the choice should fall on Vincenzo Carbone, the current Deputy Head of the Taxpayers Division.
Business Statute Implementation Act
The annual law for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises is an implementation of Article 18 of the 2011 Company Statute, which provides for the approval of an ad hoc measure every year but which has remained unimplemented until now. "This first provision," the minister explained, announcing its arrival, "will contain measures to introduce incentives, to encourage aggregation processes between companies, and initiatives to enhance the skills of small and medium-sized enterprises and pass them on to the new generations. The aim is also to 'advance bureaucratic simplification, access to credit, and the promotion of freedom of economic initiative and competition'.
News for SMEs in the manoeuvre
The novelties will be added to the financial ones introduced by the manoeuvre. The budget law in fact refinances the Sabatini law with EUR 1.7 billion from 2025 to 2029. During the parliamentary conversion phase, some novelties were also added on the Guarantee Fund, a measure that until last September allowed the activation of almost EUR 30 billion in bank loans, accepting about 173 thousand applications. The Fund's operating procedures are extended from 31 December 2024 to 31 December 2025, but with a few changes: the maximum percentage of the Fund's coverage for financing liquidity needs is raised to 50 per cent, for all small and medium-sized enterprises, regardless of the bands of the assessment model to which they belong; in addition, the maximum amount of the Fund's coverage is raised from 80,000 to 100.Finally, the minimum limit of 250 employees is removed for the purpose of identifying the companies to which the Fund's coverage percentages already allowed for mid caps apply. In 2025, both small and medium capitalisation companies will therefore be eligible.
