First piece of the Housing Plan: fringe benefits for new hires who relocate

In the manoeuvre, the first glimpses of the 'home plan' under discussion between Confindustria and the government are appearing. The instrument identified are fringe benefits, with increased amounts - one is reasoning up to 3-4 thousand euro - for new hires who agree to transfer their residence by more than 100 kilometres.

It had been the president of Confindustria, Emanuele Orsini, who had put forward the proposal to the government to respond to the many companies that, unable to find labour locally, must expand their search to other areas, clashing with the difficulty of workers to cope with the expense for house rent. The issue was discussed at the interministerial table with Ministers Giancarlo Giorgetti (Economy) and Adolfo Urso (Made in Italy), who had announced a response in the manoeuvre.

For the rest, the tax exemption threshold for fringe benefits, which had been raised in 2024 for all employees to EUR 1,000 instead of EUR 258.23, is also confirmed for 2025. The ceiling is set at EUR 2,000 for employees with tax dependent children. Goods and services that do not contribute to the formation of income include sums paid or reimbursed for domestic utilities for the integrated water service, electricity, natural gas and utilities for renting the first home, or for interest on the first home mortgage.

The manoeuvre also confirms the incentives for the employment of young people and female workers in the South, which will also be recognised for employment relationships activated in the two-year period 2026-2027. The decontribution in favour of companies located in the Special Economic Zone and incentives for self-employment in strategic sectors for the development of new technologies and the digital and ecological transition are also confirmed.

These are measures provided for in the Cohesion Decree until 31 December 2025, which incentivises the hiring of under-35s on open-ended contracts at a company located in the Mezzogiorno with a maximum contribution exemption of EUR 650 on a monthly basis. The same amount is recognised for the hiring of women resident in the regions of the Single Special Economic Zone for Southern Italy and for all hirings made in the SEZ. The incentives for self-employment of the Cohesion decree expiring at the end of the year in strategic sectors for the development of new technologies will continue for the two-year period 2026-2027: unemployed persons under the age of 35 who start a business activity in these sectors will be exempt from the payment of social security contributions by private employers up to the limit of EUR 800 per month for each worker under 35 years of age hired on an indefinite-term basis.