New rules on withholding tax also concern the yachting sector

The Budget Law for 2026 contains two provisions introducing the obligation to withhold tax at source in situations that also affect the yachting sector. Specifically, these provisions require withholding tax to be applied in cases of payment of commissions to maritime brokers and payment of fees deriving from the provision of services and the sale of goods carried out in the course of commercial activities.

In relation to the first case, it should be noted that the Budget Law, by amending Article 25-bis of Presidential Decree No. 600/1973, has eliminated from the cases of exemption from withholding tax, among other things, commissions received by agents, brokers and maritime and air brokers, with the consequent effect that, upon payment of such commissions, it is mandatory to withhold tax at source. The obligation obviously applies in cases where the client is a business or a professional, excluding cases where the customer acts outside the scope of business, art or profession. However, it should be noted that the regulatory change also applies automatically in cases where the parties involved have contractually agreed on the exact amount to be paid without taking into account the obligation to withhold tax.

The withholding tax, equal to the personal income tax rate applicable to the first income bracket (currently 23%), is applied on the taxable base equal to (i) 20% of commissions, if the service provider continuously engages employees or third parties (therefore 4.6%) or (ii) 50% of commissions, if the service provider does not continuously make use of employees or third parties (therefore 11.5%). To this end, the supplier must provide the customer with a specific declaration stating that they have made use of employees or third parties.

The new provision applies to commissions paid from 1 March 2026 onwards and, therefore, with reference to principles previously expressed by the tax authorities, it can be assumed that it also applies to commissions accrued before the date mentioned and paid subsequently.

A further point of interest concerns the case where commissions, due to regulatory provisions or contractual agreements, are withheld from the amounts collected directly by the supplier: in this case, the supplier is required to remit the amount corresponding to the withholding to the customers so that they can make the relevant payment and fulfil any additional tax obligations.

Of particular interest to the yachting sector is the consideration that the customer, resident in Italy, pays commissions to a non-resident supplier. In this regard, paragraph 8 of the aforementioned Article 25-bis establishes that the obligation to withhold tax also applies to commissions paid to permanent establishments in the territory of the Italian State of non-resident entities, thus excluding from this obligation those paid to non-resident entities that do not operate through a permanent establishment in Italy.

In addition to the withholding obligations set out above and relating to the payment of commissions to agents, commission agents and maritime and air brokers, the 2026 Budget Law - by amending Article 25 of Presidential Decree No. 600/1973 - provides for a further case of withholding tax application, which, however, does not apply immediately, as the relevant obligation is expected to come into force in 2028 and, in any case, after the issuance of a specific provision by the Revenue Agency. This withholding obligation applies to all transactions involving the sale of goods and provision of services between companies, in typical B2B transactions. The amount of the withholding tax is equal to 0.5% of the consideration for payments made in 2028, increased to 1% for payments made from 2029 onwards.