In the fringe benefits also the utility bill discount. Deductible costs incurred by companies

Benefits granted in the form of fringe benefits to employees are an inherent cost for companies. As such, they can be deducted in the calculation of IRES and give rise to VAT deductibility. The same applies to discounts on electricity costs granted to employees and former employees under the national collective labour agreement (Ccnl).

This interpretation was provided by the Trento Court of Tax Justice (CGJ) in its ruling 354/11 of late 2025. A pronouncement that, albeit with the temporal jet lag between the era to which the facts refer and the issues raised by the IRS, fits into a context such as the current one of great attention that the Government and Parliament have paid to the fringe benefits, ensuring until the end of 2027 a tax exemption threshold of EUR 1,000 for all employees and up to EUR 2,000 for those with dependent children.

The case brought to the attention of the Trentino judges arose from a dispute brought by the tax authorities against a company, which had granted through one of its operating companies (later reversed through an invoice) discounts on the cost of electricity to both employees and former retired employees. For the tax authorities, the requirement that the costs be inherent was lacking, and thus both the requirement for deduction from the IRES tax base and the deduction of VAT were missing.

The Trento CGT takes a different view and annuls the assessment notice. The reasoning behind the motivation is that the tariff discounts are provided for by the collective labour agreement and constitute, for the employer, a cost related to employee services. And it is not relevant - according to the reasoning followed by the ruling - that the labour section of the Supreme Court in its judgment 9513/2023 had held that such discounts were not in the nature of remuneration. Therefore, as the tax judges explained, 'the sums and values paid in connection with the employment relationship are fully deductible for the employer'.

Recalling then the consolidated orientation in this regard of the jurisprudence of legitimacy, it is emphasised that inherency indicates the relationship between the expense (or cost) and the enterprise. Consequently, the cost (or expense) assumes relevance for the calculation of the taxable base, not so much for its explicit and direct connection to a precise income component, as for its correlation with an activity potentially capable of producing profits.