CONVERSION INTO LAW OF THE ‘MILLEPROROGHE’ DECREE
References: Law No. 21 of 26 February 2021
In summary: Law no. 21 of 26 February 2021 was published in the Official Gazette no. 51 of 1 March 2021, converting, with amendments, Decree Law no. 183 of 31 December 2020 (the so-called “Decreto Milleproroghe”), containing, among other things, significant changes in the corporate and tax sphere. We note, in this regard, the extension of the terms for the approval of financial statements, extended to 180 days from the end of the financial year, instead of the ordinary 120, and the possibility of holding meetings held until 31 July 2021 in “remote” mode, regardless of the statutory indications (in this regard, please refer to Infoflash Tax No. 1 March 2021).
In the tax area, we note the extension to 30 June 2021 of the communication of data on distance sales through digital platforms and the postponement, to 1 January 2022, of the obligation to send telematic receipts to the treasury system for operators required to communicate the aforementioned data. Lastly, it should be noted that benefit companies can take advantage of the tax credit for their incorporation or transformation until 30 June 2021.
Law no. 21/2021 has been in force since 2 March 2021.
Content of the Newsletter
The Official Gazette no. 51 of 1 March 2021 published Law no. 21 of 26 February 2021 converting, with amendments, Decree Law no. 183 of 31 December 2020 (the so-called “Decreto Milleproroghe”), in force from 2 March 2021.
An analysis of the provisions of interest in the tax area is provided below, referring to Infoflash Tax n.1 March 2021 sent on the subject of the postponement of the terms for the approval of financial statements.
COMMUNICATION OF DATA ON DISTANCE SALES THROUGH DIGITAL PLATFORMS – EXTENSION TO 30 JUNE 2021
Article 3 para. 3 of Decree-Law 183/2020 has postponed from 31 December 2020 to 30 June 2021 the application of the rules relating to the reporting obligations incumbent on taxable persons who, by using electronic interfaces (virtual markets, platforms, portals or similar means), facilitate distance sales of goods within the European Union or distance sales of imported goods, referred to in Article 13 of Decree-Law 34/2019.
This communication is due from all taxable persons operating digital platforms (or similar means) as intermediaries between a supplier and a purchaser, and concerns distance sales of goods for which there is an electronic interface.
‘Distance sales of goods’ means the supply of goods dispatched or transported directly or indirectly by the supplier from a Member State of the European Union other than that in which dispatch or transport to the customer ends, and the supply of goods dispatched or transported directly or indirectly by the supplier from third countries to the customer.
As a general rule, the data must be transmitted by the end of the month following each quarter.
On the subject of EU trade, we also note the postponement to 1 July 2021 of the entry into force of the provisions on distance sales within the European Union provided for by EU Directives 5.12.2017 no. 2455 and 21.11.2019 no. 1995.
As a result of the Community novelties, a presumption of receipt and supply of goods intermediated by a taxable person facilitating, through the use of a digital platform, the distance sales of goods imported from third countries with shipments of an intrinsic value not exceeding €150.00, or the supply of goods made within the Community territory by a person not established in the European Union to a private individual, will be introduced.
In addition, for digital platforms, specific criteria will be introduced to identify the place of supply and the taxable moment of the supplies of goods that are deemed to be made by such platforms. Moreover, the non-application of VAT is established for supplies deemed to be made by suppliers to platforms.
OBLIGATION TO SEND THE TELEMATIC RECEIPTS TO THE HEALTH CARD SYSTEM – EXTENSION TO 1 JANUARY 2022
Article 3 (5) of the converted Decree-Law 183/2020 postpones to 1 January 2022 the deadline by which businesses required to send data to the Health Insurance Card System will have to comply with the obligation to store and transmit their receipts electronically, by sending the relevant data to the Health Insurance Card System through electronic registers. This also includes businesses operating in the health sector which are required to transmit data to the Health Insurance Card System pursuant to Article 3, paragraphs 3 and 4 of Legislative Decree 175/2014 and the relevant decrees of the Ministry of Economy and Finance (e.g. pharmacies, pa¬rapharmacies, opticians). According to art. 6 co. 2 of the Ministerial Decree of 19.10.2020, the data must be transmitted to the Sistema Tessera sanitaria within the deadline of 12 days after the transaction for VAT purposes.
For operators in the healthcare sector, the legislator has provided for a specific way of discharging the obligations, establishing that they may fulfil the storage and transmission of the fees by sending the data relating to all the daily fees to the Health Insurance Card System, including the data relating to healthcare and veterinary expenses, as reported on the commercial document (Article 2, paragraph 6-quater of Legislative Decree 127/2015 and Article 6, paragraph 1 of Ministerial Decree 19.10.2020).
The willingness to fulfil the obligations in question by sending the data to the Sistema Tessera sanitaria must be communicated by means of a specific functionality available on the portal www.sistemats.it.
TAX CREDIT FOR “BENEFIT COMPANIES” – EXTENSION TO 30 JUNE 2021
Article 12 (1-bis) of Decree-Law 183/2020, converted into law, extends from 31 December 2020 to 30 June 2021 the tax credit for the establishment of “benefit companies” (Article 38-ter of Decree-Law 34/2020, converted into law).
The company model of the Benefit Company, born in 2010 in the United States under the name of Benefit Corporation, has been implemented in Italy since the beginning of 2016 with the introduction of Article 1, paragraphs 376-383 and Annexes 4 – 5 of Law no. 208/2015 (“2016 Stability Law”). This is a new legal form of for-profit enterprise that “in the exercise of an economic activity, in addition to the aim of dividing its profits, pursues one or more purposes of common benefit and operates in a responsible, sustainable and transparent manner towards persons, communities, territories and environment, cultural and social goods and activities, bodies and associations and other stakeholders”.
Article 38-ter of the law converting Decree-Law 34/2020, in order to support the strengthening of the system of Benefit Societies, recognised a contribution in the form of a 50% tax credit to reduce the costs of incorporation or transformation into a Benefit Society incurred from the date of entry into force (19 July 2020) of the law converting the decree until 31 December 2020, a deadline now extended to 30 June 2021.
LDP remains at your disposal for any further information or in-depth analysis of the above topics.