The approval of the law for the conversion of the Cohesion Decreethe Government has placed its confidence in the Chamber, so the text remains the one approved by the Senate.
Among the new features there is also the extension of the concessions ZLS (Simplified Logistics Zones) in Marche and Umbria, which however also requires an implementing Prime Ministerial Decree.
How ZLS work
The ZLS they develop around aport areamay also include areas that are not immediately adjacent but have a functional economic connection, there may be a maximum of one in each region, respecting a pre-established maximum surface area. businesses which are found in these areas enjoy special Operational simplifications.
To open new businesses, asingle authorizationregional provisions can enhance this simplification by establishing a one stop digital shopalso available in English, equipped with the best technological standards, and with interoperability with respect to the digital systems and platforms in use at the bodies involved in the investigation of the procedure.
Currently, ZLS production areas are only foreseen in the so-called most developed regions, namely Piedmont, Valle d’Aosta, Liguria, Lombardy, Veneto, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Emilia-Romagna, Tuscany, Lazio, and the provinces of Trento and Bolzano. This is indicated by the 2018 Budget, which established them “in order to promote the creation of favorable conditions for the development of new investments in the port areas of the most developed regions”.
Now the new rule also adds the Regions “in transition not included in the Special Economic Zone for the South”. In practice, Umbria and Marche.
Tax credit for companies in ZLS
Il Cohesion Decree also introduces further concessionsin particular a tax credit on investments in capital goods carried out from 8 May to 15 November 2024. The criteria and methods of application will be defined by a specific implementing ministerial decree. The eligible investments are defined by theArticle 16, paragraph 2, of Decree 124/2023:
- purchase, including through financial leasing contracts, of new machinery, systems and various equipment intended for production facilities that already exist or are being set up in the territory.
- Purchase of land whose value cannot exceed 50% of the total value of the subsidized investment.
- Same rule for the purchase, construction or expansion of instrumental properties.
Extension to Umbria and Marche
Now, these rules can be applied to the possible establishment of ZLS in Umbria and Marche. A DPCMadopted on the proposal of the Minister for European Affairs, the South, Cohesion Policies and the PNRR, in agreement with the Economy, Infrastructure and Transport and the Minister for Enterprise and Made in Italy, to be implemented within 60 days from the date of entry into force of the conversion law.
In the meantime, it will still be possible to establish these new ZLSs by applying, where compatible, the provisions relating to the procedure for establishing the Simplified Logistics Zones for the most developed regions, provided for by Prime Ministerial Decree 40/2024.
