Tax Law – Personal Income Tax (IRPEF) and Surtaxes Refund – Tax benefits for “inbound workers” – Legislative Decree No. 147/2015 (“Internationalization Decree”) – Purpose of the regulation – Employee secondment abroad. First Instance Tax Court of Milan, Section 17, Judgment No. 3226/2025.

By judgment filed on July 22, 2025, the First Instance Tax Court of Milan upheld the taxpayer’s appeal and annulled the tax assessment notice by which the Tax Office had assessed higher IRPEF and related surtaxes, based on the denial of the 50% exemption granted to “inbound workers” under Legislative Decree No. 147/2015, known as the “Internationalization Decree.” In line with settled case law, the Court rejected the Tax Office’s argument that, in order to benefit from the exemption, there must be a “discontinuity” between the work performed abroad and the work performed in Italy following repatriation. Indeed, the tax authorities cannot, through administrative guidelines or internal circulars, introduce a restrictive interpretation of the legal provisions, thereby overriding the law itself. In this specific case, the Tax Office had previously provided a favourable response to the taxpayer’s advance ruling request regarding entitlement to the benefit. Moreover, the requirement of discontinuity was in any case satisfied by the fact that the taxpayer was hired by a different employer upon returning to Italy (https://www.mattarelli.eu/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/sentenza-3226-2025-CGTI-Milano-1.pdf).