Credito d’imposta per l’acquisto di materiali riciclati

Advantages and support for corporate sustainability

by Marta Livia Galli

We continue our journey in presenting the advantages of sustainability in the business sector. We had already mentioned this in the article "The advantages of sustainability for SMEs" but this time we focus in particular on the environmental sphere with a novelty contained in the Budget Law 2023.

The law 197 of 29 December 2022, in fact, reports in paragraphs 685-690 a "premium" for companies that choose to purchase biodegradable packaging and products deriving from the separate collection of plastic packaging also for the two-year period 2023-2024. This "prize" consists of a tax credit equal to 36% equal to €20,000 per company.

Objective of the measurement

The will of the Legislator in this case is clear: the promotion of the circular economy. The means used is clearly an incentive to companies and entrepreneurs to reduce the quantity of waste with a very high environmental impact in the context of complex production processes such as those of our companies.

It is not the first time that the Italian legislator has used this type of incentive: the tax credit was, in fact, established in 2018 to increase the use of non-hazardous plastic waste resulting from production processes. The big plan is, therefore, to push for the reuse of waste that would otherwise be lost. Since then, since 2018, this tax credit has been renewed over the years, underlining the importance of these issues for Italy and, moreover, the concrete advantage of this practice.

What is included in the tax credit

There are mainly three purchasing objectives for companies that want to take advantage of a real tax credit on recycled plastic:

1. products made with materials deriving from the separate collection of packaging made up of plastic material;
2. packaging, primary and non-primary, biodegradable and compostable according to the UNI EN 13432:2002 standard;
3. products deriving from the recycling of materials such as glass, paper and aluminium.

The products considered include paper or cardboard packaging - as long as it is not printed in ink and contains parts of non-biodegradable and compostable materials - and non-impregnating wooden packaging.

As already mentioned, the tax credit is equal to 36% of the expenses faced by the company, with a maximum amount of the credit that can be used in the year equal to €20,000 per company. The overall limit of financed expenditure of the maneuver is equal to €5 million, a sum designed to cover, in the intentions of the Legislator, the entire two-year period 2023-2024.

How to obtain the 36% tax credit

With regards to the methods of use, the 2023 Budget Law provides for the possibility of using the accrued credit exclusively as compensation through F24 to be submitted electronically, starting from 1 January of the following yearto the one in which the products covered by the benefit were actually purchased.

The sum thus accrued does not contribute to the formation of the income calculated for IRAP purposes and must be included in the tax return for the tax year in which it is recognised.

This is one of the cases in which we offer our services in the context of Corporate Tax Consultancy and Strategic Consulting to support companies in developing the best tax and business support strategies.

The ESG-oriented trend of the Italian legislator and the results obtained

Wanting to broaden the scope of this comment, it is possible to identify a trend on the part of the Italian legislator in the field of sustainability, in line with what the other EU countries are doing, both individually and together, as well as with the global trend.

The tax credit in question, in fact, foreseen in the budget already in 2019, continued to be renewed based on the results obtained. In the explanatory report to the bill that gave birth to the 2023 Budget Law, in fact, not only have the objectives set in previous years been achieved, the applications received are equal to approximately four times the resources allocated to the measure.

This underlines two important data: (i) Italy has no second thoughts - after all, it couldn't - regarding the strategy of fighting climate change and reducing the environmental impacts of non-biodegradable packaging and, even more so, (ii) as always businesses prove to be reactive with respect to the pressures received from the legislative side and entrepreneurs, the most far-sighted, are able to glimpse the advantages of sustainability and make them their own to keep up to date with the times.

This initiative to valorise and recover materials deriving from plastic packaging, therefore, demonstrates the desire to pursue the 17 sustainability objectives contained in the National Strategy for Sustainable Development, created with reference to the Sustainable Development Goals (Sustainable Development Goals, SDGs) outlined by the UN in 2015 and contained in the 2030 Agenda. 

Wanting to go into even more detail, the 36% tax credit for the purchase of recycled materials complies with the provisions of Objective n. 11, "sustainable cities and communities", with a view to continuous improvement in waste management and the recycling of the materials most harmful to the environment.

The tax incentives included in the 2023 Budget Law are part of the numerous tools available to the Government to guarantee, on the one hand, the achievement of the objectives proposed by the UN and, on the other, the promotion of a different mentality, oriented towards protecting the environment.

As always, the work to be done towards sustainability is not of companies but of the entire country system is twofold: on the one hand the laws of the State and on the other people and companies that follow those laws. The objective, today more than ever, is the same for all of us.