Decree 5.0 at the finish line: hyper-amortisation for the cloud

Finally, phase three. Upon completion of the investments - which must also presuppose that the capital goods have been interconnected to the company's production management system or supply network - and in any event by 15 November 2028, the company shall transmit the data and information, including appraisals, attestations and certifications, certifying that the investments in one or more of the assets covered by each confirmation notice have actually been made.

In the event that the communication concerns investments in several assets, the completion of the investments coincides with the date of completion of the last investment. The current draft also confirms the passage, which was initially the subject of discussions between Mimit and Mef, in which 'completion of investments' refers to Article 109 of the Tuir, which refers to the delivery of the asset. In practice, companies that started a complex investment in 2025 but only receive delivery of some assets in 2026 will still have access to the hyper-amortisation on the basis of the original booking.

The definition of the 'production structure' to which the investments refer is then slightly modified: it must be characterised by technical, functional and organisational autonomy, but does not have to 'constitute in itself an autonomous centre of cost allocation and have the capacity to carry out the entire production cycle or part of it, or the complete provision of services or part of them'.

A welcome simplification for companies is cancelled. The MEF's findings led to the deletion of the provision that, for tangible and intangible assets with a unit cost not exceeding 300,000 euro, allowed companies to adopt a self-declaration made by the legal representative without having to resort to a sworn expert's report to prove the technical characteristics, interconnection, and fulfilment of the requirements for plants for the self-production of energy from renewable sources.

On the other hand, the extension of the scope of the incentive to cloud software solutions, which are provided in as-a-service mode, i.e. through subscription fees and as such are not subject to traditional amortisation, goes to meet the demands of IT companies. Article 4, with reference to intangible assets, now specifies that 'the benefit is also calculated with respect to the costs incurred by way of access fees', limited to the portion of the fee pertaining to the single tax period in which the facilitation is in force.

A significant clarification was then included in Article 4 on the 'Measure and Benefit'. In summarising the three maxi-amortisation brackets - 180% for the share of investments up to 2.5 million, 100% over 2.5 million and up to 10, and 50% over 10 and up to 20 million - it is specified that the benefit is determined on the basis of investments 'completed in each year'. In practice, the brackets and the ceiling of 20 million are to be considered as distinct in the three years of the plan 2026, 2027 and 2028.

Further changes concern the control and verification aspects. It will be up to the GSE to carry out the documentary checks and controls in relation to the subsidised investments. However, it is specified that the company is obliged to keep and make available the documentation required for the checks (including appraisals, certificates on the assets, invoices and transport documents) not only for the purposes of the GSE's control activities, but also for the purposes of the ordinary assessment activities carried out by the Revenue Agency. In the January draft, the obligation to retain documentation was limited to ten years, whereas the new decree does not provide a time limit.

Finally, on the input of the State Accounting Department, a new article, 12, is introduced to monitor the charges resulting from the measure. For this purpose, the GSE will have to transmit to Mimit and Mef, at least monthly, the data on eligible investments communicated by the companies.