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MONEY

What is Italy’s investor visa and how can you apply?

Italy is keen to attract foreign investment and prepared to cut some red tape to do so. Tuscany-based tax experts MGI Vannucci e Associati explain how investing in Italy could secure you the right to live here.

Published: 5 August 2020 13:10 CEST
What is Italy's investor visa and how can you apply?
Investing in an Italian business is one way to get residency. Photo: Piero Cruciatti/AFP

In recent years, Italian economic policies have invested particularly in measures to make the country more attractive to international investors by facilitating business initiatives and simplifying internal regulations in order to make the bureaucratic system more streamlined for those who want to start a business.

What is the Investor Visa for Italy?

This particular visa has been introduced in our country to attract foreign capital and talent. It therefore represents a measure which, together with the facilitated tax regime of the “flat tax”, allows foreign investors to enjoy important tax benefits and immigration concessions.

READ ALSO: Why Italy's inheritance taxes aren't as high as you might expect

Today these benefits are even more interesting. In fact, the minimum thresholds for investments in innovative companies and startups by foreign investors have been halved, so that they can invest in Italy and enjoy tax breaks even with a lower financial contribution.

The thresholds are now as follows:

  • For investments in instruments representing joint stock companies operating in Italy and maintained for at least two years, the minimum investment threshold went from €1 million to €500,000;
  • For investments in innovative startups registered in the special section of the business register referred to in article 25, paragraph 8, of law decree n.179 of 18 October 2012, the minimum investment threshold went from €500,000 to €250,000.

The reduction of the financial threshold makes Italy the most competitive nation in the European context.

Who is eligible?

The investor visa is valid for two years for non-EU citizens who choose to invest in strategic activities for the Italian economy and companies.

How do you apply?

To obtain a visa, non-EU investors must obtain a nulla osta (certificate of no impediment) issued by the Investors Committee for Italy (IV4I). The procedure is quick: it is concluded within 30 days of sending a complete application. It is free and entirely online. 

After obtaining the nulla osta, the application for an investor visa must be submitted to the diplomatic mission of your place of residence within six months.

Once you receive the visa, you have two years to enter Italy.

What does the investor visa allow you to do?

With the residence permit for investment you can:

  • Circulate freely for the Schengen Area for a maximum period of 90 days within 180 days;
  • After five years of regular residence in Italy, you can apply for an EU residence permit for long-term residents;
  • After ten years of residence, you can apply for Italian citizenship.

Are there tax incentives?

The Investor Visa for Italy programme incentivizes Investments in startups and innovative SMEs. The benefits consist of:

  • For individuals, a deduction from income tax (personal income tax) equal to 30 percent of the amount invested, for a maximum contribution of €1 million. Currently, based on the Relaunch decree, the percentage rises to 50 percent for investments up to €100,000.
  • For limited liability companies, a deduction from the taxable amount for IRES (corporate income tax) purposes equal to 30 percent of the investment, with a maximum threshold set at €1.8 million.

For more information, visit the Italian Ministry of Economic Development's website. 

MGI Vannucci e Associati are a team of English-speaking chartered accountants and tax experts based in Tuscany, Italy.
 

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MONEY

Bonus asilo: How to get help with the cost of childcare in Italy

Parents of young children in Italy can get up to 3,000 euros towards nursery of kindergarten fees. Here's how much you may be entitled to and how to claim in 2023.

Published: 24 February 2023 12:45 CET
Bonus asilo: How to get help with the cost of childcare in Italy

Although the cost of childcare in Italy is lower on average than in some European countries, it still adds up to a significant cost for working families.

Parents in Italy spend a monthly average of €303 per child for a full-time place (around ten hours a day, five days a week) at a public day nursery, or asilo nido, and an average of 324 euros a month for a place in a public kindergarten (scuola materna or scuola dell’infanzia), according to the latest available figures. 

READ ALSO: How does the cost of childcare in Italy compare to other countries?

Fees are generally higher in northern regions, with the highest monthly nursery fees of all recorded at 515 euros in Lecco, Lombardy.

But help towards the cost of childcare is available in the form of a bonus asilo (‘nursery bonus’), which can be claimed by families of children in public daycare facilities, or in contracted private ones.

Since the measure was first introduced in 2017 – and expanded in 2020 – Italy has provided childcare benefits for parents of children under the age of three, with the aim of boosting Italy’s declining birth rate by supporting more parents in going back to work.

READ ALSO: How much does it cost to raise a child in Italy?

The assistance remains in place for the 2023 school year, with parents able to claim anywhere between 1,500 and 3,000 euros depending on their income bracket.

Eligibility

Parents of children who will be aged three or under from January to August 2023 can claim childcare government assistance, including foster parents.

While the upper limit of 3,000 euros is only for households on the lowest incomes, there’s no upper limit, so every family is eligible to receive at least a 1,500 euro payment.

The payment applies either to nursery care costs or to private childminder fees in the case of children with health conditions that would make it unsafe for them to attend daycare with other children.

How much you can claim

The claimable amount depends on families’ economic situation, which in Italy is calculated as ISEE (Equivalent Financial Position Indicator). The following subsidies are in place:

  • Families with ISEE under 25,000 euros are entitled to an annual budget of 3,000 euros.
  • Families with ISEE between 25,001 euros and 40,000 euros can claim 2,500 euros. 
  • Families with ISEE over 40,001 euros are entitled to aid worth 1,500 euros.

Find out more about your ISEE and how to get it calculated here.

The funds apply to each child in the household that falls in the age range; so for two children under three, the amount of assistance is doubled.

READ ALSO: How much maternity, paternity, and parental leave do you get in Italy?

You can only claim up to the total amount of nursery or childminder fees charged for the year.

When and where to apply

The bonus asilo for the current school year must be requested by midnight on December 31st, 2023 through the INPS website.

Parents with young children in Italy can claim up to 3,000 euros in childcare support. Here’s how to go about it.

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