By Legislative Decree No. 148/2026, the legislator intervenes once again in relation to the criteria for determining the value of the fringe benefit represented by a car granted for mixed business and private use:
– by increasing the value of the benefit according to the age of the vehicle assigned to the worker, irrespective of the type of fuel or power supply of the vehicle itself;
– by introducing a mechanism for valuing accessories or fittings (optional extras) not identified through the ACI tables and not directly purchased by the worker;
– by remodulating the transitional regime for the application of the criteria for determining the value of the benefit in force as at 31 December 2024.
Age of the assigned vehicle
Without prejudice to the mechanism for determining the company car fringe benefit in force from 1 January 2025 (art. 51, para. 4, letter a), of the TUIR), under which the value of the benefit is equal to 50% of the amount corresponding to a notional mileage of 15,000 kilometres, calculated on the basis of the kilometre cost determined by the ACI tables – reduced to 20% or 10%, depending on whether the vehicle is a plug-in hybrid or electric vehicle – art. 2, para. 1, of the legislative decree in question provides that such value is to be increased by 50% after 31 December of the fifth year following the year of first registration of the vehicle.
Valuation of optional
The overall value of the benefit, determined according to the above criteria, is further increased by 5% where accessories or fittings (optional) are installed on the vehicle granted to the worker.
With effect from 1 January 2026, this further increase in the value of the benefit applies provided that the above optional extras:
– are not valued in the ACI tables;
– are not purchased directly by the worker.
Extension of the transitional regime
Art. 2, para. 3, of the decree in question provides that the criteria for determining the value of the benefit in force as at 31 December 2024 may apply with reference to vehicles:
– granted for mixed business and private use during the period from 1 July 2020 to 31 December 2024;
– ordered by the employer by 31 December 2024 and granted to the worker for mixed business and private use during the period from 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025. The previous wording of the provision made the application of the regime in force as at 31 December 2024 conditional upon the vehicle being granted to the worker during the period from 1 January 2025 to 30 June 2025.
With reference to the above vehicles as well, the value of the benefit is increased by 50% after 31 December of the fifth year following the year of first registration.
This transitional regime also applies where the above vehicles are subsequently reassigned to another worker.
Scope of application
The new criteria for determining the value of the company car fringe benefit apply with effect from 1 January 2026, including with reference to vehicles that do not fall among those referred to in the above art. 1, para. 48-bis, of Law No. 207/2024, namely vehicles ordered by the employer after 31 December 2024 and granted to the worker during 2025.
It is also provided that the new methods for valuing optional extras apply also with reference to vehicles i) granted during the period from 1 July 2020 to 31 December 2024, or ii) ordered by the employer by 31 December 2024 and granted during the period from 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025.
The methods of taxation of optional extras already applied by employers until 31 December 2025 remain unaffected; in any event, any higher taxes paid will not be refunded.
We remain available for any further clarification.