De minimis' aid is State aid of small amounts, granted to companies that EU Member States are not obliged to notify to the Commission. The maximum amount is EUR 200,000 per enterprise over a three-year period.
The subsidies are granted under the "de minimis" Regulation (Commission Regulation (EU) No 1407/2013 of 18 December 2013). Thanks to this regulation, individuals investing in innovative start-ups or SMEs can claim a tax deduction of up to 50 per cent. Specifically, on annual investments of up to EUR 100,000, you get a 50 per cent IRPEF deduction, while above this figure you will continue to get the usual 30 per cent deduction.
Until the introduction of these new benefits, the regulations provided for a cap on deductions set at 30% of the value of the investment in start-ups and innovative SMEs, whether it was made by natural persons or legal entities. What changed in the two cases were the absolute values of the deductible amounts. More specifically
30% relief up to EUR 1 million investment for natural persons;
30% relief up to EUR 1.8 million investment for legal persons.
With the launch of the 'Decreto Rilancio', tax deductions have been increased to 50% (under the 'de minimis' regime) for both natural and legal persons.
The investment must be maintained for at least three years and can be made directly, or through undertakings for collective investment (OICR) that invest primarily in innovative start-ups or SMEs.
How to access 'de minimis' tax incentives
It should be noted that to access the incentives, a specific application procedure must be followed, which must be initiated by the start-up or SME benefiting from the investment. For this, it must be borne in mind that a 'de minimis' aid ceiling of EUR 200,000 over three financial years is established for each company.
It is therefore important that the investor informs the beneficiary company of its willingness to access the tax benefit.
Consequently, before receiving the investment, the legal representative of the beneficiary company will have to access the specific platform and check whether the de minimis state aid ceiling is available in full, in part, or exhausted.
At this point, if there is availability, it will be possible to proceed with the entry of the investor's data and with the submission of the application. After that, both the investor and the beneficiary company will receive a communication via PEC confirming the right to the recognition of the deduction.
In order to complete the procedure, the legal representative of the company benefiting from the investment will need to have the SPID, the PEC of the beneficiary company (registered in the Companies Register and active), and a digital signature. The PEC address of the person making the investment will also be required.
How to maintain the benefits
Once the investment has been made, in order for it to be considered valid for the purposes of obtaining and maintaining the tax benefits (whether at 30 or 50 per cent), certain specific conditions must be met.
First of all, as we have already mentioned, the investment must be maintained for at least three years. The start-up or SME invested in must be able to demonstrate, for the entire duration of the investment, the specific requirements set forth respectively in Article 25, paragraph 2 of Decree-Law 179/2012 and Article 4, paragraph 1 of Decree-Law 3/2015. The subscribed capital share cannot be sold for consideration; finally, the investor cannot withdraw or be excluded from the company.
If any of the listed requirements were to fail, the benefits would be lost and the beneficiary would be obliged to return the sums received in the form of tax relief, plus interest, in the tax return.