New Italian legislationon start-ups in now completely effective

Last March 20 a Decree by Treasury Ministry and Economic Development Ministry has been published on the Italian Official Journal. This is a much awaited Decreee (click her for the text of the Decree in Italian) which implements previous measures introduced by the Italian Government in October 2012 aiming at promoting the creation and development of start-ups (click here for an Executive Summary of the new Italian legislation on start-ups  by Minister’s Technical Secretariat of the Italian Ministry of Economic Development).
Particular attention should be paid to the fact that thenew legislation introduces tax incentives for corporate and private investments in start-ups for the years 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016. These incentives apply both in case of direct investments in start-ups and in case of indirect investments by the means of other companies investing predominantly in start-ups. Tax concessions are greater if the investment concerns start-ups with a social goal or those operating in the energy sector.
Moreover start-ups can remunerate their team members and the providers of external services, including lawyers and accountants, with stock options and work for equity respectively. The tax system applicable to these instruments is advantageous and is tailored on the most common needs of a start-up. Certified incubators can also make use of these instruments (click here for a presentation of the Italian policy for starat-ups by Minister’s Technical Secretariat of the Italian Ministry of Economic Development).
Il modello UNICO 2014 è già stato arricchito con un nuovo prospetto dedicato alle agevolazioni per gli investimenti in startup innovative e permetterà di applicare la misura alle operazioni compiute nel 2013.