The benefits of INNOVAMBIENTE®
INNOVAMBIENTE® is the IT system for the management, control and measurement of the collection cycle and the separate disposal of waste.
A) TAX RELIEF FOR INVESTMENTS IN CAPITAL GOODS
This form of concession intends to support and encourage companies investing in new, tangible and intangible capital good, for the technological and digital transformation of company production processes.
For investments in technologically advanced tangible capital goods, such as:
- RFID reading systems on equipment (containers, bags etc.),
- GPS control units,
- the computerised infrastructure of Municipal Collection Centres,
a tax relief as follows is provided for:
- 40% of the cost for the investment figure, up to 2.5 million Euro,
- 20% of the cost for the investment figure over 2.5 million Euro and up to the limit of costs permitted overall, amounting to 10 million Euro.
For investments in intangible capital goods for transformation 4.0 processes such as:
- Mobile Apps for managing start up or for citizen services,
- the INNOVAMBIENTE® software platform in SaaS (Software as a Service) mode,
a tax relief as follows is provided for:
- 15% of the cost, up to the maximum limit of costs permitted, amounting to 700,000 Euro. Costs incurred for services via cloud computing solutions are also eligible for tax relief at the rate that can be charged per payment.
For investments in other tangible capital goods, tax relief of 6% is granted to the maximum limit of permitted costs, amounting to 2 million Euro. The tax relief can only be offset, in five annual instalments of equal amounts, reduced to three instalments for investments in intangible goods, starting from the year after the one when interconnection was carried out, or when other tangible capital good were started up.
The tax relief is applied to investments made starting from 1 January 2020 and up to 31 December 2020, or by 30 June 2021 on the condition that by 2020 the relative order has been accepted by the vendor and a deposit of at least 20% of the cost of purchase has been paid.
For technologically advanced, intangible goods, companies must produce a technical appraisal issued by an engineer or an industrial expert who is listed in the respective professional list. The appraisal must state that the goods have the required technical characteristics and are interconnected with the company’s production management system or supply network.
INNOVAMBIENTE® uses an external company specialised in finance that can issue the necessary technical appraisal.
B) TAX RELIEF FOR RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT, INNOVATION AND DESIGN
Should the company wish to improve its own competitiveness, and favour the digital transition process, also as part of a circular economy and environmental sustainability, the Transition plan 4.0 supports expenditure in Research and Development with 12% tax relief on expenses to the maximum limit of 3 million Euro. While for technological innovation activities aimed at creating new or substantially improved products or production processes, the tax relief is set at:
- 6% of eligible expenses to the maximum limit of 1.5 million Euro,
- 10% of eligible expenses to the maximum limit of 1.5 million Euro in the event of technological innovation activity aimed at achieving a goal of ecological transition or digital innovation 4.0.
Tax relief can only be offset against the cost in three equal annual instalments starting from the tax year following the one in which it was accrued. The basis for calculating tax relief can taken net of other subsidies or contributions received for any reason for the same eligible expenses.
The relief is applied to expenses in Research, Development, Innovation, and Design incurred in the subsequent tax period to the current one at 31 December 2019. For the purpose of tax relief, the actual incurring of eligible expenses must be proven by specific certification issued by the party appointed to audit the accounts. For enterprises with no legal obligation to audit their accounts, the expenses incurred to fulfil certification obligations are acknowledged in an increase in the tax relief of a maximum amount of 5,000 Euro.
Enterprises must also draw up and store a technical report that illustrates the purposes, the content and the results of eligible activities carried out.
In this case too, INNOVAMBIENTE® uses an external finance-specialist company that can produce the required technical report.
C) TAX RELIEF FOR TRAINING 4.0
This measure is aimed at encouraging company investments in staff training on topics concerning technologies that are important for its technological and digital transformation.
Therefore, INNOVAMBIENTE®’s training also comes under said eligible expenses, including both general topics:
- Solid urban waste and legal obligations,
- Municipal regulation of environmental hygiene services and the assimilation of non-hazardous special waste with urban waste,
- Minimum Environmental Criteria set out by Ministerial Decree 13/02/2014,
- Criteria for the realisation of precise measuring systems as set out in Ministerial Decree 20/04/2017,
and specific topics of waste collection activities or the use of a technological platform, usually organised into 4 modules:
- Module 1 – Collection plan and analysis of territorial context,
- Module 2 – Start up of service,
- Module 4 – Web services for managing and monitoring the contract.
The tax relief is a percentage of the expenses incurred for employees working in the permitted training activities, limited to the company costs, referring to the hours or days of training. In particular, the following are permitted:
- 50% of permitted expenses up to the annual maximum limit of €. 300,000 for small enterprises,
- 40% of permitted expenses up to the annual maximum limit of €. 250,000 for medium enterprises,
- 30% of permitted expenses up to the annual maximum limit of €. 250,000 for large enterprises.
The tax relief rate is increased for all companies to 60% in the cases where the recipients of the permitted training come under the categories of disadvantaged or very disadvantaged employees, as set out by the Ministry for Labour and Social Policies Decree of 17 October 2017.
Any costs for employees usually employed in one of the company areas identified in annex A to Law no. 205 of 2017 and that takes part in eligible training activities as a teacher or tutor are eligible for tax relief, to the limit of 30% of the employee’s total annual salary.
The tax relief can only be offset against expenses starting from the tax year following the one in which the permitted expenses were incurred.
The tax relief is applied to training costs incurred in the tax year following 2019. There are obligations of certified accounting documents. There are obligations of storing a report that shows the organisational modes and content of the training delivered, that the INNOVAMBIENTE® partner company is ready to produce.
Training activity must concern sales and marketing, information technology and production techniques or technologies.
Training activities organised directly by the company with its own teaching staff or using external trainers, assisted by an internal tutor, or training organised and delivered by another company contracted to do so. In this latter case, INNOVAMBIENTE® makes use of a partner company that holds European-standard quality certification.
Lessons can be delivered as e-learning, online, on the condition that the companies adopt suitable control tools to make sure with a sufficient amount of certainty that there is actual, continuous participation of the staff taking part in training activities.
