The Italian Supreme Court, with a recent ruling (order of April 10th, 2019, no. 10013), accepted the defense of Armella & Associati Law Firm, acknowledging that the benefits and exemptions provided with regard to the special tax for depositing solid waste in landfills (so-called eco-tax) are not subject to prior authorization, but they are in function of the work carried out correctly.

The judges of the Supreme Court acknowledged that the company involved has adequately demonstrated the complex processing carried out on the waste, which they were transformed into waste materials and non-reusable fractions (dry part) or reused as fertilizers (wet fraction).

These transformations, even in the absence of specific authorization for tax purpose, allow to take advantage of some special tax benefits.

In particular,  the dry part can be subjected to a special tax in the amount of 20% (Article 3, paragraph 40, Law no. 549 of 1995), and with regard to the humid fraction, considering that the machining process in recycled material eliminates the status of waste, is free from the formation of the tax base of the eco-tax, as provided by the article 3, p. 8, Law no. 549/1995, according to which “the taxable amount is based on the amount of waste landfilled”.

It is precisely for this reason that judges has considered the fiscal conduct of the Company to be correct.