Controls needed according to CNDCEC and the Revenue Office

The so-called Superbonus provisions under art. 119 of Law Decree no. 34 dated 19 May 2020 (so-called “Rilancio” Decree) are aimed at incentivizing expenses relevant to specific intervention for the improvement of energy efficiency and the reduction of seismic risks, borne from 1st July 2020 to 31st December 2021 (“major” works), as well as to further interventions realized in combination with the major ones (“minor” works), specifically carried out on:

• Buildings common property;
• Detached buildings;
• Single real estate units within buildings;
• Real estate units located within multi-family buildings that are functionally independent and have one or more independent accesses from outside.

The tax allowance also applies to the installation of solar power plants connected to the electricity grid, as well as to the realization of electric vehicle charging facilities within buildings.

The benefit consists in a further deduction that is additional to those regarding interventions on building façades and building maintenance and renovation, as well as to the so-called “eco-bonus” and “sisma bonus”.

Art. 119 of the “Relaunch” Decree provides for a 110% deduction due (thus significantly increasing it compared to similar provisions) and introduces even more advantageous conditions by providing a reduction of the deduction instalment period, the conversion of the deduction into a discount on invoices or the transfer of credit, even to banks, through the conversion of the deduction into a tax credit.

One of the main critical aspects of the regulation is the high number of fulfilments required, including, in particular, those related to certifications and stamps of approval, which are required, in addition to further ordinary fulfilments, in case the taxpayer opts for the discount on invoices and the transfer of tax credit.

8 fulfilments provided under the Decree on “Technical Requirements”

On 6 August 2020, the Ministry of Economic Development issued a Decree on “Technical Requirements” to access the tax allowances regarding the energy improvement of buildings, published in the Official Gazette on 5 October 2020.

Under art. 6, the Decree provides for 8 specific fulfilments, consisting in the following activities:

1. Filing of the project’s “technical report” properly attesting that the intervention meets the requirements for the containment of energy consumption of buildings and of their related thermal plants, when declaring the starting of works.
2. Certification by a qualified technical expert attesting that the intervention meets all the requirements provided under the decree and its annexes.
3. Collection of an energy performance certificate.
4. Acquisition, if needed, of a certification by the supplier of low thermal inertia thermostatic valves.
5. Collection of documentation attesting payments performed – to be performed as credit transfer including details concerning invoice number, reason for the payment, tax code of the deduction beneficiary and of the payment receiver. In case of interventions on buildings common property, a copy of the holders’ meeting resolution and the table showing the allocation of costs among holders must be kept.
6. Submission of the dossier describing the intervention to ENEA (Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development) within 90 days after the end of works through the ENEA portal, downloading the relevant electronic submission receipt.
7. Submission to ENEA of the technical certification attesting that the requirements provided by the Decree have been met and stating that costs borne are adequate with reference to interventions performed.
8. Storage of all documents acquired, in order to promptly present them in case the Revenue Office or ENEA request them.

In light of the above and of the clarifications provided by the Revenue Office in Circular Letter no. 24/E dated 8 August 2020, it is useful to analyse in detail the content and critical aspects of tax fulfilments and, particularly, those concerning certifications and stamps of approval.

Certifications and stamps of approval

The considerable amount of the allowance and the need to avoid any improper use to the prejudice of the Inland Revenue impose to comply with a number of requirements consisting in a structured controls system, aimed at preventing any behaviour that breaches the regulation provisions. There are peculiar technical requirements and different professionals with diversified expertise should be involved, who are required to certify the existence of the required conditions to benefit from the allowance. In particular, architects, engineers, surveyors and qualified experts must collaborate, in order to:

• Check whether the major interventions (thermal insulation or replacement of heating systems), combined with the minor interventions (e.g. “ecobonus”) will lead to the required energy efficiency classification improvement (+2 levels);
• Verify the compliance with the minimum technical requirements and the adequacy of costs incurred based on the provisions of the Decree on eco-bonus requirements;
• Certify the existence of aseismic interventions.

It is pointed out that these certifications must be prepared even if the taxpayer does not opt for the discount on invoices or for the conversion of the tax deduction into transferable tax credit. If the taxpayer opts for one of these possibilities, a stamp of approval must be issued by tax intermediaries or tax aid offices.

The person issuing the stamp of approval must also check for the presence of all required certifications and attestations and that the adequacy of costs borne has been assessed. If the option concerns the deduction for building maintenance and renovation works, the stamp of approval can be issued without the need of certifications attesting the adequacy of costs borne.

The document by CNDCEC and the National Foundation of Chartered Accountants dated  21 October on required controls

On 21 October, the CNDCEC (National Council of Chartered Accountants and Registered Auditors), in collaboration with the National Foundation of Chartered Accountants, published a document on the 110% superbonus, particularly concerning the “checklist” to obtain a stamp of approval for interventions aimed at increasing energy efficiency and reducing seismic risks.

This document outlines the controls that qualified subjects must perform in order to correctly issue a stamp of approval in case a taxpayer opts for the transfer of tax credit or for the discount on invoices, as an alternative to the direct utilization of the tax deduction. Such stamp of approval, provided under art. 35 of Legislative Decree dated 9 July 1997 no. 241, must be affixed on a proper communication to be submitted to the Revenue Office, attesting the existence of all requirements that give right to the tax deduction.

The following paragraphs will analyse the main document’s guidelines with reference to interventions for energy efficiency improvement and reduction of seismic risks.

The Checklist to obtain the stamp of approval for energy efficiency improvement interventions

The abovementioned document, besides reminding the need to verify the identity of the beneficiary taxpayer, to detail the costs incurred – making a distinction between major and minor works –, and to indicate the amount of the transferred credit, suggests to carry out some controls with specific reference to

• Legal form of the beneficiary
• Information on property and on the payment of the relevant municipal taxes
• Documentation attesting the ownership or the availability of real estate
• Buildings common property (if any)
• Self-declaration on the maximum deduction amount and the compatibility of the benefit with other measures
• Administrative authorizations, communications, technical reports and certifications required under the current regulation
• Documents attesting expenses incurred and their relevant payments
• Type of works to be performed
• Intermediate and final certifications

The document also contains some tables that specify, for the main energy efficiency improvement interventions, the main characteristics of the intervention and the expense limit.

Please download the PDF file to view the tables.

Checklist for the obtainment of the stamp of approval related to aseismic interventions

Lastly, the document suggests, with reference to the interventions aimed at reducing seismic risks, to check for the availability of the same information and collect the same documentation as that provided for energy efficiency improvement interventions.

As regards the distinction between major and minor interventions, the document specifies that the first ones refer mainly to interventions performed to implement safety measures in buildings or aggregates of buildings that are structurally connected with each other, and that the expenditure threshold is Euro 96,000 for each real estate unit (96,000 Euro times the number of each building’s real estate units, in case of interventions on buildings common property).

On the other hand, with reference to minor interventions and, particularly, to the installation of solar power plants, the document specifies that the installation of plants must be carried out in combination with the major intervention concerning energy efficiency or aseismic improvements and that the energy that has not used for self-consumption or not delivered for self-consumption must be assigned to GSE (Gestore Servizi Energetici).

The tax deduction, in this case, is calculated on the total amount of expenses, that cannot exceed Euro 48,000 and, in any case, not higher than Euro 2,400 for each nominal power KW of the solar power plant (limit reduced to Euro 1,600 if the installation is combined with a building renovation intervention).

Required documentation to be stored

The abovementioned Circular letter no. 24/E issued by the Revenue Office on 8 August 2020 provided a detailed list of documentation that needs to be stored in case of any future controls. Namely:

• Invoices or receipts attesting expenses actually borne for the interventions and, only for individuals, the bank or postal credit transfer receipt through which payment was performed;
• Owner’s statement of consent to the performance of works, if these are carried out by the property holder;
• Copy of the holder’s meeting resolution and the table showing the allocation of costs among holders, or, alternatively, certification issued by the property manager, if interventions are performed on buildings common property;
• With reference to energy efficiency improvement interventions, copy of the certification submitted to ENEA and, with reference to aseismic interventions, copy of the certification filed with the competent office.
  
  

Conclusions

As already commented, the Superbonus is subject to multiple fulfilments that make it difficult for small real estate owners to benefit from it.

The implementation decree of the Ministry of Economic Development dated 8 August 2020, relevant to technical requirements, identifies 8 different fulfilments and this points out that the measure is essentially aimed to major operations rather than small interventions, unlike the tax allowance concerning the building renovation, which provides for more simplified fulfilments.

In such a context, the synthesis pursued by the document issued by CNDCEC and the Foundation of chartered accountant is appreciable, at least as concerns the fulfilments needed for the issue of the stamp of approval and the certifications.

In fact, the implementation of a structured control system can minimize improper uses of the regulation to the prejudice of the Inland Revenue and non-compliant behaviours with the regulation provisions, thus preventing over-invoicing.

Moreover, the same control system and the compliance with the fulfilments indicated by the document can represent a parameter for the assessment of the diligence of professionals involved to ascertain the adequacy of costs and certifications. In fact, professionals are subject to a three-level liability – i.e. civil, administrative, and penal – for the activities related to the correct compliance with fulfilments required to benefit from the bonus.