Introduction – The Legislator, with certain regulatory provisions contained in Legislative Decree no. 50/2017, has reduced to €5,000 (from €15,000) the maximum limit beyond which, in order to offset credits relating to VAT, direct taxes, IRAP, and withholding taxes (of any type), taxpayers are required to have a conformity stamp affixed to the declaration from which the credits arise, or, alternatively, for taxpayers referred to in Article 2409-bis of the Civil Code, to have the declaration signed by the entities performing accounting and accounting control services.
Violation of the aforementioned obligation entails the recovery (through a notice of dispute by the Revenue Agency) of the improperly used credit, as well as the interest and the application of the appropriate penalties.
Furthermore, VAT holders are required to use the online services provided by the Revenue Agency if they intend to offset tax credits of any amount, in accordance with the F24 and offsetting regulations . Therefore, in the presence of offsetting credits, the F24 form of the aforementioned subjects can only be submitted electronically through the Revenue Agency’s online channels (it is no longer possible to do so via home banking services).
Clarifications from the Revenue Agency – With reference to the above and with particular regard to the effective date of the changes, the Revenue Agency, with Resolution No. 57/E published yesterday, clarified that the changes will come into force on the day of the decree’s publication in the Official Journal, i.e., April 24, 2017.
In particular, the Financial Administration has clarified that the new rules apply to all behaviors performed after their entry into force and, therefore, to declarations submitted from 24 April 2017. In this regard, it was therefore specified that:
- For declarations already submitted before April 24 (e.g. VAT/2017 Model) without the conformity stamp, the previous restrictions remain applicable. Therefore, payment authorizations which, even if submitted after April 24, use as compensation credits arising from declarations already submitted for amounts less than €15,000, cannot be rejected;
- For declarations not yet submitted as of April 24, 2017 , for example the 2017 VAT Model submitted with a delay of no more than 90 days or supplementary declarations to be submitted pursuant to Articles 2 and 8 of Presidential Decree no. 322 of 1998; it is necessary to affix the conformity stamp if you intend to offset credits exceeding €5,000, therefore the new limits apply .
Finally, the Resolution in question states that controls regarding the obligation for VAT holders to use the Revenue Agency’s electronic channels in the presence of F24 forms with credits used for offsetting will begin on June 1st .
source: fiscal focus