Manoeuvre, short rentals: VAT number needed from the third property

The government has presented in the Senate Budget Committee a series of reworded amendments that implement the agreements in the majority on changes to the manoeuvre: they range from short rentals to banks, the Tobin tax and dividends. Now the presenters will have to let it be known whether they accept the changes and the committee is convened for this tomorrow at 11 a.m., while the deadline for sub-amendments expires at 6 p.m. On Sunday - the oppositions report - bilateral meetings will be held and the committee will then meet in the evening but in all likelihood - it is explained - the votes will not start until Monday.

One of the government's reformulations to the manoeuvre introduces a municipal contribution for the purchase of school books for secondary school for families with an Isee not exceeding 30,000 euro. For the proposal, starting in 2026, a fund of 20 million is to be created in the estimate of the Ministry of the Interior. The distribution modalities and criteria will be defined by a decree of the Ministry of the Interior in agreement with the MEF and Education.

The impact of the dividend squeeze introduced by the manoeuvre is reduced. A government reformulation of Article 18 in fact changes the conditions for exclusion from the tax treatment of dividends received by entrepreneurs and resident companies or entities: access to the "regime of the so-called 'exclusion', provided for as an instrument to combat double taxation phenomena" - reads the technical report - is thus limited to dividends from shareholdings held directly or indirectly through subsidiaries exceeding 5 per cent or for an amount exceeding EUR 500,000. The revenue estimated in the technical report starts from EUR 22.7 million in 2026 to rise to EUR 32.9 million when fully operational from 2029.

The flat-rate tax returns to 21 per cent for first homes rented out on a short-term basis. This is the provision of a reformulated government amendment to the manoeuvre that cancels the rule of the budget law that had raised the rate. The text thus reinstates the current law that provides for 21% for the first rented house and then 26% from the second. The new text reduces to two rented houses those above which the activity is presumed to be carried out in an entrepreneurial manner.

For banks, a reduction in the deductibility of past losses arrives. This is provided by a government amendment to Article 22 of the manoeuvre concerning the suspension of the deduction of negative components related to DTAs. The rewording reduces the percentages for offsetting higher taxable income with prior losses and Ace surpluses: for 2026 the percentage goes from 43% to 35%, and for 2027 it goes from 54% to 42%. The differential financial effects are estimated at approximately EUR 600 million over two years: EUR 305 million in 2026 and EUR 300 million for 2027.