Italy's Revenue Agency confirms that agricultural entrepreneurs who use land registry-based income determination and simplified accounting qualify for the Single Special Economic Zone tax credit, provided they meet the location and business criteria.
Italy’s Revenue Agency has clarified in Response No. 25 on 9 February 2026 that agricultural businesses that determine income from cadastral (land registry) records can access the tax credit for investments in the Single Special Economic Zone (ZES) of Southern Italy, even when using simplified accounting methods.
The clarification addresses concerns from an agricultural entrepreneur who invested in new machinery between January and November 2025 to improve production capacity and efficiency. The taxpayer questioned whether the cadastral income system would disqualify the business from the relief.
The Agency confirmed that the regulatory framework establishes no link between tax credit eligibility and the method used to determine income. Article 2 of the Ministerial Decree of 18 September 2024 explicitly states that agricultural, forestry, fishing, and aquaculture businesses qualify regardless of legal form or accounting regime.
The tax credit was introduced under Article 16-bis of Legislative Decree No. 124/2023 to support investments in Southern Italy’s Single ZES, in accordance with exemptions under Article 107 of the TFEU.
To access the Single Agricultural ZES tax credit, businesses must:
- Operate in one of the eight southern regions: Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Molise, Puglia, Sardinia, Sicily, or Abruzzo
- Fall within eligible categories, including primary producers of agricultural products listed in Annex I of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), forestry businesses, or micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises in fisheries and aquaculture
- Make qualifying investments in new machinery, systems, equipment, land purchases, or construction/expansion of capital goods that comply with EU State aid regulations, specifically Regulation (EU) 2022/2472.
