The figure of the agricultural entrepreneur

The figure of the agricultural entrepreneur by special legislative decree no. 99 of March 29, 2004, published in Official Gazette no. 94 of April 22, was revised in its entirety these in light of the current legislation turn out to be the main changes:

Tax concessions for the preservation of land integrity
In order to preserve land integrity (see Article 7, c. 2, of Legislative Decree No. 9/2004) it is stipulated that “to the transfer for any reason of agricultural land to those who undertake to establish a single compendium and cultivate it or conduct it as a direct farmer or professional agricultural entrepreneur for a period of at least ten years after the transfer, the provisions of Article 5-bis, paragraphs 1 and 2, of Law No. 97 of January 31, 1994 shall apply.”
Thus, the provisions designed to benefit upland farms that provide exemption from registration, mortgage, cadastral, stamp and all other taxes apply
For such acts it is provided that notaries’ fees are reduced to one-sixth.
Article 5-bis, c 1, of Law no. 97 of 1994 further stipulates that land and its appurtenances, including buildings, constituted as a single compendium and within the prescribed minimum indivisible area, shall be considered indivisible units for fifteen years from the time of purchase, and for these years may not be subdivided by transfers by cause of death or by acts between living persons. In the case of succession, compendia must be included in full in the portion of one of the coheirs or in the portions of several coheirs who jointly request their allocation.
These regulations also extend to land consolidation and reorganization plans promoted by regions, provinces, municipalities and mountain communities.
In case of violations of the above obligations, Article 5-bis, c. 2, of Law no. 97 of 1994 provides that the following are due, in addition to unpaid taxes
and interest, higher taxes equal to 50 percent of the taxes due The tax benefits provided by the legislative decree and the reduction in notary fees also apply to transfers of agricultural real estate and related appurtenances, including buildings, established in closed maso, made between living persons or mortis causa to purchasers who in the deed or by separate declaration directly undertake to conduct the maso for ten years;

Tax concessions for land consolidation
Article Article 9 of Leg. n. 99/2004 specifies that the taxes due for deeds between living parties aimed at realizing the amalgamation of rustic land, through the exchange of plots of land or the adjustment of boundaries, are reduced by half.
In addition, to the sales of assets belonging to public real estate carried out under Decree Law No. 351/2001, converted, with amendments, into Law no. 410 of Nov. 23, 2001, and having as their subject urgent provisions on the privatization and valorization of public real estate and the development of mutual funds, “if they have as their object property susceptible to agricultural use and are concluded with agricultural entrepreneurs or direct cultivators registered in the special section of the register of companies referred to in Art. 2188 et seq. of the Civil Code, a 50 percent reduction in registration, mortgage, cadastral and stamp taxes is applied.”

Facilities for business re-composition by lease agreement
Article 10 of Leg. n. 99/2004 provided for a fixed registration tax on the conclusion of leases of finite parcels of land with a term of at least five years, with the main purpose of encouraging business amalgamation;

Corporate reorganization by means of cooperative society contract
Article 11 of Leg. n. 99/2004 establishes the principle that the taxes due for the conclusion of cooperative society contracts between agricultural entrepreneurs who give land they own or lease to the society for the purpose of establishing a single jointly managed farm are reduced by two-thirds.
They go, on the other hand, at a fixed rate if “one-fifth of the cooperative members are young agricultural entrepreneurs who commit to joint management for at least nine years.”

The enhancement of rural housing stock
As a result of the provisions of Article 12 of Leg. n. 99/2004, for income tax purposes, for the period relating to the first lease and, in any case, for no more than nine years, the income of buildings located in rural areas and not usable as dwellings as of May 7, 2004, “which are renovated in compliance with current building regulations, by the farmer who owns them and acquire the requirements of dwelling under current regulations, if leased by the farmer for at least five years, shall be considered included in the dominical and agrarian income of the land on which they insist.”

The tax credit for the young farmer
In order to facilitate youth farming-“a young farmer is considered to be a farmer who is not more than 40 years old”-the legislature granted a significant tax credit. In fact, based on Article 3(3) of Leg. n. 99/2004 “young agricultural entrepreneurs, including those organized in corporate form, who qualify for the start-up premium provided for in Article 8(2) of Council Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999 of May 17, 1999, as amended, shall be granted, within the limit of the sum of 10 million euros annually for each of the years 2004 to 2008, additional aid, in the form of a tax credit, of up to 5 thousand euros annually for five years.”
The tax credit in question does not contribute to the formation of net production value for IRAP purposes, nor does it contribute to taxable income for income tax purposes.
In addition, the provision under consideration specifies that this credit does not count toward the ratio provided for in Article 63 of the Tuir, now Article 96, for calculating the share of deductible interest expense.
The tax credit granted can only be used for offsetting, pursuant to Leg. July 9, 1997, no. 241. It is believed that this credit can be used to offset the payment of income tax, VAT and IRAP, and the payment of social security and insurance contributions. In addition, this tax credit cannot be claimed for reimbursement nor can it be assigned under the regulations on the assignment of credit, pursuant to Articles 43-bis and 43-ter of Presidential Decree no. 602/1973.

Other tax concessions
Article 3, c. 4, of Leg. n. 99/2004 introduces, also,a further form of facilitation for young agricultural entrepreneurs, in order to encourage the “achievement of efficient size of farms, including through the use of rent,” in fact, it was provided that for rental contracts in favor of young agricultural entrepreneurs, who have not yet turned 40 years old, the obligation of registration arises only in case of use and go to fixed tax, in the amount of 51.65 euros.