Conto Termico 3.0: new rules and benefits of the Christmas Home Bonus

After a very long wait, the new version of the Conto termico, the subsidy dedicated to the energy efficiency of buildings for the public administration, businesses, and private citizens, will start at Christmas. The measure of the Ministry for the Environment and Energy Security, dated 7 August and signed by Gilberto Pichetto Fratin, which renews the instrument and makes available 900 million euro per year (400 of which for the public administration), has just been published in the Official Gazette, after a long process of filing. It will enter into force precisely at Christmas time, although in the meantime the application rules for access to the incentive measures will have to be reviewed: their definition could entail an extra wait.

Now in its third version (the first was contained in the Ministerial Decree of 28 December 2012, the second in the Ministerial Decree of 16 February 2016), the new Conto termico is presenting itself to the market with a very strong focus. The reason is that, for some jobs, it will represent an advantageous alternative to the now classic home bonus. Especially at a time when tax deductions are shrinking all the time: from next year (according to the rules currently in force), energy efficiency work will be subsidised at 36% in first homes and 30% in others, with a ten-year instalment plan.

For the Conto termico, on the other hand, there will be no differentiation depending on the type of property, just as there will be no looking at income in any way: currently, above 75,000 euro of income one falls into the new tax deduction loopholes. Since this is a contribution, paid to the current account, there will also be no tax capacity problems. The other strong point will be the immediacy of the benefit: with the new version, within the 15 thousand euro contribution (previously the maximum was 5 thousand euro) there will be a one-off payment. This means that, within a few months, you will be able to get all the money, without waiting, which, translated into economic terms, translates into loss of value of the money.

Above the threshold of 15,000 euro, one falls into theaccrual of the contribution, which will come in five instalments at most. Unlike tax bonuses, however, there is no set level of discount, which can be obtained by means of a percentage: the contribution must be derivedfrom an equation, which depends on certain parameters, such as the power and efficiency of the product being installed or the geographical location of the intervention. The application will have to be sent to the GSE, either autonomously or through the assistance of one's dealer or a designer: the data, however, is not very different from the data in the communication to Enea for the ecobonus. The large number of products pre-qualified with the GSE, however, provide a fast track and access to a faster procedure.

In concrete terms, the maximum discount will be 65% (but the actual contribution will often be lower), although some interventions will have lower thresholds. Therefore, real situations will have to be examined in order to verify the real convenience of the home bonus. Although, clearly, a lower level of tax rebates, if confirmed with the next manoeuvre, will increase the attractiveness of the contributions.