Below is a summary of the most relevant provisions of decree law no. 104/2020 for the Third Sector.
Extension to all non-commercial entities of the possibility of accessing the Guarantee Fund for SMEs.
In article 13, paragraph 12 -bis, of the decree-law of 8 April 2020, n. 23, converted, with amendments, by law 5 June 2020, n. 40, the words «Third sector entities, including civilly recognized religious entities, carrying out business or commercial activities, even on a non-exclusive or prevalent basis or aimed at self-financing» are replaced by the following: «non-commercial entities, including of the third sector and civilly recognized religious bodies" (art. 64, paragraph 3 of Legislative Decree 104/2020). This means that access to the Guarantee Fund has been extended to all non-commercial entities, including Third sector entities and civilly recognized religious entities, regardless of the commerciality or otherwise of the activity carried out and therefore also of enrollment in the business Register. It is to be assumed that the August Decree modified the Liquidity Decree retroactively.
Simplified procedures for carrying out company meetings.
The provisions of paragraphs 2 to 6 of article 106 of the decree continue to apply to the shareholders' meetings of joint-stock companies, limited partnerships, limited liability companies, cooperatives and mutual insurance companies called by 15 October 2020 -law 17 March 2020, n. 18, converted, with amendments, by law 24 April 2020, n. 27 (art. 7, paragraph 1 of Legislative Decree 104/2020); therefore with the admission of voting by electronic means or by correspondence and participation in the meeting by means of telecommunication.
Measures to support sport.
Article 81 introduced a tax credit for companies, self-employed workers and non-commercial entities which invest in advertising campaigns, including sponsorships, towards: leagues which organize national team championships in the Olympic disciplines; professional sports clubs; amateur sports companies and associations registered in the CONI register operating in disciplines admitted to the Olympic Games and carrying out youth sports activities. The tax credit is equal to 50% of the investments made, starting from 1 July 2020 and up to 31 December 2020, within the maximum overall spending limit for the State established at 90 million euros. In the event that available resources are not sufficient with respect to the requests admitted, a distribution will be made among the beneficiaries in proportion to the tax credit abstractly due, with an individual limit per subject equal to 5 percent of the total annual resources. Sponsorships of subjects adhering to the regime provided for by law no. 398.
Suspension of payments.
Articles 126 and 127 of the Decree provide for the possibility of diluting payments over a period of more than two years (postponing the payment of half of the amount due to 16 September 2020, as envisaged by the Relaunch Decree, and distributing the payment of the remaining half according to an installment plan) for: payments of withholding taxes for employee income, social security and welfare contributions and compulsory insurance premiums due in April and May 2020, regardless of the drop in turnover; VAT payments due in April and May, upon the occurrence of the conditions for reducing turnover envisaged for businesses by art. 18 of Legislative Decree Liquid assets. For non-profit organizations, ODVs and APSs, the suspension of payments also concerns those relating to withholdings for employee income, social security and welfare contributions, premiums for compulsory insurance and VAT expiring in March 2020, regardless of the decline in turnover. Furthermore, for sports federations, sports promotion bodies and sports associations/companies, the suspension concerns withholding payments for employee income, social security and welfare contributions and premiums for compulsory insurance expiring from March until 30 June 2020.
Extension of the Redundancy Fund.
The art. 1 of the Decree provides that redundancy payments may be authorized for an initial period of 9 weeks and extended by a further 9 weeks, up to a maximum of 18 weeks, in the period between 13 July and 31 December 2020. For the second period of 9 weeks, the employer will however have to pay an additional contribution, unless he has had a reduction in turnover of more than 20%, or has started the business after 1 January 2019.
