{"id":10449,"date":"2026-07-23T11:28:06","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T09:28:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hrcapital.it\/observatory\/premi-di-risultato-il-nuovo-limite-di-5-000-euro-si-applica-anche-alla-conversione-in-welfare\/"},"modified":"2026-07-23T11:48:26","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T09:48:26","slug":"performance-bonuses-the-new-eur-5000-limit-also-applies-to-welfare-conversion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hrcapital.it\/en\/observatory\/performance-bonuses-the-new-eur-5000-limit-also-applies-to-welfare-conversion\/","title":{"rendered":"Performance bonuses: the new EUR 5,000 limit also applies to welfare conversion"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

With Resolution No. 22\/E of 9 June 2026, the Italian Revenue Agency provided an important interpretative clarification on performance bonuses and corporate welfare, resolving one of the main doubts that arose following the entry into force of the 2026 Budget Law. The document confirms that the new EUR 5,000 limit provided for tax-advantaged productivity bonuses also applies where the employee chooses to convert the bonus into corporate welfare goods and services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The regulatory framework<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As is known, paragraphs 182 to 190 of Article 1 of Law No. 208\/2015 introduced, as from 2016, a preferential tax regime applicable to performance bonuses and amounts paid by way of profit-sharing. In particular, the legislation provided for the application of a substitute tax for IRPEF and the related surcharges, originally set at 10%, within a PDR amount limit initially equal to EUR 2,000 gross, which could be increased to EUR 2,500 for companies providing forms of equal involvement of employees in work organisation. The bonuses must be established through second-level company or territorial collective agreements and be linked to measurable and verifiable increases in productivity, profitability, quality, efficiency or innovation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paragraph 184 of the same 2016 Stability Law granted employees, in addition to the possibility of applying substitute taxation instead of ordinary taxation, the option to choose whether to receive the bonus in cash or in kind, through goods, services or benefits falling within the limits and conditions provided for by paragraphs 2 and 3 of Article 51 of the TUIR. As clarified by the Italian Revenue Agency with Circular No. 28\/E of 15 June 2016, the non-taxability of benefits received in lieu of bonuses or profits remains subject to a dual limit: on the one hand, the maximum amount of sums subject to substitute tax; on the other hand, the amounts and conditions specifically provided for each benefit by the above-mentioned paragraphs of Article 51 of the TUIR.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the years, subsequent legislative measures have affected both the substitute tax rate and the maximum eligible limits. The rate, originally equal to 10%, was temporarily reduced to 5% for 2023 by Law No. 197\/2022 and subsequently confirmed for the two-year period 2024-2025 by Law No. 213\/2023. At the same time, the maximum amount of tax-exempt sums was increased to EUR 3,000, with the possibility of being raised to EUR 4,000 in cases involving equal participation of employees in work organisation, under the conditions provided for by the relevant legislation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most recently, Article 1, paragraph 9, of Law No. 199\/2025 (2026 Budget Law<\/a>) introduced a particularly favourable measure for the two-year period 2026-2027, providing for:<\/p>\n\n\n\n