Christmas bonus of 100 euro net for 4.6 million people, but no accumulation in the family

In the end, the government puts its cards on the table. The Christmas bonus of EUR 100 net becomes larger, much larger. The aid in the thirteenth month will reach about 4.6 million private and public employees, but it will not be possible to cumulate if a member of the household is already receiving the allowance. The enlargement in numerical terms is, however, considerable compared to the audience originally outlined by the conversion of the Omnibus decree at the beginning of October, which was supposed to stop at one million beneficiaries. After the phase of finding additional resources to the 100 million euro already allocated for the previous formulation, the fine-tuning comes in the decree law that also contains the reopening of the terms of the arrangement with creditors to 12 December. An extension that will cost just under EUR 225 million, which, pending the revenue from the arrangement, is 'borrowed' from an expenditure estimate of the Mef.

The big news is the possibility of allowing access to single-parent families. And it was one of the flaws denounced by the oppositions during the conversion of the Omnibus decree, on which Deputy Minister for the Economy Maurizio Leo had given assurances that the dossier would be reopened. It was Leo himself who clarified the terms of the enlargement of the number of beneficiaries: 'The requirement to have a dependent spouse is in fact eliminated, and therefore in order to receive the bonus it will be enough to have at least one dependent child. Thus, the restriction whereby one had to have a spouse from whom one did not have to be legally separated or divorced is ended. In this way, even single-parent households with a dependent child can access the aid, which for the time being is a 'one-off', since, as stated in the preamble to the article of the Omnibus decree that introduced it, the aim is to arrive at a substitute taxation (i.e. a flat tax) to lighten the tax burden on thirteenth month bonuses, as had been established in the tax delegation.

In this way, Leo emphasised, 'we will go from just over one million taxpayers to over four and a half million'. The objective of giving a further boost to purchasing power in view of the end-of-year festivities is clear: "This is a further boost," Leo remarked, "for Christmas consumption, an extra help to workers and taxpayers at a particular time of the year, when family expenses tend to increase. Read more politically, the message is also addressed to the trade unions, which, after Monday's meeting at Palazzo Chigi, reiterated the general strike of 29 November asking, among other things, the executive for more courage on measures to support lower incomes. For Leo, the 100 euro intervention 'goes hand in hand with other concessions already implemented, such as the reduction of the Irpef and the tax wedge, to support families and promote greater economic growth'.

The target is still low to middle income. The requirement to apply for the aid with self-certification to be submitted to the employer remains, in fact, that of not having a total income of EUR 28,000. At the same time, you must not be incapacitated, i.e. you must not have a gross tax liability on employment income whose amount exceeds the deductions to which you are entitled. To this, however, is added the pole to avoid an accumulation in the same household: the allowance will not be due, in fact, to a married or cohabiting employee whose spouse or cohabiting partner is already a beneficiary of the aid.

In any case, as anticipated, the amount will be EUR 100 net, because unlike the very first version of the aid (which was included in the delegated decree on Irpef/Ires and was to be paid at the beginning of 2025 and not in the 2024 thirteenth month), the rules expressly state that the allowance in question 'does not contribute to the formation of the employee's total income'.