Investor Visa Italy Investor Visa Italy / 3 | Page 4

INVESTOR VISA ITALY
EDITORIAL
necessary security, border and anti-money
laundering checks, ensure that all the requirements
demanded by the Long Term Residence Directive
and the Family Reunification Directive are met, and
share all the information to prevent tax evasion.
Finally, considering that some non-EU countries
are implementing similar programs, which may
have implications for EU security, the Commission
will monitor investor citizenship schemes in the
context of the EU accession process of these
candidates. The Commission will also examine the
impact of such programs implemented by visa-
free countries as part of the visa-suspension
mechanism.
Italy is improving its legislation
hile the European Union is seeking
common solutions to avoid the negative
impact of citizenship and residence
schemes on EU law, Italy may shortly amend its
Immigration Code (Article 26-bis, TUI). This article, a
year after coming into force, yielded, in terms of
investors receiving a visa and residence permit,
very few results.
On the matter, on 12 February 2019, its first
signatory Gabriele Lanzi (M5S) presented the 1056
Bill “Amendments to article 26-bis of the 25 July
1998 legislative decree, n. 286, on the subject of
the entry and stay for investors”, in the Senate.
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The Bill takes into account the negative
assessment of the previous norm and
acknowledges that some corrections may be in
order. Amending the law may improve the program
attractiveness for non-EU investors thereby
increasing Italy’s competitiveness – at least on this
subject – compared to other member states. The
Bill will extend the possibility to apply for the visa
and residence permit to the legal representatives of
legal persons looking to invest in Italy, doing the
same as Spain (a legal person, registered in a
territory that is not considered a tax haven
according to Spanish regulations, in which the
foreign investor owns, directly or indirectly, the
majority of the voting rights and has the power to
appoint or dismiss the majority of the members of
its administrative body), France (In order to meet
the ‘exceptional financial contribution’ requirement,
Article R 314-6 of the Immigration Code stipulated
that an investor was required to, either personally or
through a company they either directed or held at
least 30% of the capital, comply with either of the
two conditions (not cumulative)…) and the Czech
Republic (A natural person, who is a governing
body, a member of a governing body, a procurator
or a partner of a business corporation, on condition
that the activity of such a person will have a
significant influence on the business activities of the
business corporation. If the number of natural
persons in a corporation applying for the residence
permit is five or less, their significant influence in
the commercial corporation is assumed. If there are
more than five applicants from the same
corporation, their real influence in the corporation
will have to be proved. Moreover, the share of such
an applicant in the commercial corporation must be
at least 30 % in any case).
Another proposed change concerns the
exemption from the obligation to sign an integration
agreement for the investor first five years of stay.
During this period, they also will no longer be
requested to continuously reside in Italy. On this
subject, it must be said that some member states
require no physical presence on their territory, as
shown by Estonia (only the ‘formal’ presence of the
investor is required, rather than an effective,
physical presence), Greece (There is no
requirement for the investor to be physically present
in Greece under any of the three schemes, however,
the investor needs to visit Greece once when
applying for the residence permit plus every time
(s)he applies for a renewal of the permit (in order to
submit his/her biometric data) and Ireland (There is
no minimum physical presence requirement other
than that the persons concerned spend at least one
day in Ireland every year. There is also no effective
residence condition for renewing the permission).
A ten year tax reduction
for non-EU entrepreneur and
investors ready to move to Italy
to invest and work
ood news for non-EU entrepreneurs and
investors willing to move their fiscal
residence to Italy: that’s in the Growth Act
(Art. 5, D.L. n. 34/2019 – Misure urgenti di crescita
economica e per la risoluzione di specifiche situa-
zioni di crisi) issued by the Italian Government on
30 April 2019, and entered into force on May 1st.
Those people’s incomes made in Italy as
entrepreneurs, employee or working investors will
contribute to the personal revenue only for the 30%
of the amount. For example, assuming an annual
income for € 100K earned in Italy, the new resident
will pay tax such as his incomes would be like € 30K!
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This taxation preferential treatment will be
even more favourable (it will drop from 30 to 10%)
if the new residency will be taken in one of the
following areas: Abruzzo, Molise, Campania, Puglia,
Basilicata, Calabria, Sardinia, Sicilia.
This tax break will be in place for 5 years of
residency but it will be extended for 5 years more if
the new resident has an underage child (including
over age children if unemployed) or in case the new
resident has bought his own flat or house during his
staying or even a year before his transfer. In the last
case the percentage increase to 50% but it might
even decrease to 10% if the new resident has at
least 3 kids.
Originally introduced by the Item 5 of the Act
for the “Returning Brains from Abroad” only, it has
been extended to non-EU citizens highly skilled,
including entrepreneurs and working investors, who
have decided to move to Italy.
The following conditions are required for the
applicant to access the favourable taxation plan,
therefore the applicant:
1) will have to demonstrate the residency out of the
Italian borders in the last two taxation periods
before moving and has to plan to live in Italy at
least for two years;
2) will practice his main job from Italy;
3) needs to be coming from a Country which has a
“no double taxation deal” with Italy or an
“exchange of tax information deal” with Italy
(those country are: Albania, Algeria, Saudi Arabia,
Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Azerbaijan,
Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Brazil, Canada,
Chile, China, Congo, South Korea, Ivory Coast,
Ecuador, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia,
Russian Federation, Philippines, Georgia, Ghana,
Japan, Jordan, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia,
Israel, former Yugoslavia, Kazakhstan, Kuwait,
Lebanon, Macedonia, Malaysia, Morocco,
Mauritius, Mexico, Moldova, Mozambique, New
Zealand, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Qatar,
Senegal, Singapore, Syria, Sri Lanka, United
States of America, South Africa, Tanzania,
Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey,
Ukraine, Uganda, former Soviet Union,
Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Vietnam Zambia)
4) has to hold at least a Bachelor Degree and needs
to be an employee, a self-employed or an
entrepreneur abroad in the last 24 months.
Please note: all those conditions need to be
observed to access the above tax break. The non-EU
entrepreneur and investor, to move the fiscal
residency to Italy, needs an entry visa as employed
or self-employed and practice from Italy, because
the tax break is available in this case only. People
with elective residency or business permit only, for
example, are not eligible for it.
Altogether considering the different kinds of
working visas available in Italy, the visa for Investors
– available since January 2018 – is indeed the one
which suits best to the non-EU entrepreneur who
plans to move to Italy as investor/working partner of
an existing company or to acquire the full share
pack of it becoming its CEO. Of course the amount
of investment for this visa is quite high: we are
looking at least at 500k Euros investment; on the
other hand, the opportunity of buying a good profit
company connected to the chance to build a cross
border business link, together with the favourable
tax break also for the profits beside the salary, will
probably be able to compensate the initial
expenditure. Visa for investors is out of the yearly
fixed number of application and, once all its
conditions are verified, is quickly issued (30/40
days), moreover, it can be done also by an investor
coming from a Country which doesn’t have any kind
of agreement with Italy.
Conte’s Government choice is part of the bigger
strategic plan of brains and investment attraction
policy started two years ago with the introduction
of the visa for investors connected to the flat tax
benefit (100K Euros or 25K Euros) for the new
resident’s income from abroad.
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