New Limitations to the split payment regime

| Tax

According to the Article 12 of D.L. 87/2018 the split payment will no longer apply for services rendered by professionals to public administrations whose payments are subject to withholding tax for income tax purposes.

The split payment is the mechanism of splitting of payments by effect of which the VAT charged in an invoice to a public administration is not paid to the supplier, but it is the public administration to pay it directly to the Treasury.

So the supplier is required to issue invoices showing the VAT due, while the public administration purchaser is required to pay the VAT directly to the Italian Treasury and not to the supplier.

This new rule entered into force with effect from 14 July 2018. In practical terms, this is how the deductibility of VAT changes:

  • The professional issues the invoice and does not have to indicate the wording “split payment”;
  • At the time of payment, the public administration has to retain the withholding tax and pay the VAT to the professional for the service carried out;
  • The professional will be responsible to pay the VAT to the Italian Treasury.

Our Professionals are available to provide further clarifications on the topic.