For those who work with a VAT number, the flat rate regime with 15% tax can be an advantageous choice, but it is not automatically the best for everyone. The decisive point is the threshold of 85 thousand euros of annual revenues or compensation: staying below that limit allows you to maintain the subsidized regime, while exceeding it eliminates the lump sum and entails, from 1 January of the following year, the transition to the ordinary regime, where the Irpef is higher and the VAT must be paid in full, taking into account the tax deductions linked to the activity. Precisely for this reason, more than the amount itself, what matters is the real distance from the threshold and how predictable one’s collections are: an unexpected payment or a premium can modify the balance and change the applicable regime.
Who benefits from the flat tax and who doesn’t
As anticipated, the flat rate tends to be convenient for those who have revenues or compensation that remain below 85 thousand euros in a stable and predictable way, because it allows you to keep the rate at 15% and avoid the transition to ordinary tax rules. It is a solution that is simpler to implement manage when your business is running smoothly and does not expose the risk of exceeding the threshold due to sudden deviations. The scheme may be less suitable for those who work very close to 85 thousand euros and know they can exceed it even for unplanned income. In this scenario, the point is not just “how much” you earn, but how predictable and programmable your earnings are over the course of the year.
How many really risk exceeding 85 thousand
The issue concerns a limited part of the members of the flat-rate scheme. There are over 2 million members of this measure and, as highlighted by an analysis by Il Sole 24 Ore, the average level of revenues is 32 thousand euros: for this reason the median range, in most cases, does not reach 85 thousand. However, the situation changes those who operate with higher volumesfor example consultants or small business owners, because the margin above the threshold can reduce quickly.
Pay attention to those who have opened their VAT number during the year
An important operational step concerns who started the business during the year. In this case, the threshold of 85 thousand euros must be proportionate to the actual period of activity. The example given is that of those who open their VAT number on 1 September: in that case the limit to be considered becomes 28,411 euros. This means that, in the initial months, the “profit” threshold can be much lower than you imagine by looking only at the annual ceiling.
Postponement of invoices and short-term rentals
Some entities try to postpone issuing the invoice to the following year or not request payment. This approach is of little use when there are non-deferrable collections or income that the taxpayer initially did not think he would have to count, such as operating grants paid by public bodies (regions or social security funds) which can affect the annual total of revenues. Furthermore, the rules are also tightened on the short-term rental front.
From next year the presumption of activity carried out in an “entrepreneurial form” will be triggered those who allocate at least three houses for short-term rentalinstead of the five expected today. However, the dry tax parameters mentioned in the text remain unchanged: 21% rate on the rent of the first rented accommodation and 26% on the others.
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