Getting involved in the praiseworthy activities carried out by non-profit and social benefit organizations by means of donations is a recurrent theme in companies' and citizens' everyday life.
However, the fiscal incentive policy which supports such funding suffers from a disjointed organization, which might be partially solved by on-going law proposals.
Fiscal regulations, pursuant to art. 100, par. 2, letter h), and art. 15, par. 1.1, of Presidential Decree no. 917 of 1986, enable both individuals and legal persons to partially deduct cash donations made to non-profit or humanitarian organizations from their income taxes.
To be able to benefit from this deduction, the donation made to the organization must be actuallygratis and the organization must be officially recognized as a non-profit organization or "ONLUS" (due to the fact that it actually carries out activities of social utility).
Donations which provide the donor with some kind of indirect benefit (e.g. promotion) are therefore not deductible, since they cannot be considered gratis and must be considered as a sponsorship (although this is often a rather vague concept). Similarly, donations made to organizations whose aim is mainly, but not exclusively, of social utility, as described by the regulations, cannot be deducted either.
Donations are deductible up to a certain limit which, as far as companies are concerned, corresponds to a maximum of 2% of the income declared (pursuant to art. 100 of Presidential Decree no. 1986/917).
As regards individuals, the limit is set at € 2,065 and the personal income tax (IRPEF) deduction corresponds to 19% of the donation for 2012 and 24% and 26% for 2013 and 2014 respectively (pursuant to art. 15 of Presidential Decree no. 1986/917, as amended by Law no. 96 of 6 July 2012).
Deductions for individuals are permitted only if the payment is made by bank or postal transfer, credit card, cheque or bank draft.
As regards companies, it is at least advisable to carry out donations by means of payment systems allowing the necessary controls (bank or postal current accounts, postal orders, non-negotiable cheques).
Alternatively and in derogation of the established limits, pursuant to art. 14, par. 1, of Decree no. 35 of 14 March 2005, it is possible, if this is more convenient, to deduct donations made to social benefit organizations up to 10% of the total income declared and, in any case, up to a maximum of € 70,000, provided that the organizations benefiting from such donations have suitable account books proving the transactions carried out during the accounting period and draw up a document showing their economic, financial and property situation within 4 months from the end of the financial year.
Cash donations are more useful and effective than donations in kind because the latter are subject to many bureaucratic and fiscal restrictions.
Today the regulations governing free donations are undergoing a general review by the legislator and, pursuant to art. 16 of Law no. 96 of 6 July 2012, the Italian government has been delegated to reorganize such rules by means of a legislative decree soon to be issued, which is certainly desirable if not essential.
That having been said, below you will find a brief summary of the WAYS IN WHICH YOU CAN SUPPORT THE PAD FOUNDATION AND THE ACTIONS AND BENEFITS GRANTED BY THE STATE TO ENCOURAGE SUCH SUPPORT.