New rule on impatriates: an aid for the growth of Serie A?

Help for Serie A could come from the new 'Growth Decree"(Decree-Law No. 34 published on 30 April in the Official Journal). The legislation in favour of the so-called 'impatriates' provides, in fact, that from 1 May those who move to Italy for a minimum of 24 months and without having resided in the Peninsula for the last two years (even if not registered with Aire, Anagrafe Italiani residenti all'estero), Irpef is taxed only on the 30% of the taxable income for a period of 5 years.

A rule that could have a positive effect on a coach who is in great demand on the market as Antonio Conte. The Lecce coach, in fact, after his experience as coach with the Italian national team, was hired by the Chelsea. His adventure in England lasted two years, in which he received a net salary of EUR 10 million. For those who would like to sign him in Italy, therefore, with the current regulations and at those figures, Conte's gross salary would weigh on the club's coffers for around 17.5 million. With the new regulations, however, only 30% of the income would be taxed at 43%, reducing Conte's gross salary to around 11.5 million, a substantial saving of around 6 million.

The rule is also applicable to those who do not have a 'managerial' role, therefore also applicable to players, and provides for a more significant tax benefit for southern teams: for clubs in Basilicata, Campania, Abruzzo, Apulia, Calabria and Sicily, in fact, the taxable amount will drop to 10%.

Furthermore, according to the reading of the "Growth Decree", the rule on "impatriates"It would also seem to concern non-Italian coaches and footballers: the text speaks, in fact, generically of workers who have not resided in Italy for two years without specifying whether they must first have lived in our country for a certain period.

A regulation that is very reminiscent of the "Beckham law' launched in 2005 to make it easier for foreign workers in Spain with income above €600,000 per year (taxation was reduced from 43% to 24%), and which follows the rule on new tax residents and the €100,000 flat rate for foreign income exploited by Cristiano Ronaldo.

This directive could facilitate the growth of our league, allowing our clubs to sign coaches and players that seemed impossible a few months ago.