Italy implemented a comprehensive reform of the Third Sector and other not-for-profit organizations. Introduction. Pursuant to Italian law, a Third Sector Organization or Ente del Terzo Settore (“ETS”) is a not-for-profit private organization or entity that pursues civic, solidarity and social benefits purposes carrying out, exclusively or principally, activities of general interest in an accountable and transparent [..Read more..]

The Italian Liquidity Decree: Covid-16 Government measures to support Italian enterprises. Last 8 April 2020 the Italian government implemented new important measures to support and provide liquidity to Italian enterprises. Read our comprehensive guide.

Decree Law no. 23 of 8 April 2020 On 8 April 2020, the Italian Council of Minister approved Law Decree no. 23, published in the Official Gazette (General Series no. 94, Extraordinary Edition of April 8, 2020), containing “Urgent measures related to access to credit and tax obligations for businesses, special powers in strategic industry [..Read more..]

Covid-19 emergency measures: New rules for remote shareholders’ meetings and extension of the term to approve the yearly financial statements The emergency measures against COVID-19 also apply to the corporate framework. First, under the Italian law the shareholders’ meeting for the approval of annual financial statements must be convened within 120 days from the last [..Read more..]

Read our guide on the COVID-19 Emergency Italian labour law framework.

Which investments qualify as investments into a “company incorporated and operating in Italy” under the Golden VISA legislation? Under Italian immigration law, one of the options to qualify for Golden VISA is to “invest at least € 1 million in equity instruments of a company incorporated and operating in Italy, to be held for at [..Read more..]

Taxation of Italian Companies. The taxation of the income of an Italian company is based on its aggregate income earned both in Italy and abroad. This articles provides an introduction to corporate tax in Italy, outlining the types (IRES and IRAP) and rates of income tax and explaining how such tax is calculated. Corporate Tax [..Read more..]

Come and work in Italy and have up to 90% of your employment income tax free The preferential tax regime for “inbound workers”(a tax regime aimed at attracting to Italy non-resident employees / self-employed workers), provides for a 50% exemption of Italian-sourced employment (and assimilated) and self-employment income. The preferential tax regime applies for the [..Read more..]

Rewarding scheme for “highly-qualified” workers that want to relocate to Italy. The Italian government has recently implemented incentives for “highly-qualified” workers that want to relocate to Italy. The rewarding system consists in a lowering of the personal income tax base to the extent of 50% and it applies from the tax year in which the [..Read more..]

SHARE CAPITAL 1    Types of shares and denomination a     Introduction Only the SpAs and SapAs corporate capital is divided into shares while the corporate capital of an Srl is divided into quota which represents the amount of the corporate capital owned by each member. Shares must generally be of equal nominal value (this need not [..Read more..]

Types of Italian companies and incorporation process. This document provides an introduction to Italian corporate law, the main source of which is chapter 5 of the Italian Civil Code. The main source of Italian corporate law is the chapter V (libro V’) of the Italian Civil Code (the ‘Civil Code’) which defines and regulates the [..Read more..]

MANAGEMENT AND STATUTORY AUDIT OF AN ITALIAN COMPANY. In Italy, companies are managed either by a Board of Directors (consiglio di amministrazione) or by a sole director (amministratore unico). The Board of Directors or the sole director can delegate certain management powers to non-directors to facilitate the day-to-day management of the company. This document discusses [..Read more..]

Acquisitions and joint ventures. Italian Decree Law No 58/98 and the regulations made under this law provide, amongst other things, the legal framework for public offers for the acquisition of shares, whether these are listed on the stock exchange or not. This document discusses matters relating to acquisitions of company shares in Italy, covering: public [..Read more..]

Publicly available information on Italian companies Registrar of Companies The ‘Registro delle Imprese’ (Register of Enterprises) was formally established in 1996, by Presidential Decree No 581/1995. All Spas, Sapas and Srls must be registered with it and must file a wide variety of documentation and information with the Register of Enterprises. The filing is required [..Read more..]

Hiring framework The Employer Q. Is it mandatory for an employer establish a relevant body and register at public bodies before hiring employees? A. Yes, it is. Q. Who wants to hire employees in Italy must establish a relevant body (legal entity, like an «S.r.l.» or, at least, a branch; a rep-office is not enough). [..Read more..]