The Italian government has announced a number of significant measures to help Italian small businesses during the COVID-19 outbreak. These measures include:

Tax reliefs and other fiscal measures

• Suspension of taxes and penalties arising from tax assessments: the Italian Government has suspended a number of tax payments to help taxpayers and introduced tax incentives and credits to support the economy. Payments of tax and penalties due between 8 March and 31 May 2020, and any other enforcement claims aimed at collecting tax revenues, must be made in a single instalment by 30 June 2020. Payments made before the issuance of the Decree cannot be reimbursed to the taxpayer. The deadline for paying any installments due is postponed until 31 May 2020.
• Tax compliance obligations: tax controls, field audits, coercive collection, litigation and tax compliance obligations have been suspended until June.
• Tax credit for sanitation: all expenses for sanitation, protection of workers and containment of the contagion benefit from a tax credit of 50% of the expenses incurred (up to a tax credit of €20,000 per taxpayer).
• Tax credits and deductions for COVID-19 donations: all donations in cash or in kind to support the containment of the contagion are deductible for corporations and generate a 30% tax credit for individuals (up to a tax credit of €20,000 per taxpayer).
• Tax credit for commercial rents: Stores and small shops which are closed because of the emergency are granted a tax credit equal to 60% of the rent for March.

Economic support measures

• Moratorium on loan repayments for small and medium-sized businesses: the Italian government has introduced a temporary prohibition on payments for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises that have suffered a partial or total reduction in activity. It concerns mortgages, leasing, credit openings and short-term loans that are expiring. The request to obtain a payment moratorium on a loan, mortgage or credit line must be submitted to the bank or financial intermediary that issued the credit. In this way, small and medium-sized enterprises will be able to obtain the suspension of mortgages, loans, non-installment loans and lines granted by the credit system until 30 September 2020.
• Enhancement of the SME Guarantee Fund. The size of the Fund has been increased by more than 150% bringing the guaranteed funding from the current €40 billion to over €100 billion. Small entrepreneurs will be able to obtain a direct guarantee of up to 80% on new loans for 18 months, not exceeding €3,000 disbursed by banks or other financial intermediaries, granted free of charge and without evaluation through the Central SME Guarantee Fund.
• Incentives for financial and non-financial companies to transfer non-performing or stranded loans through the conversion of their Deferred Tax Activities into Tax Credits: the intervention will allow businesses access to additional liquidity and credit for up to €10 billion.
• Liquidity support: On April 6 the State guarantee for Cassa depositi e prestiti (CDP) was increased from €300 billion to €750 billion to provide additional liquidity to banks in order to allow the expansion of financing and liquidity for medium to large enterprises that do not benefit from the SME Guarantee Fund.

The eBay Government Relations team will continue to monitor and inform your about these developments. More information on the measures established by the Italian government and how to access them can be retrieved here (in Italian).