TEMPORARY CHILD ALLOWANCE AND ANF INCREASES

 

 

Temporary allowance

 

The temporary allowance for minor children comes into force on 1 July 2021, and until 31 December 2021, and it will accompany families until the universal and unique allowance for each child comes into force in January 2022. Access to the measure is reserved for the applicant’s family units that are not beneficiaries of the family unit allowance and have an Isee of less than 50,000 euros per year. When submitting the application and for the duration of the treatment, the applicant must:

• be an Italian citizen or a citizen of an EU Member State, or a family member of such a citizen, who holds the right of residence or the right of permanent residence, or be a citizen of a non-EU Member State in possession of an EU long-term residence permit or a residence permit for work or research purposes of at least six months’ duration;
• be subject to the payment of income tax in Italy;
• be domiciled and resident in Italy and have dependent children until they reach the age of 18
• be resident in Italy for at least 2 years, even if not continuous, or have an employment contract of indefinite or fixed-term duration of at least six months;
• be in possession of a valid Isee, calculated in accordance with article 7, D.P.C.M. n. 159/2013, according to the table in article 2, D.L. 79/2021.

The monthly amount of the temporary allowance is determined on the basis of the table annexed to Decree-Law 79/2021, which identifies the Isee levels and monthly amounts for each minor child. In particular, it is provided for:

• a minimum Isee threshold of up to €7,000, up to which the amounts are payable in full, i.e. €167.50 per child in the case of households with one or two children, or €217.80 per child in the case of larger households;
• a maximum Isee threshold of €50,000, beyond which the measure is not available.

The amounts due are increased by € 50 for each disabled minor child in the household.

Waiting for a specific circular, with message no. 2371/2021 the Inps offered the first indications on the implementation of the measure introduced by Law Decree no. 79/2021. The application for temporary allowance is submitted, as a rule, by the applicant parent, no later than 31 December 2021, only once for each child, through the following channels:

• web portal, using the specific service that can be reached directly from the home page of the www.inps.it website, if you have the Pin code issued by the Institute by 1 October 2020, or a Spid level 2 or higher, or an electronic identity card 3.0 (CIE), or a national services card (CNS);
• Integrated contact centre, by calling the toll-free number 803.164 (free of charge from a landline) or 06 164.164 (from a mobile network for a fee, depending on the tariff applied by the various operators);
• Patronage institutions, using the services they offer free of charge.

From 1 July 2021, the dedicated online procedure will be available. For applications submitted by 30 September 2021, arrears will be paid from July. After 30 September 2021, the measure will take effect in the month in which the application is submitted.

The temporary allowance is compatible with the Citizenship Income)and with any other cash measure in favour of dependent children granted by Regions, Autonomous Provinces of Trento and Bolzano and by Local Authorities. Pending the implementation of Law 46/2021, the following measures are also compatible with the temporary allowance:

• allowance for families with at least 3 minor children;
• childbirth allowance
• birth premium;
• birth support fund;
• tax deductions provided for by Article 12, paragraphs 1(c) and 1-bis, Tuir;
• family allowances (direct cultivators, farmers and sharecroppers, small direct cultivators, pensioners of these social security schemes and pensioners of special social security schemes for the self-employed).

The payment is made by crediting the applicant’s Iban or by means of a direct debit transfer.

For households that are recipients of the Citizenship Income at the time of application, Inps automatically pays the temporary allowance together with it and in the same way as for the Citizenship Income, up to the amount of the allowance due.

 

ANF increases

 

In addition, Article 5 of Decree-Law 79/2021 grants those entitled to the Assegno per il Nucleo Famigliare (ANF) who will have to wait to receive the universal allowance, as of 1 July 2021 and until 31 December 2021, an increase of €37.50, per child, for households with up to 2 children; €55 per child, for households with at least 3 children.

With message no. 2331/2021, Inps published the tables relating to the usual adjustment, with effect from 1 July 2021, of family income levels for the purposes of payment of the Anf to different types of households. The notes in Tables 11 to 19, which refer to households with children, have been supplemented to take into account the increases referred to in Article 5 of Decree Law 79/2021.The same income levels and the envisaged increases will be valid for the determination of the daily, weekly, four-monthly and fortnightly amounts of the benefit. The amounts will be calculated by Inps, including the relevant bonuses, and made available both to the employer and to the citizen through the usual procedures. Further operational indications concerning the surcharges will be the subject of a specific circular letter. Inps has also given the go-ahead for employees in the private sector to submit their ANF telematic application for the period from 1 July 2021 to 30 June 2022.

 

 

FIXED-TERM CONTRACT – CLARIFICATION ON ASSISTED DEROGATION AT THE ITL

 

The Ispettorato Nazionale del Lavoro (INL), in its memorandum no. 804/2021, intervened to clarify certain aspects concerning the possibility of entering a fixed-term contract with a duration of more than 24 months (the longer duration provided for by law), and for a maximum of a further 12 months. The case examined is quite peculiar, given the nature of the employer, but it nevertheless allows some interesting observations to be drawn from what is set out in the administrative act.

Given that the current regulation of the type of contract is found in the legislation known as the Contracts Code (Legislative Decree 81/2015), it should be recalled that, after the amendments made by the Dignity Decree, the fixed-term contract is subject to a maximum duration of 24 months, of which it is possible that 12 are acausal and a further 12, on the other hand, subject to specific regulatory reasons.

There are indeed many operational cases, which cannot be summarised here, in relation to the presence of the grounds. For the purposes of the act under review, however, it is sufficient to recall the maximum duration of 24 months and the possibility offered to the parties, for an extension of a maximum of additional 12 months (36 months in total), provided that the agreement is signed in assisted at the competent ITL (Article 19).

However, it should be noted, and this is the usefulness of the note in question, that the rule, which lays down the maximum duration of a fixed-term relationship between two parties, clearly states that the acts must be “concluded for the performance of duties of the same level and legal category“. This specification must, therefore, be given full effect. The limitation of the maximum duration of 24 months occurs, therefore, by aggregation of contracts, between the same parties, which concern an identical task of the worker, classifiable in the same level and for the same legal category of classification (managers, executives, clerks and workers).

It follows, therefore, that in the event of a different classification, the new contract cannot be added, as regards the maximum duration limit, to fixed-term contracts previously stipulated between the parties.

The assisted derogation, with the stipulation of the additional contract at the ITL, is therefore applicable to the case of reaching the limit of 24 months for the performance of the same tasks, of the same level and legal category. In the event of a change in classification, therefore, the calculation of the duration limit will start afresh, as no assisted agreement is required.

The ITL concludes that there may be cases of circumvention of the rule, with the conclusion of repeated fixed-term contracts with a change of job. For this reason, inspectors are called upon to carefully assess situations that may appear doubtful.

 

 

CORPORATE WELFARE PLAN AND TOOLS REIMBURSEMENT FOR DISTANCE LEARNING

 

The Italian Tax Authority, with resolution no. 37/E/2021, has clarified that the reimbursement of expenses for the purchase of PCs, tablets and laptops for the attendance of distance learning, so-called DAD, is to be considered exempt when, within a company welfare plan, it is offered to all or categories of employees.

According to Article 51, paragraph 2, letter f-bis), Tuir, “the sums, services and benefits provided by the employer to all employees or categories of employees for the use, by the family members indicated in Article 12, of education and education services, including pre-school education, including supplementary and related canteen services, as well as for the attendance of playgrounds, summer and winter centres and for scholarships in favour of the same family members, do not contribute to income“.

As clarified by the Italian Tax Authority, as regards the modalities for the provision of the above-mentioned services, the provision confirms the possibility for the employer to provide the education and training services directly or through third parties, as well as through the payment to the employees of sums of money to be used for the purposes indicated, also as reimbursement of expenses already incurred, provided that it acquires and keeps the documentation proving the use of the sums by the employee in line with the purposes for which they were paid.

In relation to the epidemiological emergency caused by COVID-19, several legislative measures have been issued, which, in providing for the total or partial suspension of classroom teaching activities, have envisaged the adoption by schools and universities of flexible forms of organising teaching activities, or guaranteeing their use through distance learning (so-called DAD).

In this teaching method, the PC, laptop and tablet are the necessary tools to ensure attendance in the so-called ‘virtual classroom’ and, consequently, the relationship between teachers and learners.

The tax authorities conclude that, in this context, PCs, laptops and tablets are fundamental devices to enable distance learning, the use of which is aimed at education and instruction; therefore, the reimbursement of expenses incurred by the employee for their purchase and subsequently reimbursed by the employer should not generate employment income, pursuant to Article 51, paragraph 2, letter f-bis), Tuir.

 

 

 

LDP Payroll remains at your disposal for any further clarifications.