Incentives
The best support to accelerate new investments and foster business growth
FINANCIAL INCENTIVES AND TAX BENEFITS
- Italy has an integrated portfolio of financial incentives and tax benefits aimed at creating the best environment for industrial investments supporting Research & Development and encouraging the growth of innovative companies.
- The NRRP has allocated over 126 billion euros (65% of its total resources) for the development of strategic supply chains to pursue the objectives of the double Green and Digital transition.
- Dedicated multi-year funds have been activated to finance tailored incentive schemes for the following sectors: Automotive, Digital transition, Green transition (renewable energy and hydrogen; battery giga-factories; circular economy projects; critical raw materials); Microelectronics and Semiconductors; Aerospace; Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals; Design, Fashion and Furniture; Food; Metal and Electrochemistry; Rubber and Plastics.
Italy's incentives and tax benefits maximises opportunities within the EU's State Aid legislation (GBER Regulation) with the aim of:
facilitating industrial establishments
supporting business and supply chain innovation
Businesses that invest in Italy can derive competitive advantage from both the flexibility and intensity of the aid frameworks:
INVESTMENTS IN PRODUCTION ACTIVITIES
The highest incentive rates in Europe can be obtained in the form of grants and/or subsidised loans in some Italian regions.
The Development Contract is one of the most commonly applied incentive schemes by foreign businesses. The Development Contract can be activated on production activities with a minimum value of 20 MLN euros.
The Development Contract can also be activated for projects involving the transformation of agricultural products and projects aimed at environmental protection that fall under different frameworks.
RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT AND INNOVATION
Investment projects in Research, Development and Innovation, including those complementary to a manufacturing investment program benefit from a robust aid regime across the entire Italian territory.
National and regional incentive tools (also with thematic objectives) follow this regime to support businesses through grants and/or subsidised loans.
HIGH-TECH INNOVATIVE STARTUPS
Smart&Start Italia is the national financial incentive that supports the growth of innovative startups in Italy.
It finances advanced technological innovation projects between 100,000 euros and 1.5 MLN euros to be carried out in Italy that can guarantee - within 24 months - the go-to-market of:
- new high-tech products
- new high-tech services
How it works:
- Zero interest loan covering 80% of the total investment (from 100,000 euros to 1.5 MLN euros)
- In Southern Italy 30% of the loan amount is converted into a non-repayable contribution
- Financing increases to 90% if the shareholders are exclusively women and/or young people under 36 or if they include at least one research PhD from abroad
- Possibility of converting up to 50% of the loan into a non-repayable contribution in the case of venture capital investments by qualified external investors
IPCEI – IMPORTANT PROJECT OF COMMON EUROPEAN INTEREST
IPCEIs are large European innovation projects addressing common objectives and supporting strategic value chains for the future of Europe, bringing together knowledge, skills, financial resources and businesses across the Union. Favourable state aid rules apply to these projects.
Italy has been participating in all IPCEIs approved up to 2024 (in fields such as Health, Batteries, Microelectronics, Hydrogen and Cloud) with one of the highest engagement rates in Europe in terms of both companies involved and public resources invested.
Our Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP) strengthens the IPCEI Fund with a further allocation of 1.5 BLN euros to complement the financing for companies operating in Italy in IPCEI projects.
Interested companies and R&D institutions can participate in IPCEI projects by applying to specific national Calls for Expressions of Interest issued by the Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy.