The Council of Ministers of Italy enacted a Law Decree No.50 with an effort to meet the European Union (EU) demands of extra budget deficit cuts. The Decree was published in the Official Gazette on 24 April 2017 and provides urgent measures on tax matters.

The Decree excluded trademarks from the definition of intellectual property to comply with OECD Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) Action 5 recommendations. Taxpayers wishing to take advantage of the patent box regime need to make an election by the end of the first financial year for which the regime is to apply. The election remains in force for five years-the year in which the application is filed and the following four financial years.

According to Decree the definition of normal value with the concept of arm’s length will be modified to be more aligned with Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) principles. The new definition formally endorses the OECD standard by providing that intercompany transactions are determined based on the conditions and prices that would have been agreed in comparable circumstances between independent parties acting at arm’s length.

Also, corresponding adjustments are now allowed for the conclusion of tax audits performed under international cooperation procedures, where the results are agreed by the tax authorities involved. Now it is also possible to obtain a corresponding adjustment through a specific application filed by an Italian taxpayer where a final adjustment has been made based on the arm’s-length principle in a country which has a double tax treaty in place with Italy that allows an acceptable level of information exchange.