The Italian Government’s final draft of the budget law for financial year 2018 (DDL 2960) began the parliamentary approval procedure on 31 October 2017. Article 40 of DDL 2960 provides measures promoting the refurbishment of Italy’s sports facilities.

Specifically, the draft budget law includes the following measures:

• Football teams belonging to professional national leagues (Lega di Serie B, Lega Calcio Professionistico and Lega D) that own or are concessionaire of stadiums can obtain a public grant, by means of a tax credit, equal to 12 per cent of the costs of stadium refurbishment (up to a maximum of EUR 25,000).
• Dedicated financial resources, equal to EUR 10 million annually starting in 2018 and for the following three years, are allocated to a special fund (Sport e Periferie) managed by the Sport Department of the President of the Council of Ministers.
• Companies which make donations to renew or refurbish stadiums can obtain a public grant, by means of a tax credit, equal to 50 per cent of each donation made in 2018, up to EUR 40,000 (limited to 3 per mille of the company’s annual revenue).

As DDL 2960 moves through the parliamentary approval procedure in the coming weeks, McDermott will release updates confirming whether these sports-related measures are included in the final budget law.