SME and Financial, European definition of SMEs, AIM Italia market, New incentives for listing
The Budget Law 2018 makes 80 million euros available in 3 years
New tax incentives for the listing of small and medium enterprises in the Budget Law 2018. The Comma 89 of Article 1 of the Law of 27 December 2017, no. 205 provides that SMEs that “start a procedure for admission to listing on a regulated market or in multilateral trading systems of a Member State of the European Union or the European Economic Area is recognized, in the case of obtaining admission to listing , a tax credit, up to a maximum amount of 500,000 euros, of 50 percent of the consulting costs incurred up to December 31st, 2020, for the aforementioned purpose “.
This is an important incentive for listing as the consulting costs for an IPO are relevant especially for small and medium-sized companies and include, for example, feasibility studies of the transaction, financial due diligence and listing fees.
The tax credit does not contribute to the formation of income, nor the tax base of the regional tax on production activities – IRAP – and does not include for the purposes of the deductibility of interest expense and other possible negative components attributable to them, pursuant to Income Tax Code.
On the other hand, the total ceiling for tax credits put by the State at € 20 million in 2019 and € 30 million per year in 2020 and 2021 (ie € 80 million in total in the three-year period 2019-2021) applies.
Which companies can access these quotation incentives?
The European definition of SMEs foresees that it has always less than 250 employees and that this criterion supports alternatively either a maximum turnover of 50 million euros or a total annual budget of 43 million euros, understood as the value of the main assets of the ‘company.
Further details will be set by a decree of the Minister of Economic Development, together with the Minister of Economy and Finance, to be adopted within one hundred and twenty days of the entry into force of the budget law.
It is important to underline that with the new provision, which is added to the tax incentives incorporated in the RIPs, new fuel is provided for growth in the AIM Italia market dedicated to small and medium-sized enterprises.
This is a market that has already proved to be an important bridge between capital and small and medium-sized enterprises and that will receive new stimulus from the forecasts prepared by the government.
2017 was a record year for AIM Italy with 26 admissions including 8 SPACs against 13 in 2016 and 22 in 2015.
In 2017, AIM Italia collected 1.28 billion euros and the FTSE AIM Italia index, from the beginning of the year to 29 December 2017, recorded an increase of 22.4% against 13.6% of the FTSE MIB index .
Source Borsa Italiana
