Biennial Preventive Tax Agreement 2026-2027: What the New Circular No. 8/E Clarifies

The deadline to join the Biennial Preventive Tax Agreement (concordato preventivo biennale, CPB) for 2026-2027 expires on 2 November and, just a few weeks before that date, the Italian Revenue Agency has published Circular No. 8/E of 6 October 2026. The document runs to around eighty pages and, as stated in its introduction, replaces the previous circulars and systematically reorganises the entire regime, taking into account the amendments introduced by Legislative Decree No. 148 of 7 August 2026 (the so-called "Omnibus Decree"). We reported on these amendments in our previous article Biennial Preventive Tax Agreement: Key Changes Introduced by the Omnibus Decree, to which we refer.

The circular first clarifies that the new rules apply only to participation in the 2026-2027 biennium (art. 28, para. 3, of the Omnibus Decree), whereas the previous provisions remain in force for earlier bienniums, including as regards forfeiture. The changes therefore mainly concern those who joined for 2024-2025 and must decide whether to renew.

Renewal as a continuation of the agreement

It was on renewal that clarifications were most awaited. The circular confirms that those who renew must report in the 2026-2027 CPB form (lines P04 and P05) the actual income and net production value for 2025, not the agreed figures, and that they may not declare additional positive components in order to improve their ISA score. In other words, the new proposal is based on the actual results of the most recent year.

In return for this constraint, renewal brings an immediate advantage as regards advance payments. The new para. 3-bis of art. 20 of Legislative Decree No. 13/2024 in fact excludes, for those who renew, the surcharges provided for the first year of the agreement (10% of the difference between agreed income and income of the previous year for income taxes, 3% for IRAP), so that advance payments are calculated using the historical method. According to the Agency, the provision expresses the intention to treat the first year of renewal as the natural continuation of the previous agreement, and not as the first year of a new one.

The other benefits that the Omnibus Decree reserves for those who renew follow the same logic of continuity. For the 2026-2027 biennium, the exemption from the compliance certificate (visto di conformità) rises to EUR 100,000 per year for VAT offsets and refunds and to EUR 70,000 for offsets of direct taxes and IRAP, compared with EUR 70,000 and EUR 50,000 respectively; the assessment time limits are brought forward by two years instead of one, and the balance and advance payments may be paid in instalments without interest (art. 14, paras. 1-bis and 1-ter, Legislative Decree No. 13/2024). The most significant benefit, however, remains the possibility of regularising, even individually, the years from 2020 to 2023 by paying the substitute tax provided for by art. 29 of the Omnibus Decree, due by 15 March 2027. For how this instrument works and its limits, we refer to our article The special voluntary correction procedure renewed by the Omnibus Decree only for those who renew the CPB.

Correction of errors and forfeiture

Alongside the advantages of renewal, the circular illustrates the new forfeiture system, which concerns everyone who joins for the 2026-2027 biennium. The new art. 19, para. 3-bis, allows errors or omissions relating to revenues, fees or other data declared or communicated for the proposal to be corrected by means of an amended return: the agreed income is recalculated on the corrected data and penalties may be settled through voluntary correction (ravvedimento operoso). Consistently, for errors in the data communicated for the purposes of the proposal, forfeiture applies only if, following an assessment of the tax period preceding the biennium, the recalculated income exceeds the agreed income by at least 30% (art. 22, para. 1, letter b). The other grounds for forfeiture remain unchanged, including violations that are not minor.

The Agency specifies, however, that art. 22, para. 3, continues to apply to violations of criminal relevance and to those concerning ISA data. In these cases, voluntary correction avoids forfeiture only if the violation has not already been established and no access, inspection or audit of which the taxpayer has had formal notice has begun. For other errors, the ordinary limit of voluntary correction applies instead, namely the notification of an assessment or settlement notice. It follows that the error in the ISA data, on which the proposal is based, has the narrowest margin for correction.

The clarification on participation made without the access requirements or in the presence of a ground for exclusion is linked to the same issue. The new art. 10, para. 2-bis, and art. 11, para. 1-bis, of Legislative Decree No. 13/2024 declare such participation "without effect" and, at the same time, the corresponding ground for forfeiture has been repealed. According to the Agency, participation must therefore be regarded as never having taken place: the problem is no longer the subsequent loss of the benefit, but the original ineffectiveness of the choice. The circular does not clarify, however, what happens to any benefits already enjoyed in the meantime, such as offsets made without the compliance certificate.

Conclusions

Rather than introducing new rules, the circular clarifies how the Agency interprets the amendments introduced by the Omnibus Decree. For those who joined for 2024-2025, renewal is treated as the continuation of the agreement in progress, with concrete advantages as regards advance payments, payments and the regularisation of past years, while the fate of the benefits enjoyed in the case of participation without effect remains open. Before 2 November, it is therefore advisable to compare the new proposal, built on the actual 2025 income, with the income expected for the biennium, and to assess year by year the cost of voluntary correction. The ISA data submitted should also be rechecked, because it is on these that the margin for correcting an error is narrowest.