The firm’s news desk · What matters right now
The measures people are actually discussing this season, explained in terms of what they change in the day-to-day work of a business and of those who advise it. Not a daily press review: the texts that are rewriting the rules, with the exact references so you can go to the source.
Updated to 21 July 2026.
The TUIR has been rewritten. Decreto legislativo 117/2026, implementing article 21 of enabling act 111/2023, brings together in a single body of law the taxation of the income of individuals, professionals, businesses and property, absorbing provisions that had accumulated over the years in dozens of separate statutes and replacing D.P.R. 917/1986.
Two dates not to be confused: the decree is in force from 4 July 2026, but its provisions apply from 1 January 2027. Until then, the current text remains the one to work with.
Why it mattersIt is the map that changes, not just the numbering: contracts, company by-laws, internal procedures and accounting software all contain cross-references to articles of the old TUIR which from 2027 will no longer match. 2026 is the year to take stock of those cross-references calmly, instead of discovering them under pressure.
The deadline for accepting the Agenzia delle Entrate’s proposal for the 2026-2027 two-year period has been moved from 30 September to 31 October 2026; as that falls on a Saturday, it moves to Monday 2 November. Sign-up is made through section P of the 2026 Redditi return. The conversion act introduced a cap on the proposal: no more than 30% of declared income for taxpayers with an ISA score between 6 and 8, and no more than 35% for those between 1 and 6. The bar on taxpayers with more than 5.000 euro of debts not covered by an instalment plan remains.
What to do nowThe decision has to be prepared with the 2026 figures in hand, not right before the deadline: comparing the proposal with expected income is the only way to see whether it is worth it. Anyone with outstanding debts still has time to arrange instalments and meet the requirements.
The Agenzia has begun a four-part commentary on the Code of business crisis and insolvency. The first part covers the procedures introduced by the Code — composizione negoziata (negotiated settlement), simplified arrangement with creditors, restructuring plan subject to court approval and the rules on groups — and clarifies the tax aspects of a settlement with the authorities, including the write-down of VAT. The draft of the second part, on over-indebtedness and debt discharge, has been put out to public consultation.
Why it mattersThis is the tax administration’s first comprehensive position on tools that have become routine for businesses under strain: it affects how a negotiation with the tax authorities is framed within a procedure.
The entry into effect of the consolidated acts already published — decreto legislativo no. 173/2024 (administrative and criminal tax penalties), no. 174/2024 (minor state taxes) and no. 175/2024 (tax justice) — has been postponed to 1 January 2027, to take account of the corrective decrees still being adopted.
Beware of a common mistakeIn 2026 the previous rules continue to apply: anyone citing those consolidated acts as already in force, for instance on penalties, is working from provisions that are not yet operative.
Unilateral withdrawal from a company-level agreement of indefinite duration is lawful — a collective agreement without a term cannot bind the parties for ever — but notice of withdrawal does not cancel everything the agreement has produced. Rights already vested in the employee as consideration for work performed or for a completed phase of the relationship remain untouchable; mere expectations fall away. And where the payment is tied to a condition that cannot be removed — in the case decided, the geography of the municipality — it forms part of the pay protected by Article 2103 of the Civil Code and survives the withdrawal. Since the reason for the payment is established on the facts and cannot be reviewed on appeal to the Court of Cassation, the wording of the agreement is the principal evidence.
Who must actEmployer and labour consultant: set out in writing the stated reason for every item in the agreement — whether it rewards work already performed or looks to the future, whether its precondition is removable or structural — before serving notice on the signatory unions, and adjust payslips only from the pay period following the effective date of withdrawal, keeping the agreement, the notice, the minutes and the payroll ledger.
Email assigned to an individual account generates personal data of the employee, both in the content and in the system logs. Processing is possible within three cumulative constraints: a legal basis and specified purposes; compliance with Article 4 of the Italian Workers’ Statute, which Article 114 of the Italian Privacy Code makes a condition of lawfulness; and retention limited to what is necessary, with documented reasons. The mail client is a working tool, but prolonged and generalised retention of metadata allows an employee’s activity to be reconstructed after the event and therefore requires a union agreement or authorisation from the Labour Inspectorate. The Authority indicates a guideline period of a few days: it is not a statutory time limit, and the measure must be set case by case.
Who must actEmployer, DPO and IT manager together with the labour consultant: obtain from the mail service provider a technical schedule of logs and backups, set and document the retention periods in writing, activate the union agreement or the application to the Labour Inspectorate BEFORE starting any retention beyond what is necessary, update the privacy notice and the internal policy, and complete the data protection impact assessment.
The guidance document of the Garante (Italian Data Protection Authority), decision no. 364 of 6 June 2024, which replaced decision no. 642 of 21 December 2023, concerns the metadata recorded in the logs of e-mail transmission and sorting systems, not the content of messages. The 21 days indicated are guidance, not a statutory deadline: the obligation stems from Art. 5(1)(e) GDPR and from Art. 4 of Law 300/1970, referred to by Art. 114 of the Italian Privacy Code. Collection limited to the operation of the service falls within paragraph 2; prolonged retention, which makes remote monitoring possible, requires a trade-union agreement or the authorisation of the Labour Inspectorate.
Who must actEmployer: have the system administrator check the mail service's retention periods, update the privacy notice under Art. 13 GDPR and, where retention exceeds what is necessary, start the procedure under Art. 4(1) without delay.
In circolare no. 81 of 24 July 2026, INPS (the Italian social security institution) sets out the changes made by Article 7-bis of decreto-legge no. 19/2026, converted into law by legge no. 50/2026, to the assegno unico e universale for dependent children. The measure is brought into line with Regulation (EC) No 883/2004 on the coordination of social security systems: the range of children giving entitlement to the allowance is redrawn, opening it to dependent children resident in another Member State of the Union, and the criteria on citizenship, residence and social security registration are adjusted. The circular also clarifies how to apply, how the amount is calculated and when the allowance starts.
Who needs to actFirms advising cross-border, posted and other EU-national workers: applications previously refused solely because the children lived abroad should be reviewed, and new claims considered. A targeted check of households with family members abroad is worthwhile before answering employees, because the starting date follows the rules set out in the circular and is not automatically retroactive.
The draft agreement signed on 4 June 2026 by Unionmeccanica Confapi with Fim-Cisl, Fiom-Cgil and Uilm-Uil was approved in the certified ballot that closed on 23 July 2026. The contratto collettivo nazionale (national collective agreement) runs from 4 June 2026 to 31 December 2028 and provides a fully phased-in increase of 200 euro gross at grade 5, with proportional adjustment across the other grades. It covers more than 42,000 companies and over 450,000 employees, making it one of the largest renewals in the metalworking sector after the one covering large industry.
Who needs to actCompanies applying the Unionmeccanica Confapi agreement: pay tables in the payroll system must be updated in line with the phasing dates, indirect and deferred entitlements recalculated on the new minimum rates, and the effect on labour cost checked against quotations already issued. Before paying arrears it is worth waiting for the final signed text.
INPS has brought into operation the procedure for claiming the contribution relief provided by the decreto Coesione for employers who hire, on permanent contracts, young people under 35, women who are out of work and workers in the regions of the single Special Economic Zone (ZES unica) of southern Italy. The relief fully covers the employer’s share of contributions, up to a monthly ceiling that varies with the measure. Applications, together with the reservation of funds, must be filed by 30 September 2026. Since the funding is capped, it is worth preparing the applications early and checking that the employment relationships qualify.
Who needs to actEmployers who have hired, or intend to hire, under-35s, women or staff in the ZES unica: check the requirements and file the relief application with INPS by 30 September 2026.
INPS has launched a campaign aimed at companies claiming the contribution relief for hiring disadvantaged women: because the measure is co-financed with European funds under the PON SPAO programme, employers must properly inform the workers concerned of the contribution of EU funding. This is a transparency obligation, not a new application: employers already benefiting from the relief simply have to make sure the notice reaches their staff, keeping evidence that it was given in case of an inspection.
Who needs to actCompanies already benefiting from the relief for hiring women: give employees the notice on the European co-financing of the measure and keep evidence of it.
From 19 June 2026 an employer hiring a non-EU citizen may also sign the residence contract for work purposes with a digital signature, without having to attend the relevant office in person. The new option sits alongside the handwritten signature, which remains fully valid: it is therefore an optional simplification, designed to cut time and travel when regularising the employment relationship. For businesses that use foreign labour the formality becomes lighter, but a valid signature device is needed and the forms must be completed correctly.
Who needs to actEmployers hiring non-EU citizens: consider using the digital signature to enter into the residence contract, checking that a valid signature device is available and that the documentation is complete.
The Council of Ministers has given preliminary approval to the draft legislative decree implementing the European directive on platform work. The text introduces a statutory presumption of employment where elements of direction and control over the work emerge, provides a comprehensive framework for algorithmic management — with transparency obligations on automated monitoring and decision-making systems and a right to human review — and strengthens platforms’ information duties, backed by a dedicated set of penalties. Implementation must be completed by 2 December 2026.
Who needs to actPlatforms and clients that organise work through apps: it is advisable to map the algorithmic assignment and rating systems now and to review contractors’ agreements, because the presumption of employment may shift onto the organisation the burden of proving that the relationship is genuinely self-employed.
The conversion act addressed so-called fair pay, anchoring remuneration to the overall economic package provided by the national collective agreements signed by the comparatively most representative organisations. On renewals, where an agreement is not renewed within the first nine months after expiry and unless the agreement provides otherwise, a pay adjustment is triggered as a flat-rate advance equal to 50% of IPCA inflation. The maximum duration of agency work contracts rises from 24 to 36 months.
Who needs to actAnyone managing staff: check which collective agreement applies and when it expires, because the adjustment mechanism operates automatically in the ninth month and affects budgeted labour costs.
INPS has issued instructions on the extraordinary wage supplementation measures for exceptional weather conditions, including abnormal heatwaves, for the period from 1 July to 31 December 2026. For employers in construction, stone working and quarrying, suspensions due to unavoidable events allow access to CIGO (ordinary wage supplementation) without those periods counting towards the 52-week limit in the rolling two-year period, and with exemption from the additional contribution.
Not to be missedThe application must be filed by the end of the month following the month of the event. This is the deadline most often missed: note it down when the site stops, not after the event.
How we read the news desk. We report only measures published in the Gazzetta Ufficiale or by the competent authorities, with the exact references so the source can be traced. This page is for information purposes and does not replace professional advice: the application of a rule always depends on the specific situation. For your own case, write to us.