RESTO AL SUD is the new project promoted by Invitalia, Development Agency of the Ministry of Economy which grants very interesting incentives for new businesses to support entrepreneurs in starting up and implement their projects in some specific areas within the Italian territory.
GENERAL REQUIREMENTS
In order to submit an application for Resto al Sud project, the applicants must meet certain requirements at the time of submitting the application and must possess other requirements in case of approval of the project proposal.
REQUIREMENTS FOR SUBMITTING THE APPLICATION
– NOT having turned 46 on January 1, 2019
– NOT having been the holder of a VAT number (company status: active) on the date 21.06.2017
– NOT having received other national subsidies for self-entrepreneurship in the last 3 years
– Projects must be started within the Southern Regions and in the areas of Central Italy hit by the earthquakes of 2016 and 2017.
If you are currently over 45, you will need to submit your project proposal by 31 December 2020.
Business owner refers to the legal representative or the owner of an active company (including VAT number registered in the commercial register – sole proprietorship).
You may also apply in case:
- you have ceased your Italian business before 21.06.2017;
- you have set it up after that date;
- your company was not active on that date.
REQUIREMENTS IN CASE OF APPROVAL
– You must be a resident in the area where you intend to start the business
– You must not have a PERMANENT contract
You can always accept a FIXED-TERM contract.
FUNDING CEILINGS
- Each applicant within the new company can ask for up to €50.000,00;
- The funding ceiling for each company is €200.000,00;
- The funding covers 100% of any eligible cost;
- In case the application is filed by just 1 freelancer or sole owners it is possible to request up to €60.000,00.
NON-REPAYABLE FUNDING DETAILS
The following Terms and conditions apply to each approved loan:
– 50% of the loan is allocated as a NON-REPAYABLE FUNDING covered by EU funds;
– 50% of the loan is allocated as a INTEREST FREE FUNDING;
– The loan must be repaid in 8 years.
– No instalments are payable for the first two years: the loan is repaid starting from the third year. – 80% of the loan is guaranteed by Medio Credito Centrale, financial institution owned by Invitalia: in the event of liquidation or bankruptcy of the applicants’ new companies, the State will return to the bank up to 80% of the amount zero rate; the entrepreneur instead guarantees the remaining 20%. (e.g.: for a total project of €100.000,00, the proponents will be still required to repay a sum equal to 20% of the loan, with a minimum amount of €10.000,00.
ELIGIBLE COSTS
Not all expenses can be eligible for funding. It is very important to know the eligible costs and the ineligible costs: future entrepreneurs will have to have suitable capital to cover the ineligible expenses needed by the completion of the spending program (24 months).
- Business Premises Renovation (maximum 30% of the program): expenses include building works, systems, and any intervention aimed at renovating the place of business. It does not include construction costs and can only affect the place of business.
• Professional Equipment: furniture, machinery, systems, software, information and communication technologies. This macro entry does not have a ceiling; you will therefore need to use most of the resources in this section.
• Rent, utilities, raw materials and semi-finished products (maximum 20% of the program). You can enter in this item the costs for renting the property of the operational headquarters, the payment of electricity, water, gas, internet utilities, and the purchase of raw materials, semi-finished products and consumables.
• Respecting the maximum percentages, you can establish how to divide the expenses in the program; for example, in a 100.000,00 Euro project you can request a maximum of 30.000,00 Euro for renovation costs.
INELIGIBLE COSTS
You cannot enter in the spending program:
- VAT on purchases. All goods included in the spending program are considered VAT excluded.
• Consultancy: planning, tax, accounting, technical and labour consultancy.
• Company establishment costs: notary, consultant, chamber of commerce expenses.
• Advertising: advertisements, marketing campaign. You can still finance the creation of the website
• Personnel costs.
CONCLUSIONS
The above procedure can be really complicated , time consuming and full of pitfalls. Especially if you have not experience with Italian bureaucracy, it would be advisable to appoint a team of experienced immigration professionals who can assist with the whole process, dealing with the Italian relevant authorities on your behalf.
If you wish to receive further information about the Resto al Sud project and any other similar funding projects, please do not hesitate to contact our team of experts emailing at info@theitalianlawyer.com