Decree Supports Ter: where do we stand?
The Supports Ter Decree (DL January 27, 2022, No. 4), already published in Official Gazette No. 21/2022, awaits to be made operational through the issuance of the relevant implementing decrees.
At present, the timeline on when the funds will arrive is not defined: it is the implementing decrees that will determine the details of the practical process and the timing of disbursement.
Considering the sectors of tourism, catering and events, the decree provides articulated interventions aimed at different areas:
- Refreshments to businesses closed during the pandemic;
- Rental tax credit for tourism enterprises (the so-called "rental bonus" of 60 percent on property rentals);
- Suspension of contribution payments for the most affected businesses;
- Exemption from payment of the additional contribution (so-called "discounted CIG") for companies in the tourism and hospitality sector that make use of the Salary Supplement Fund treatments and other social shock absorbers;
- Contribution exemption for hires made for seasonal work in the tourism and spa sector.
Who are the recipients of aid?
- Tourism enterprises;
- discos and dance halls closed until Jan. 31, 2021 due to restrictions introduced by the Christmas Decree, a deadline later extended to Feb. 10;
- Retail business with a maximum turnover of 2 million in 2019;
- theme parks, aquariums, geological parks and zoos;
- party and ceremony planning, wedding, hotellerie, catering, bar-café and pool management activities;
- associations and sports clubs.
In addition to relief for businesses, the new Support Decree also includes other measures on labor, health, and territorial services always related to the Covid-19 emergency.
Measures to support closed activities
The planned intervention in favor of dance halls, discos and assimilated premises closed from Dec. 25, 2021 to Jan. 31, 2022 has been refinanced for 20 million euros for the current year, increasing the Fund for the support of closed economic activities: the allocated resources will go to restore all those activities closed as a result of the prevention measures adopted under Article 6, paragraph 2 DL No. 221/2021 (known as the "Christmas Decree").
In addition, in support of those affected, the deadlines for the payment of withholding taxes on employee income and income assimilated to employee income and withholdings related to theregional and municipal Irpef surtax for the month of January 2022 are suspended for the above-mentioned individuals acting as withholding agents (a measure that still comes after the deadline).
Measures for the Horeca sector and events
As early as the Sostegni Bis Decree, 60 million euros were allocated for the events, hotellerie and catering sector, to which the "Sostegni Ter" has now added additional resources. Beneficiaries are companies operating in the following sectors:
- wedding, entertainment, party and ceremony planning
- Hotellerie-Restaurant-Catering (HORECA) sector.
Specifically, in addition to the initial allocation, additional funds amounting to 40 million euros will be disbursed to enterprises involved in:
- Organization of parties and ceremonies;
- restaurants and mobile catering with administration;
- Event catering and banqueting (provision of prepared meals);
- bars and other similar establishments without a kitchen;
- Pool management;
Who, in the year 2021, have suffered a reduction in turnover of not less than 40 percent compared with turnover in 2019.
If the enterprise was established in 2020, the parameter useful for calculating the reduction in turnover changes. Revenues of the previous year will not be taken into account, but the average monthly amount of turnover and fees of the months of 2020 following the month of opening the VAT number will be referred to, compared to the average monthly amount of turnover and fees of 2021.
Conclusions: Ter Supports, Ristors, and Implementing Decrees
Precisely because of the wide range of possible applications, the issuance of implementing decrees takes varying amounts of time. The type of implementing decree can vary depending on the fields of application (DPCMs, Ministerial Decrees), and decrees are usually accompanied by official notices from ministries, the Internal Revenue Service or other relevant agencies.
Without implementing decrees, laws cannot "work," and for the new Supports Decree, it is estimated that 20 will be needed.
This is precisely why it is important for tourism operators (and potential beneficiaries of grants and subsidies) to inform themselves about both the current measures and the implementing decrees that make the measures operational.
In practice, the legislative process is divided into two stages:
- the first takes place in Parliament or the Council of Ministers and leads to the enactment of a law or decree law;
- the second, which takes place in ministerial offices and public agencies, determines in detail how to implement the normative dictate.
Indeed, in current practice, laws establish the basic principles of a certain matter without going into technical details. Implementing decrees turn the general rules of a law into measures applicable in real life.
In the government's latest statements, particularly on the topic of measures to support the economy, we learn of its intention to change this practice for the future, using decree-laws that would allow the measures for which funds are allocated to be implemented immediately (or at least, without further uncertainty about how and when), thus reducing the necessary implementing decrees.