Christmas bonus – up to €100 with the thirteenth month’s salary

Law no. 143, published in the Gazzetta Ufficiale on 8 October 2024, which converted Legislative Decree no. 113 of 9 August 2024, the so-called “Omnibus Decree”, confirmed the introduction of the long-awaited €100 bonus, the payment of which, initially scheduled for January 2025 in the form of the “Befana Bonus”, was subsequently brought forward to the thirteenth month’s salary and recognized as the “Christmas Bonus”.

The Bonus in question, set forth in Article 2-bis of Decree-Law no. 113, provides that, together with the thirteenth month’s salary, a “one-off” allowance of €100 is to be paid for the year 2024, in proportion to the period of work performed by the worker, subject to the presence of certain economic and family conditions identified on the basis of specific criteria set forth in Revenue Agency Circular (i.e. “Agenzia delle entrate”) no. 19/E of 10 October 2024.

Recipients and requirements

The recipients of the “Christmas Bonus” are workers who are employed in 2024 (including apprentices, intermittent workers and homeworkers) and who – jointly – meet the following requirements:

• a total income for the 2024 tax year not exceeding €28,000 net of the income deriving from the property unit used as their main home and its pertinences, pursuant to Article 10 c. 3-bis of the Consolidated Income Tax Act (i.e. “TUIR”),
• the presence of a spouse who is not legally and effectively separated, with at least one child, even if born out of marriage, recognized, adopted or foster child, both of whom are tax dependent, or alternatively, in the case of a so-called single-parent household, the presence of at least one tax dependent child,
• a gross tax, determined on income from employment, exceeding the deductions due under Article 13, paragraph 1 of the TUIR.   

In addition to the above conditions, which are already summarized in Article 2 -bis of Decree Law no. 113, the Revenue Agency Circular provides further clarification regarding each of the requirements, specifying in particular that:

• for the purposes of the income requirement, it is clarified that “total income” does not only mean the income received from employment, but also any income subject to the flat-rate tax, income from self-employment and, in the case of employees working in accommodation facilities and public establishments, any income received from tips given by customers. The circular also clarifies that if the beneficiary benefits from tax relief, such as the special regime for expatriate workers (L.58/2019, Legislative Decree no. 209/2023), the part of the income considered exempt from the calculation of withholding tax is also relevant for the verification of the income requirement,
• with regard to family status, a single-parent household is considered to exist in the following cases: (i) non-recognition of the child by the other parent, (ii) loss of the other parent, (iii) adoption or custody of the child by the only parent entitled to the bonus. In this regard, the circular specifies that marriage cohabitation with the non-parent partner of the child does not exclude the eligibility for the bonus.

How to obtain the Bonus

In order to receive the bonus, interested employees must submit a written statement to their employer confirming that they jointly meet the eligibility requirements and provide the tax code of their spouse and dependent children or, in the case of a single parent household, the tax code of the dependent children only.

According to the indications contained in the Circular no. 19/E, if the worker has had more than one employment relationship during the year, the request for the Bonus should be submitted to the last employer, i.e. the one who will actually pay the “one-off” payment with the additional monthly payment of December 2024.

In cases where the employee has more than one part-time employment relationship, the Bonus will be paid by the employer identified by the employee, upon submission of the appropriate statement supplemented with information concerning: (i) the income received under other employment relationships and (ii) the days worked for the other employers.

Given that the bonus is paid at the same time as the 13th month’s salary, if the 13th month’s salary is paid separately from the month of December 2024, it will be up to the employer to verify the existence of the income requirement and, if not, to recover the allowance previously paid.

A further redetermination of the Bonus will take place at the time of the 2025 tax return, where the allowance in question may be recognized or recovered depending on whether: (i) the worker, despite having been entitled to it, did not receive the Bonus in 2024 due to a failure to submit the request or in the absence of the withholding agent, (ii) the total income resulting from the declaration exceeds the income threshold of €28,000.

The measure of the Bonus

The allowance, which amounts to a total of €100 net as it is tax-free, is not subject to any reduction in the event of short-time working, does not contribute to the calculation of total income and, in the case of employment lasting less than one year, will be reproportioned on the basis of the period of employment during 2024. In the case of several employment relationships performed at the same time, the days included within this period will be counted only once.