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Optional Tax Control Framework: Costs, Benefits and Strategies for SMEs

published on 6 March 2026 | reading time approx. 5 minutes

The tax reform has extended the logic of cooperative compliance also to smaller companies that don’t meet the thresholds for cooperative compliance by introducing the optional tax control framework according to Art. 7-bis of legislative decree 128/2015. With the ministerial decree of July 9, 2025, and the subsequent order of the director of the Revenue Agency no. 42022 of February 3, 2026, the regulation has now come into full effect. Therefore, it is now priority to verify whether the relationship between the required organizational complexity and the recognized benefits makes the instrument truly attractive for SMEs.

The main goal of the legislator with the optional TCF is to encourage the spread of a structured approach to tax risk management also among small and medium-sized enterprises and unlisted groups of companies to promote transparency and avoid tax risks that could lead to disputes.

In particular, the above-mentioned Art. 7-bis requires taxpayers who don’t meet the requirements for making use of the cooperative regime to opt for the application of a system for recording, measuring, managing and controlling tax risk after communicating this to the Revenue Agency. Some “benefits” are tied to exercising this option.

The main benefits of the regime include:

the non-application of administrative penalties for tax violations resulting from tax risks and reported to the tax authorities before the deadline for submitting the tax return or fulfilling the relevant obligations by making a request for tax information according to art. 11 of law 2012/2000;
the non-application of the provisions for the offense of making a false tax return according to art. 4 of legislative decree nr. 74 of 2000 to violations of tax laws due to tax risks that were reported to the tax authorities in time.

Despite these advantages, the optional TCF is only of limited appeal, especially compared to the regular regime. The regime offers some less significant advantages, such as the elimination of the halving of penalties for violations that are task risks committed before joining the regime, a reduced possibility of prior exchange with the Revenue Agency and the non-inclusion of the company in the list of “virtuos” companies published on the tax authority’s website. The most important critical issues for small and medium-sized enterprises are the high implementation costs of the TCF-system, the necessity of specialist expertise and the potential resistance of the internal culture to the introduction of these structured procedures for managing tax risk.

From operative perspective art. 2 of legislative decree 9 of July 2025 defines the documentation required for the application of the optional regime:

document describing the company’s activities;
tax strategy approved prior to exercising the option;
document describing the system used to identify, measure and manage tax risks explaining how it works;
overview of company processes;
overview of tax risks;
certification of the system for identifying, measuring and managing tax risk, issued by approved certifiers listed in the relevant register of certifiers (not required in the regular TCF).

The application form, which is available in electronic format on the Revenue Agency website, must be signed and sent exclusively by certified mail (PEC) to the competent office of the Central Directorate for Large Enterprises and International Affairs, which manages the contact with participants of the cooperative compliance system. The authority checks the conformity of the system and evaluates the certification and is required to communicate the result of the verification within 120 days after receiving the form. Of particular importance is the provision that requests for tax information for the recognition of sanctions benefits must be submitted to the competent territorial offices of the Revenue Agency in compliance with all legal requirements for admissibility. The exchange therefore doesn’t take place directly with the Cooperative Compliance Office of the Central Directorate but first with the territorial offices.

The optional regime has a term of two years, begins with the tax period in which the option is communicated and is automatically renewed unless expressly revoked by the company. Renewal doesn’t require another certification unless necessary due to changes in the system and/or organizational structure.

From documenting perspective, the decision to opt for the optional arrangement represents an expense for companies that are approved for cooperative fulfillment of reporting obligations. For SMEs with less formalized organizational structures and often without internal procedures, this can represent an additional expense in terms of implementation costs and the need for specialist skills, as well as cultural change that is not always easy to manage right from the start. To increase the attractiveness of the optional regime, it might be useful to better adapt the necessary requirements of the optional regime to the dimension and the organizational structure of smaller entities.

On the other hand, the implementation of a structured system can have a positive impact on tax risk management within a short period of time. By introducing clear internal controls, control procedures and a conscious allocation of risks, eventually critical issues can be identified in a timely manner, and the likelihood of future disputes can be reduced. In this context, the benefits of the regime, even if they are less extensive than the regular TCF should not be overlooked and can lead to a general strengthening of the corporate organization and a more conscious and transparent handling of the tax variable.

In summary, the optional TCF is a potentially relevant tool for SMEs that want to better control their tax risks, but its attractiveness depends on an appropriate balance between the necessary expenses and the benefits recognized. Greater proportionally of the requirements depending on the dimension of the company could encourage wider adoption, which is in line with the cooperative logic of the reform.

Companies are therefore required to analyze the operational impact of the model, the sustainability of the requirements and the contribution and benefits that the system can offer in terms of tax security.

An analysis based on the specific characteristics of the organization makes it possible to understand whether the system is able to generate effective added value in medium to long term, both in terms of internal governance and overall management of the tax variable.