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Latest developments regarding VAT refunds on third-party goods

published on 19 May 2025 | reading time approx. 4 minutes

Following the guidelines issued by the Joint Sections of the Court of Cassation in the judgement no. 13162/2024, the Italian Revenue Agency, in its recent Resolution no. 20/2025, overturned the restrictive positions of its previous Resolution no. 179/2005 and introduced an important change in the area of VAT refunds, based on a less literal interpretation of the term "depreciable asset" within the meaning of Article 30(2)(C) of Presidential Decree 633/1972.

For the purposes of the relevant VAT refund, it is no longer necessary that the purchased or imported goods be classified as "depreciable" within the meaning of Articles 102 and 103 of the TUIR or according to the criteria of statutory financial statements, but it is the use of the goods for business, artistic or professional purposes for a "medium- to long-time period" to be decisive.

This means that the conditions for access to VAT refunds is considered to be met for all so-called "capital goods", i.e. any capital asset that involves a long-term use of resources.

Based on the above, VAT refunds are now available not only for the purchase of tangible or intangible goods, but also for expenses incurred for work carried out on third party goods held by way of rental, lease or loan, provided that such goods are instrumental over a medium-long period.

Operational aspects

From a practical point of view, in order to obtain reimbursement of the VAT credit accrued in 2024 and exceeding €2,582.28, in accordance with the aforementioned Resolution No. 20/2025 and the Joint Divisions, the VAT credit must be indicated in section VX, line VX4 of the 2025 VAT return for 2024, using code "4", which is reserved for reimbursements related to the purchase of depreciable goods and goods/services for study and research.

If initially excluded in the first declaration, this credit can also be claimed for refund at a later date by filing a supplementary tax return.

It is important to note that it should be possible to request a refund using VAT Form 2025 for VAT credits relating to purchases of third-party goods in previous years, provided that the credit has been carried forward and has not already been used for offsetting or claimed for a refund. This is possible thanks to the provisions of Ministerial Circular 13/E of March 5, 1990, confirmed by the instructions for VAT Form 2025. This option avoids the need to re-submit multiple refund claims for all years, provided that the purchase invoices have been correctly recorded in accordance with Article 25 of Presidential Decree 633/72 and the tax credit has been correctly determined.

Conclusions

Among the practical cases covered by the new regulations are:

the installation of photovoltaic systems on leased properties;
improvements to leased properties;
expenses incurred on buildable land, now considered investment goods in all respects.

The new approach, which goes beyond the civil/accounting criteria, income-based or direct tax rules relating to depreciable goods, in favor of a substantive functional assessment of the goods themselves, makes it possible to recognize transactions that, under the previous practice, would have been excluded from the right to a refund or, in any case, subject to potential tax disputes. The authorities are already implementing the new practice for refund requests that have already been submitted.

According to the new interpretation of the Revenue Agency, VAT refunds will now also be granted for works for the improvement, transformation or expansion of (production) goods for which there is a legal title guaranteeing their ownership "for a significant period of time", provided that all other legal requirements are met.

In light of these developments, companies should carefully evaluate the possibility of recovering VAT on expenses that were previously excluded, thus taking advantage of a significant financial benefit.