The construction system in Calabria looks with great concern at the provisions contained in the draft of the 2026 budget law which limit the use and compensation of tax credits by companies.
“These are measures which, if confirmed, risk inflicting a very severe blow on the liquidity and very survival of hundreds of healthy companies in the construction sector, already tested by years of price increases, bureaucracy and regulatory instability”. This is what the president of Ance Calabria, Roberto Rugna, says.
“Starting from 1 July 2026, the law would prohibit the use in compensation – for the purposes of social security and insurance payments – of tax credits other than those deriving from the payment of taxes. At the same time, the verification threshold of tax debts for access to compensation would be reduced from 100 thousand to 50 thousand euros”, explains the president of Ance Calabria.
It should be highlighted that Calabrian companies are already subjected to significant tensions resulting from the “expensive materials”, the difficulty in accessing credit and a regulatory instability which undermines any possibility of growth and development of the entire sector.
“These are choices which, in a fragile economic context such as that of Calabria, risk stifling the restart of the construction sector. Many companies have their “tax drawers” full of accrued credits, often deriving from interventions linked to the Superbonus and other construction bonuses, which they have not been able to sell due to the blocking of banking channels. Now, the impossibility of freely compensating them is equivalent to a real freezing of resources that belong to the companies and which guaranteed their liquidity – we read again in the note from the president of Ance Calabria -. Added to this is the equally serious issue of tax credits accrued thanks to investments in Special Economic Zones (SEZs). The new limitations, if also applied to these credits, would effectively introduce a retroactive effect on incentives that the State itself had promised to companies, undermining investor confidence and the credibility of the development policies of the South”.
“We cannot accept that measures created to combat tax fraud end up indiscriminately penalizing regular businesses. It is necessary to distinguish illicit behavior from legitimately accrued credits, protecting those who have operated in full legality and in compliance with the rules”, underlines Rugna.
For this reason, ANCE Calabria and the provincial territorial associations have made an appeal to the Calabrian delegation and the Government to intervene in parliament to: guarantee the full operation of credits deriving from SEZ investments until they mature; allow companies to use or transfer accrued credits through new compensation channels; introduce a transitional exemption for legitimate credits, avoiding their de facto cancellation; restore thresholds and less penalizing conditions for construction companies.
The construction sector is strategic for economic growth, territorial cohesion and employment. Blocking the liquidity of companies means stopping construction sites, interrupting investments and compromising the objectives of the PNRR and urban regeneration.
“Calabrian companies ask for only one thing: certainty and respect for the rules of the game. Changing them during the game would mean putting a sector in crisis that represents one of the main levers of regional development. It’s time for politicians to listen to those who work, invest and build a future for Calabria every day”, concludes Rugna.