The ruling of 21 April 2026, No. 10456 addresses the requirement of business relevance under Article 109 of the Italian Income Tax Code (TUIR) and the deductibility of consultancy services recharged by a parent company within the framework of intra-group “service arrangements” governed by private agreements.
It clarifies that, for the purposes of deducting intra-group consultancy costs, it is not sufficient to rely on a mere formal indication of a fixed percentage cost allocation contained in a multi-year framework agreement, nor on the mere existence of signed consultancy contracts or the absence of qualified personnel within the recipient company.
Instead, there must be evidence of the specific costs actually incurred in relation to the services effectively rendered during the relevant tax period (see also Supreme Court, 13 February 2025, No. 3750).
Accordingly, neither the production of service agreements nor the invoicing of fees alone is sufficient; rather, it must be specifically demonstrated that the recipient affiliate obtained an actual or potential benefit from the services provided.