What does Article 12 say about cloud software?
The Italian government presented the 2027 budget bill to the Chamber of Deputies on 30 October 2026. Article 12 introduces a tax credit for businesses that pay a subscription to cloud software and services. The bill is at first reading, assigned to the Chamber's budget committee. So it is a proposal, and Parliament can change it before the final vote.
The text grants companies resident in Italy, and the Italian branches of foreign companies, a credit of up to 30% of the subscription costs accrued in each year from 2027 to 2029. Spending is capped at 30 million euros for each year. The credit is not taxed and can only be used as an offset, meaning you pay less tax and fewer contributions through the F24 payment form. It can be combined with other incentives on the same costs, as long as the total does not exceed what you spent.
This may change in Parliament; we will update this page.
Which subscriptions qualify for the tax credit?
Not all of them. Article 12 covers subscriptions linked to the intangible assets in Annex F of Italy's new income tax code. It is the list of software the same code uses for hyper-depreciation, and it carries over the one in the 2026 budget law.
The list includes generative AI software and autonomous AI software. These are AI agents, which carry out tasks and coordinate several steps of a process. It also includes platforms for building automations without writing code, and software for production, quality, logistics and cybersecurity.
Our read: a subscription to email or office software is unlikely to qualify. The same goes for a generic management system. What counts is what the software does, not the fact that it runs in the cloud.
What is it worth to a business, in practice?
An example case, not a real company. A haulage firm pays 12,000 euros a year for an AI agent on subscription, which reads delivery notes and updates its management system. If the service is on the list and the credit stays at 30%, it could recover up to 3,600 euros on its 2027 subscription costs as an offset.
The sum only works if the fund lasts. With 30 million a year and a 30% credit, the fund covers about 100 million euros of subscriptions a year across Italy. That is why the text says "up to" 30%. The decree could lower the rate for everyone or choose another method, and today we do not know which.
What do we know, and what not yet?
We know who can claim it, on which software, at what maximum rate and from what fund. The rest will be set by a decree from the Ministry of Enterprise, together with the Ministry of Economy, within 60 days of the law taking effect. The budget law is due to take effect on 1 January 2027.
- How you claim the credit and in what order the fund is allocated.
- How you prove a subscription is on the list, especially if the service does several things.
- What happens to contracts already running and to fees paid for several years.
- Whether a cap per company will be added, which the text does not have today.
What do Italy's digital companies think?
Anitec-Assinform, the association of Italian digital companies within Confindustria, welcomed the announcement of the credit before the text came out. Its president, Massimo Dal Checco, asked for it to become "a concrete and effective provision in the final text" of the budget.
Our read: the credit fills a gap. Hyper-depreciation rewards those who buy a licence and put it on the balance sheet, not those who pay a subscription. With this fund, though, the credit may only reach a few companies. If your contracts and invoices are in order, you will be ready when the rules come out.
So what do you do now?
- If you already pay for an AI, automation or cybersecurity service, check whether its function is on the list and keep your 2027 contracts and invoices.
- If you are choosing between a licence and a subscription, run the numbers with hyper-depreciation and with this credit, remembering that the second is still a proposal.
- If your software is a generic management system, do not count on the credit until the decree makes clear what qualifies.
“An incentive on subscriptions helps when you already know what work the software must do. Process first, then the claim.”
DBrothers — on Italy's cloud software tax credit
Frequently asked questions
Is the cloud software tax credit already in force?
No. It is an article of the 2027 budget bill, which Parliament is reviewing. It becomes law only after approval and publication in the Official Gazette, and then it still needs the implementing decree.
Does it cover self-employed professionals?
The text refers to companies resident in Italy and Italian branches of foreign companies. Professionals are not named, so today you cannot say they qualify.
Can it be combined with other incentives?
Yes, even on the same costs, as long as the total incentives do not exceed what you spent. Bear in mind that hyper-depreciation covers purchases, while this credit covers subscriptions.
Start with a list of the software subscriptions you pay today, with the work each one does in your business next to it. That shows what might qualify once the text becomes law.
