Christmas bonus coming with 13th month: 34 questions and answers with all the latest news

It is to be calculated net of that principal residence, considering the so-called reference income, taking into account the exempt portion of facilitated incomes as well as those subject to substitute tax. The Revenue Agency's Circular No. 19/E of 2024 notes that the calculation of total income also takes into account income subject to flat-rate tax, income subject to substitute tax in application of the flat-rate regime, the ACE concessional quota, and sums donated by customers to private-sector workers employed in accommodation facilities and food and beverage establishments as donations.

In addition, by express provision of Article 2-bis, paragraph 3, of Decree-Law no. 113/2024, the exempt portion of the following facilitated incomes is also relevant: incentives for the return to Italy of researchers residing abroad (Article 44, paragraph 1, of Decree-Law no. 78/2010, conv, with amendments, by Law no. 122/2010); special regime for impatriated workers (Article 16 of Legislative Decree no. 147/2015 and Article 5, paragraphs 2-bis, 2-ter and 2-quater, of Legislative Decree no. 34/2019, converted with amendments, by Law no. 58/2019 and Article 5 of Legislative Decree no. 209/2023).

The EUR 100 bonus is due taking into account the period of employment in the 2024 tax year. Therefore, the same criteria for calculating the tax deductions under Article 13(1) of the TUIR must be taken into account. The number of days within the employment period for which the employee is entitled to employment deductions must therefore be taken into account. This number of days must in any case include public holidays, weekly rest days and other non-working days, and days for which no income, not even in the form of deferred remuneration, is due (e.g. absences for leave without payment of allowances) must be subtracted. See Revenue Agency Circular No. 4/E of 18 February 2022.

A specific request from the worker to the employer is required, in which he certifies that he is entitled to it by indicating the tax code of his spouse or cohabiting partner, and of dependent children. The worker must, of course, take into account the total income and other income that contributes to the reference income as well as the exempt allowances that can be counted.

The employer, having received the worker's declaration, pays out the bonus taking into account, where applicable, the conditions provided for and that is: family load (at least one child fiscally dependent); total income of the worker not exceeding € 28,000; gross tax calculated on the employee's income art. 49 of the Consolidated Income Tax Act (excluding paragraph 1, lett. a)) higher than the deductions art. 13, paragraph 1 of the Consolidated Income Tax Act. The employer proceeds with the set-off pursuant to Article 17 of Legislative Decree No. 241/1997 of the amounts advanced from the day after the payment in the pay envelope. The employer subsequently verifies at the time of the adjustment whether the employee was actually entitled to it and proceeds with any recovery to the employee's credit or debit.

Revenue Agency Circular No. 19/E of 10.10.2024 states that the employee must also provide the income data to the last employer if he/she had previous employment relationships.The employer must of course retain the documentation.

The employee must check that he is entitled to it, and if he has been paid it and is not entitled to it, he must return it in his tax return (730 or income tax return). If, on the other hand, he was entitled to it and was not paid, he can claim it in his tax return.

The bonus does not have to be re-proportioned in the case of a part-time contract; it is only payable to a lesser extent if the number of days of employment deductions is less than the number of days of employment deductions for the entire tax period. Only in that case should it be calculated by applying the pro rata temporis criterion.

The worker is entitled to it only once, so he will have to request the allowance exclusively from an employer. The Agenzia delle Entrate Circular No. 19/E of 2024 clarified that the allowance is paid by the employer identified by the worker by means of the declaration of fulfilment of the requirements in which the employee's income and the days deducted from other employers should be indicated.

Yes, if the conditions are met, they must make a request in their 730 or tax return

The risk is there, but the situation is similar to that already applied for the EUR 80 bonus before and the EUR 100 IRR at present.

The allowance is payable in full irrespective of the hours of the individual employment contract, it being understood that account must be taken of the employment relationship in the year and of the employment deductions pursuant to Article 13 of the Consolidated Law on Income Tax (TUIR) due.

No, the allowance accrues by taking into account the days of employment deductions pursuant to Article 13 of the Consolidated Income Tax Act (TUIR) for the period 1 January 2024 - 31 December 2024. Therefore, if, for example, there were several employment relationships all located in the period 1 July 2024 - 31 December 2024, the allowance must be calculated for 184 days out of a total of 365, even if the deduction days calculated by the individual employers is greater.

The declaration is governed by paragraph 4 of Article 2-bis of Decree Law no. 113/2024, converted by Law no. 143/2024 and amended by Article 2 of Decree Law no. 167/2024. More specifically, it is provided that the allowance is granted at the request of the worker, who certifies in writing that he/she is entitled to it by indicating the tax code of his/her spouse or cohabiting partner and children. The only change made by Article 2 of Law Decree No. 167/2024 is the obligation to also indicate the tax code of the cohabitee in the request. Therefore, if the worker does not fall into this category, it is believed that a new declaration should not be submitted, as also indicated by the Revenue Agency in its Circular no. 22/E of 20 November 2024.

The answer is in the affirmative since Article 2-bis of Decree-Law no. 113/2024 provides that the allowance is paid "together with the 13th month's salary" without any further conditions as to its starting date. Therefore, it is considered that the payment can be made with the November pay slip in which the 13th month payment is included.

The offsetting of the accrued credit may take place from the day following the payment of the allowance in the pay envelope, as expressly provided for in paragraph 4 of Article 2-bis of Decree-Law No. 113/2024.

Certainly, Article 12(4-ter) of the Consolidated Income Tax Act provides that for the purposes of the tax provisions referring to the persons referred to in that Article, including by referring to the conditions set forth therein, children for whom the deduction is not due pursuant to subparagraph (c) of paragraph 1 are considered on a par with children for whom the deduction is due.

The allowance is payable in full to one of the two spouses who applies for it. The other may not make any request to the employer.

Yes, the Agenzia delle Entrate has repeatedly provided answers to similar cases with reference to deductible expenses, affirming that if the expense relates to children, the deduction is due to the parent who has incurred it regardless of whether or not he or she also holds the deduction for dependent children and regardless of how the latter deduction is shared with the other parent (Circ. no. 7/E of 24 April 2017, p. 18). The reason for this indication stems from the fact that even if the tax deduction is enjoyed by only one of the parents, it does not mean that the other parent does not have a dependent child. Therefore, provided the other requirements are met, the Christmas bonus is also due to the parent who does not benefit from the dependent child deduction.

Yes, Article 3 of Legislative Decree No. 23/2011, Paragraph 7 provides that 'When the provisions in force refer, for the recognition of entitlement to or determination of deductions, deductions or benefits of any kind, including those of a non-tax nature, to the possession of income requirements, the income subject to the flat-rate tax shall also be taken into account.[...]' Therefore, income taxed with the flat-rate tax on rents also contributes to determining the threshold of €28,000 for entitlement to the bonus.

It is considered that tax-exempt flexible benefits, insofar as they meet the conditions provided for by the regulations in force, are not relevant, since Article 51 does not provide for them to be taken into account insofar as the provisions in force make reference, for the recognition of eligibility or the determination of deductions, deductions or benefits of any kind, including those of a non-tax nature, to the possession of income requirements as instead provided for by other provisions (e.g. Article 3, paragraph 7, of Legislative Decree no. 23/2011).

No, also in this case, as already noted in the reply to the question on exempt flexible benefits granted to workers, Article 1, paragraphs 182 et seq. of Law No. 208/2015 does not provide for anything with regard to the eligibility in the case of benefits that refer to an income threshold.

Article 1(75) of Law No. 190/2014 provides that '[w]hen the provisions in force refer, for the recognition of the entitlement to or determination of deductions, deductions or benefits of any kind, including those of a non-tax nature, to the possession of income requirements, the income subject to the flat-rate regime shall also be taken into account'. Therefore, the income deriving from professional or entrepreneurial activity under the flat-rate regime also contributes to determining the threshold of €28,000.

For fixed-term workers, the collective agreement for the category provides for the payment of the thirteenth month's salary as part of the third element. More specifically, the third element is payable to fixed-term workers as consideration for various institutions recognised to permanent workers and calculated over 312 working days, including the thirteenth month's pay. Therefore, in the presence of the other requirements provided for in Article 2-bis of Decree-Law No. 113/2024, the allowance may be recognised in the same way as for other workers.

In this case, the Revenue Agency will proceed differently depending on whether or not the employee has filed a tax return/730 for the 2024 tax year. In the case of submission of the tax return/730, the Revenue Agency will proceed with the recovery during the formal settlement of the return pursuant to Article 36-ter of Presidential Decree No. 600/1973. The applicable administrative penalty is 25%, plus legal interest. If the employee accedes to the Revenue Agency's request for restitution, pursuant to Article 3 of Legislative Decree no. 462/1997, within 60 days (the new term provided for by Article 36-ter, paragraph 4, of Presidential Decree no. 600/1973 as from 1 January 2025) he may pay the penalty reduced to two thirds. In the absence of payment, the Inland Revenue will proceed with collection by means of registration. In the event of an omitted declaration, the Inland Revenue will also consider applicable the penalties for omitted declaration. Paragraph 5 of Article 2-bis of Decree-Law No. 113/2024 in fact provides for the obligation to redetermine the allowance in the income tax return filed by the taxpayer.

For construction workers, the CCNLs of the industry, craft and cooperative sectors all provide for the workers' right to 13th month pay (Christmas bonus). For example, the CCNL of the industry sector, in Article 16, provides that '[a]ll workers are due a Christmas bonus paid in accordance with the provisions of Article 18'. The provisions of Article 18 in question, as is well known, consist in the setting aside of the remuneration due (also) for the Christmas bonus, paid by means of the payment of an overall percentage of 18.5% calculated on the elements of remuneration provided for by the CCNL. The actual payment of the earmarked allowance is made by and at the expense of the territorially competent building funds. That being said, it is believed that there is nothing to prevent the employer from proceeding with the payment of the allowance also to the workers, given that in any event during the month he is proceeding to set aside the remuneration due under that title and set aside by the CCNL at his expense, even if it is materially paid by the Construction Fund. Therefore, in the presence of the other requirements set forth in Article 2-bis of Decree-Law No. 113/2024, the allowance may be recognised in the same manner as other workers. Of course, the worker will have to take into account for the purposes of these requirements the employment income earned by the Construction Fund during the tax period.

Yes, they will be able to make a claim in their income tax return or 730. Any refund due will be made by the Inland Revenue.

Yes, in this case too, a request may be made in the tax return or 730 form. The reimbursement, if any, will be made by the withholding agent who will settle the 730 form or by the Inland Revenue.

With Resolution No. 54/E of 13 November 2024, the Revenue Agency established the tax codes 1703 and 174E that can be used, respectively, in the F24 and F24 'Public Entities' forms. This code may also be used for the return of the bonus.

Income from the main dwelling, as well as that of its appurtenances, does not count towards the total income threshold of EUR 28,000.

The employer, in its capacity as withholding agent, must proceed with the payment of the allowance taking into account the employee's declaration, so that if the employee did not qualify and did not proceed with the repayment, there is no liability attributable to the employer.

The credit due to the withholding employer as a result of the payment of the allowance is subject to vertical offsetting for which the limits provided for other offsets under Article 17 of Legislative Decree No. 241/1997 do not apply (see Note 65 to Revenue Agency Circular No. 16/E of 28 June 2024).