Remote working in Italy and in the EU: the tax rules to know (Agendadigitale.eu, 24 September 2024 – Roberta De Felice, Giorgia Tosoni)

During the Covid-19 pandemic, there has been a significant increase in the use of remote working. We provide an overview of regulatory developments and the positive impact of this way of working, including national protocols and international agreements, such as the one between Italy and Switzerland, and the tax implications for cross-border workers.

Especially during the Covid-19 pandemic, remote working has revolutionized the world of work. In Italy, this modality was formally introduced by Law No. 81 of 2017, but its diffusion has raised new regulatory challenges, especially in the tax field.

This is an overview of the main Italian and European tax regulations that need to be known for an optimal management of remote working, with a focus on international agreements and the implications for cross-border workers.

Remote working in Italy

Remote working was introduced into the Italian legal system by Law No. 81 of 22 May 2017, which aimed to regulate a different way of carrying out work activities, while increasing the competitiveness of companies and supporting employees in the balancing of work and private life, thanks to technological advances in the work environment.

The increase in remote working during Covid

However, as is well known, remote working saw its greatest use and spread during the pandemic of Covid-19, a period when forced closures and distancing made this mode of working the only one possible for many businesses.

The persistence of remote working in companies, even after the end of the state of emergency, and the increasingly widespread use of remote working show its benefits, not only in terms of improving the quality of life of employees, but also in terms of environmental sustainability and collective well-being.

The legislative provisions

Therefore, in response to the increased use of remote working, the legislator has also intervened by introducing a series of provisions aimed at simplifying and facilitating the use of this working modality. For example, fragile workers (i.e. “lavoratori fragili”) and parents have long had the right to use remote working without having to sign an agreement with their employer, or, at an operational level, the simplification of the way in which individual agreements are notified to the Ministry of Labour, as well as the simultaneous inclusion of remote working in national and second-level collective labor agreements.

The “National Protocol on remote working” in the private sector

The “National Protocol on remote work” in the private sector is of particular importance in this respect: it was signed on 7 December 2021 by the Ministry of Labour and the social parties, aiming to set out the guidelines to be implemented through national, company and territorial collective labor agreements for the proper management of remote work, in accordance with the legal framework and collective agreements.

The key points of the Protocol are: (i) the completely voluntary nature of the Protocol in companies making use of it, without any disciplinary measures being taken against workers who do not adhere to it, (ii) the requirement of the signing of an individual agreement between the parties, employer and employee, for the performance of remote work, in accordance with Law No. 81 of 2017, (iii) the recognition of the right for remote workers to disconnect, (iv) protection in terms of health and safety, (v) equal treatment in terms of regulations and remuneration with respect to colleagues who perform the service exclusively within the company premises.  

With the growth of remote working at European and international level, it was felt that there was a need for joint intervention by the countries concerned to better regulate, especially regarding tax treatment, the simultaneous performance of work by remote workers in two or more countries.

Read the full article on Agendadigitale.eu

Other related insights:

• Remote working: rallenta il ricorso nel 2023, ma lo strumento si conferma fattore di attrattività per le aziende
• Lavoratori frontalieri: dal 2024 in vigore il nuovo accordo tra Italia e Svizzera su fisco e remote working