‘Concorso a premi‘

A ‘Concorso a premi’ is a promotional activity aimed at your product knowledge or advertising, based on the luck or the participant ability.

The following are the key legal procedures:

1.- Terms and conditions must be created by the promoter of the activity.

2.- Notary or legal T&Cs deposition are required.

3.- A caution or an insurance covering the 100% of the total commercial value of assigned prizes is required.

4.- It is required to inform the authorities 2 weeks prior to the beginning of the activity. The relevant authority is the Ministero dello Sviluppo Economico.

5.- At the end of the activity, it is required to go through the Chamber of Commerce, for prize draw supervision & price acceptance from winners (those are 2 different steps) 

6.- You must then recommunicate to the Ministero dello Sviluppo Economico for the final form signage and taxes to be paid (c.ca 45% of commercial prize value)

In terms of taxes, the following are the key ones:

a) 45% tax on commercial prize value

b) VAT becomes non deductible on the prize

c) 25% Withholding tax on IRPEF (revenue tax) on behalf of the winners 

Heavy fines up to 500.000 Eur can be applied to promoters non carrying all legal procedures or paying all taxes.

‘Operazione a premi‘

An ‘Operazioni a premi’ is a promotional activity where all consumers buying a product receive a gift or benefit. Please note that a cashback does not fall into this category (see ‘iniziativa promozionale’ below)

Key legal procedures for operazioni a premi are the following:

1.- Terms and conditions must be created by the promoter of the activity.

2.- Notary or legal T&Cs deposition are required.

3.- A caution or an insurance covering a caution for the 100% of the total commercial value of assigned prizes is required, only in the case where the prize is deferred (consumer gets the prize after the promoted good purchase, not at the same time or before)

4.- It is required to inform the authorities 2 days prior to the beginning of the activity. The relevant authority is the Ministero dello Sviluppo Economico.

In terms of taxes, VAT becomes non deductible on the prize

‘Iniziativa promozionale’

An ‘Iniziativa promozionale’ is a promotion activity not falling into the first two categories.

Terms and conditions must be created by the promoter of the activity. It is advisable but not compulsory to register them in front of a notary.

Cashbacks

Cashbacks can be considered deferred discounts and therefore they do not fall under the above categories. Terms and conditions must be created, and as it is as well advisable but not compulsory to register them in front of a notary.