Tax Deductions for Italian PV Plants

The Italian market has traditionally been one of the biggest PV markets in the world. In fact, in Italy PV already covers 5 percent of the electricity demand and more than 10 percent of the peak demand. Since 2012, the market has trended toward commercial and residential installations. This shift in the market has been affected by a review of the policy surrounding cuts to feed-in tariffs and incentives that primarily affected residential and commercial plants rather than multi-megawatt plants.

However, the newly introduced tax breaks for Italian PV plants offer a great opportunity for new growth in the Italian PV sector.

The Italian Revenue Agency approved a request put forth by GIFI, the association for Italian PV companies, to include PV plants in the law governing tax deductions (Article 16-bis of Presidential Decree 917 of 1986). According to the Revenue Agency, PV systems can now be classified as “projects aimed to achieve energy savings” and can therefore benefit from the following:

• A 50 percent of tax deduction for PV systems installed from June 26, 2012 to June 30, 2013, with a  maximum deduction of € 96,000 possible
• A 36 percent tax deduction for PV systems installed on and after July 1, 2013, with a maximum deduction of € 48,000 possible

“Approval by the Italian Revenue Agency is definitely a step forward for the Italian PV industry,” said Valerio Natalizia, SMA Italy’s Managing Director. “It is a law that clarifies some key points, both for professionals and citizens, and allows us to look at the future of the PV industry with greater optimism.”

To learn more about the new law, see Italian Sunny News (in Italian).