Traceable transactions also certified by account statements

Account statements or bank documentation to replace paper POS receipts, to certify the use of traceable payment systems for the purposes of the deductibility or deductibility of the expense incurred: the novelty, dictated by Article 8 of Decree-Law 19/2026 (Pnrr decree), converted by Law 50/2026, is part of a framework of consolidated practice where the extract-account - although recognised as valid proof - was qualified and expressly considered as optional, residual and not additional. That is, an instrument to be resorted to only in the absence of other means of proof regarding the use of electronic payments: according to the evidentiary hierarchy established by Circular 14/E/2023 (and confirmed by the Agency's guide to the facilities of the 2025 return), the "talking" commercial document and the electronic invoice, both indicating the electronic payment, already exhaust in themselves the documentary burden on the taxpayer, making the statement of account superfluous even in place of the Pos receipts.

As from the 2020 tax year, in fact, the Irpef deduction of certain subsidised expenses is subject to the condition that the expense was incurred by bank, postal payment, credit, debit and prepaid cards, bank and bank drafts, or by other payment systems, guaranteeing traceability and identification of the person making the payment and thus facilitating any checks by the tax authorities.

The taxpayer, therefore, may in the first instance prove the use of traceable payment systems by means of the relevant note, inserted by the recipient of the sums, on the invoice, tax receipt or commercial document issued. There is no need, for income tax purposes, to present and retain paper statements of the Pos or bank statements, using instead the two alternative documents. First, the commercial document when valid for tax purposes, according to Articles 4 and 5 of the Ministerial Decree of 7 December 2016.

In order to be tax-efficient, in fact, thus legitimising the deduction and deduction as expenses incurred for the purchase of goods and services, the document must contain, in addition to the basic information - i.e. date, issuer, VAT number, description of the transaction, consideration - also the tax code or VAT number of the purchaser.

The shopkeeper, who is required to note the correct method of payment, electronic or cash, under penalty of an autonomoussanction from 1 January 2026, can thus provide the purchaser with a self-sufficient document for tax purposes, certifying the nature of the charge, the identity of the person who incurred it and the traceability of the payment.