Patent box concession: opportunities for automotive businesses

Calculation of the financial contribution of technical Know-How to business income.

Need

This company - an SME in the Bergamo area with a turnover of around €25 million - specialises in the production of seals for various industrial applications and has considerable inhouse technical Know-How.
The need set out by the management, then, was to identify the Know-How (in terms of content and measures in place for its legal protection) and prepare the calculations and documents required for application of the optional income tax scheme.

Solution

WIL was involved in several areas:

• high-level implementation of the <<Track and Trace>> system;
  
• preparation of a technical report listing the eligible intangible assets, specifying whether or not the complementarity restriction applies, describing the R&D activities connected to them, and stating the criteria for calculating the financial contribution originating from use of the company Know-How;
  
• specification of the method for calculating income eligible for the tax relief for the first year of the scheme and for the following four years;
  
• assistance at the beginning of the Ruling application, preparation of supporting documents, and definition of the ruling agreement with the Italian Revenue Authority;
  
• annual monitoring and updating of R&D costs connected to the Know-How eligible for the scheme and updating of the calculations for the estimate of the eligible income for each financial year of its five year duration.
  
  

Benefits

• Less tax due during the five year relief scheme.
  
• Encourages corporate investment in R&D projects.
  
• Encourages the protection and maintenance of intangible assets owned by the company, through the implementation of unprecedented protection measures.