Postponed until 1 July the application of the tax on non-EU mini parcels

The all-Italian stampede on the levy on mini-packages from outside the EU seems destined to stop. The government is considering postponing the application of the 2 euro "tax" on all imports with a declared value of less than 150 euro coming from countries outside the EU (and therefore not only China but also, for example, the United Kingdom or the United States) to wait for the new 3 euro tariffs on which the EU Council has already reached an agreement for application from 1 July. A choice destined to materialise with a correction within the Milleproroghe decree now being examined by the Chamber of Deputies at first reading.

The idea is to stop the regulatory asymmetry that is already giving rise to heavy evasive behaviour. Over the past few weeks, Confetra (the Italian General Confederation of Transport and Logistics) had denounced the circumvention of the contribution with mini-packages addressed to other European ports where the contribution is not applied at customs clearance and then transferred by land transport, and in particular by truck, in our country, bypassing any obligation to levy as goods coming from Schengen countries. On the possibility of a postponement an opening had already arrived from Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti: 'We will evaluate. There is a European decision and we will see if we can make it consistent' (see 'Il Sole 24 Ore' of 27 January).

In addition, the Customs and Monopolies Agency, in providing the first instructions for the application, had opted for a soft debut in an administrative manner, also relying on the Taxpayer's Statute. In practice, Circular 1/2026 outlined a transitional regime for imports made from 1 January to 28 February 2026 under which contributions must be summarised and paid by 15 March 2026. While from 1 March 2026, the actual ordinary regime will be triggered. With the postponement to be inserted and approved inside the Milleproroghe even this solution should be passed in order to reset the starter and wait for all the other EU partners at the starting point of the EUR 3 tariffs from 1 July.

But that is not the only tax novelty on the way. In fact, some tax novelties included in the last Budget Law need to be corrected on the run. This is the case of the extension of withholding tax to intermediation also on travel, air and oil. The manoeuvre envisaged that the obligation would come into effect on 1 March, but also considering the difficulties in applying it in commercial relations. Among the amendments tabled to the Milleproroghe there is still on track the modification that aims to grant a mini-postponement of three months: the start, therefore, would take place from June. The other front on which urgent action must be taken is the new discipline of calculating VAT on sales on permutations, which has created a series of interpretative problems on multi-year contracts. Here, too, the manoeuvre has provided that as of 1 January 2026, the taxable amount for calculating VAT in exchange sales will be changed from the normal value to the costs attributable to the goods and services exchanged. But this change is likely to lead to complications especially in multi-year contracts, resulting in a double calculation mechanism. Among the amendments already tabled is one tabled by Finance Committee chairman Osnato (FdI), which aims to make the measure take effect only from the new 2026 contracts, leaving a softer mechanism for contracts already underway with the old system still in place and the new one ready to be triggered from next year.