Implementing decrees for new hyper-depreciation published
The decrees on the new hyper-depreciation, regulating the implementing modes (ministerial decree dated 7 May 2026) and the platform launch dates as well as the reporting forms, have been published. This means that the incentive scheme is now fully operational (ministerial decree dated 10 June 2026).
More specifically, the IT platform on the portal of the Italian energy services provider Gestore dei Servizi Energetici S.p.A. (GSE) is online since 12 June. Priority notices for access to the new hyper-depreciation for investments made from 1 January 2026 until 30 September 2028 may now be submitted.
Preamble
As is well known, the 2026 Italian budget law reintroduced the increase in the tax cost of acquisition of new capital goods to determine depreciation expenses and lease payments, effectively reviving the so-called "hyper-depreciation" mechanism previously in force.
The subsequent Italian decree 38/2026 (tax decree) extended the scope of the measure by removing the original EU/EWR requirement for eligible assets and by including the hyper-depreciation amongst the adjustments admitted for income amendment under the bi-annual tax settlement scheme.
Personal scope
The incentive is available for all business income holders, who make investments in capital goods for production facilities in Italy, regardless of their legal form, size or industry.
Businesses which are in one of the following conditions are excluded from the incentive: voluntary liquidation, bankruptcy, or compulsory administrative liquidation; pre-arranged composition with creditors without going-concern assumption; businesses subject to any insolvency, bankruptcy, restructuring, or similar proceeding under the Italian royal decree 267/1942, the Italian Code of Business Crisis and Insolvency (legislative decree 14/2019), or any other applicable special legislation, or being involved in pending proceedings seeking the declaration of any such condition; businesses against which disqualifying sanctions have been imposed under the Italian legislative decree 231/2001.
For eligible beneficiaries to be entitled to use the incentive, they must in any event be compliant with workplace safety regulations and properly fulfil their obligations with respect to the payment of social security contributions for employees.
Incentive scope and amount
The increased cost is recognized for investments belonging to two separate categories of assets:
- new tangible and intangible capital goods listed in Annexes IV and V to the 2026 Italian budget law, functionally intended for the business’s technological and digital transformation under the "Industry 4.0" model scheme, provided that they are interconnected with the business’s production management system or supply chain network.
- new tangible capital goods intended for the self-generation of energy from renewable sources for self-consumption, including facilities for the storage of the energy produced.
For photovoltaic systems, modules with cells produced in the European Union only are eligible for incentives if they have a cell efficiency of at least 23.5 percent, as well as modules with bifacial heterojunction silicon cells or tandem cells produced in the EU with an efficiency of at least 24 percent.
For all other types of assets, the Italian legislative decree 38/2026 abolished, as of 1 January 2026, the previously applicable requirement relating to the geographical origin. As a result, the incentive now applies to assets produced in any country.
The increase is differentiated according to the amount of the investments, based on a tiered system:
- 180 percent for investments of up to EUR 2.5 million;
- 100 percent for investments ranging from EUR 2.5 million to EUR 10 million;
- 50 percent for investments ranging from EUR 10 million to EUR 20 million.
No incentive is granted for investments exceeding EUR 20,000,000.
The thresholds of the brackets apply to each individual annual period (2026, 2027 and 2028) and not to the overall period of validity considered as a single aggregate timeframe. Eligible cost will be considered net of any subsidies or contributions received for the same costs.
The incentive consists of an off-book downward adjustment to be claimed at the time of filing the REDDITI income tax return, starting from the tax period in which the company submits the notice on investment completion to GSE, subject to receipt of a favourable outcome from GSE.
Access procedure and deadlines
The incentive is available upon electronic submission of three mandatory notices (article 3 (1–5) of the Italian ministerial decree dated 7 May 2026) via the GSE IT platform, by using the digital identity (SPID) or electronic ID card (CIE) credentials on the customer area of the website www.gse.it:
- priority notice to be submitted for each production facility, specifying the identification details of the business and the production facility, the type and the amount of the planned investments, as well as the expected date of interconnection (or the date of commissioning for energy assets);
- investment confirmation notice to be submitted within sixty days from notification of the favourable outcome of the priority notice, specifying the date and amount of the payment of the final advance instalment, which must amount to 20 percent of the cost of each asset, jointly with the details of the relevant invoices (for assets under finance lease, this requirement is deemed satisfied upon execution of the lease agreement and signing of the purchase order by the lessor);
- investment completion notice to be submitted after the interconnection of the assets and in any case no later than by 15 November 2028, jointly with certifications confirming possession of the required documentation.
Within 10 days from receipt of submission confirmation, GSE will notify the positive outcome of the verifications or indicate the data and documents that must be supplemented.
Failure to submit within the required deadlines and in the manner provided, will result in failure to complete the procedureand, consequently, it will not be possible to benefit from the incentive.
The decree also provides for two further periodic notices for expenditure monitoring purposes (article 3(6) of the ministerial decree dated 7 May 2026). More specifically, it is provided that, from the first (priority) notice submitted and until the end of the period of use of the incentive, each business will be required to submit:
- by 20 January of each year, a periodic statement containing information on the investments made, the costs incurred, and the projected use of the incentive;
- by 30th June of the same year, a supplementary statement containing the relevant depreciation plan and specifying the incentive share allocated to each business year.
Therefore, the business will need to continue to submit such statements for monitoring purposes, even after completion of the investment and for the entire period of application of the incentive.
Documentary requirements
Article 6 of the implementing decree introduces a general obligation to obtain a certified technical valuation, which is now required for all assets without any exception (previously required for assets costing more than EUR 300,000 only).
Furthermore, an audit certificate confirming that the eligible expenditure has actually been incurred and that it is compliant with the accounting records issued by the person engaged for the statutory audit of the accounts, in accordance with the Italian legislative decree 39/2010 is required (for businesses not subject to statutory audit it must be issued by a statutory auditor or an audit firm registered with section A of the register held by the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF)). Finally, the company must store and make available any additional supporting documentation (invoices, transport documents and similar documents) for assessments; however, no specific wording is required on the invoice.
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Yours sincerely,
HAGER & PARTNERS