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The Industry 4.0 Plan was introduced by the Italian Government with the Financial Act Law n.232 of December 11th 2016, it was subsequently extended to non-manufacturing areas being renamed into “Enterprise 4.0”, and it was recently reformulated with the so-called Transition Plan 4.0, introduced with the Budget Act 2020 (Law n. 160 of December 27th 2019).
Hyper-depreciation (i.e. an increase in the depreciation rate) and super-depreciation have been replaced by a tax credit equal to:
- 40% of the cost, for investments up to 2.5 million euros, to the extent of 20 % of the cost, for investments exceeding 2.5 million euros, and up to the maximum limit of 10 million euros, relating to the assets included in Annex A attached to the Act n. 232 of December 11th 2016
- 15% of the cost, for up to 700,000€, including expenditure on services and cloud computing solutions, for investments on goods included in Annex B attached to the Act n.232 of December 11th 2016
- 6% for investments of up to 2 million euros, for the purchase of new capital goods listed in Annexes A and B (i.e related to super-depreciation)
The tax credit can be compensated in 5 years, and it is automatically available as early as of January of the year following the year in which the investment was made and the asset was put into operation and interconnected. There is no limit to the compensation of the tax credit. The new Italian Budget Act 2020 has also increased the incentive to purchase intangible assets (software, i.e. assets included in Annex B), and removed the constraint of making the investment in conjunction with the acquisition of material goods (listed in Annex A).
The facilitations are granted to companies making investments (also through financial lease) in new capital goods for production facilities located in the territory of the Italian State, starting from January 1st 2020 and until December 31st 2020, or until June 30th, 2021, provided that, by the date of December 31st, 2020, the relevant order is accepted by the vendor and a down payment of at least 20% of the acquisition cost has been paid.
Those who have received acceptance of the order from the vendor and have paid a down payment of at least 20% of the investment by December 31th, 2019, can enjoy a prolongation in time until June 30th, 2020, for super depreciation, and until December 31th, 2020, for hyper-depreciation, as outlined in the 2019 Budget Act (Law N. 145 of December 30th 2018.
The technical requirements for accessing to the facilitation remain unchanged:
- Computer Numerical Control (CNC) and/or by a Programmable Logic Controller (PLC);
- interconnection to factory computer systems with remote loading of instructions and/or part programs;
- automated integration with the factory logistics system or with the supply network and/or other machinery in the production cycle;
- simple and intuitive interface between man and machine;
- compliance to the latest safety, health and hygiene parameters at work.
The essential requirement for enjoying the tax benefits is the interconnection to factory computer systems, with two-way data exchange towards factory computer systems, the production management system or the supply network, with remote loading of instructions and/or part programs. This means that:
- the asset is able to exchange information with other systems (e.g. with the management system, planning systems, product design and development systems, monitoring systems, (also remote), and control systems, or other machinery in the plant) through a link based on documented, publicly available and internationally recognized specifications (such as TCP-IP, HTTP, MQTT, etc.);
- the asset is uniquely identified according to internationally recognized addressing standards (e.g. IP address).
If the total investment amount is more than 300,000 € (previously 500,000 €), a sworn technical expert report from an engineer or industrial expert registered in their professional registers or a certificate of compliance - issued by an accredited certification body- is required. The sworn technical assessment or the certificate of compliance issued by an accredited certification body is optional for investment amounts of less than 300,000€.
The expert report- accompanied by a technical analysis according to the methods specified in Memorandum No.4/E of 30/03/2017 of the Italian Revenue Agency and subsequent texts - must attest that the asset has technical characteristics compliant to the requirements for being included in the lists published in Annex A or Annex B of the Italian Budget Law.
Studio Tecnico Rossoni is at your disposal to assist you in the procedure of obtaining the tax benefits related to hyper-depreciation, drafting and assessing the sworn technical expertise required by the legislation and carrying out consultations aimed at meeting the requirements for obtaining the legal benefits.
The 2019 Budget Act also introduced the voucher for consulting in innovation, enhanced with the Executive Decree of January 20th 2020. This measure, as part of the Italian “Enterprise 4.0” plan, supports the technological and digital transformation processes of SMEs and business networks throughout the country, through the introduction of management figures in the company for the deployment of technologies according the Italian “Enterprise 4.0” plan.
The contribution covers the costs of specialist consulting made by a qualified, independent and temporarily placed innovation manager, with a consultancy contract for no less than nine months, operating within the organizational structure of company or company network. A qualified and independent innovation manager is a manager enrolled in the list of the Italian Ministry of Economic Development.
The consulting must be aimed at directing and supporting the processes of innovation, technological and digital transformation of companies and networks through the application of one or more of the enabling technologies considered in the Italian Enterprise 4.0 plan, and identified among the following ones:
- big data and data analysis;
- cloud, fog and quantum computing;
- cyber security;
- integration of Next Production Revolution (NPR) technologies into business processes, including and with particular regard to traditional productions;
- simulation and cyber-physical systems;
- rapid prototyping;
- display systems, virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (RA);
- advanced and collaborative robotics;
- man-machine interface;
- additive manufacturing and three-dimensional printing;
- internet of things and machines;
- digital integration and development of business processes;
- digital editing software, encompassing transformative and enabling processes for innovation of branding and distinctive sign enhancement processes and commercial development for accessing markets;
- open innovation programs.
The facilitation involves a contribution in the form of vouchers that can be awarded under the "de minimis" scheme according to the EU Regulation n. 1407/2013, equal to 50% of the costs incurred up to a maximum of 40,000€ for micro and small businesses; 30% of the costs incurred up to a maximum of 25,000€ for medium-sized enterprises, and 50% of the costs incurred up to a maximum of 80,000€ for business networks.
Ing. Angela Rossoni, technical contact of Studio Tecnico Rossoni, is Innovation Manager listed as a qualified manager by the Italian Ministry of Economic Development, and she is at your disposal to support you in your projects and processes of technology and digital transformation in enterprise 4.0 implementations.