Business Transfer: Analysis of Ruling No. 8805 of 2024 and Its Tax Effects

The ruling No. 8805 of April 3, 2024, issued by the Court of Cassation, takes place in a legal context of significant importance, especially for economic operators and legal professionals. The Court addressed the issue of business transfer, analyzing the necessary conditions for a transfer of assets to be qualified as such. In particular, it was discussed whether the transfer of certain assets is sufficient to consider the operation as a true business transfer, with the related tax implications.

The Principle of Qualification of Business Transfer

The Court established that, for the purpose of qualification as a business transfer, the will of the parties is not decisive; instead, it is necessary to assess whether the transferred assets maintain an autonomous character suitable for the exercise of the business. This assessment must be made through the analysis of the available evidentiary elements. In this context, the ruling states:

“of the transfer of only some of the assets included therein, the will of the parties is not decisive, which is inferred, in this case, exclusively from the 'nomen iuris' attributed to the act carried out, but it is necessary to verify whether, based on the available evidentiary elements, the assets overall transferred have, or not, maintained an autonomous character suitable to allow the exercise of the business, even with the integrations that the transferee may have had to carry out.”

Tax Implications of Business Transfer

A crucial aspect of the ruling concerns the tax consequences of the qualification as a business transfer. In particular, the operation could be subject to registration tax rather than VAT, depending on the nature of the transferred assets. The Court confirmed the challenged decision, excluding the qualification of business transfer in the specific case, as the assets and legal relationships transferred did not have any aptitude for the exercise of entrepreneurial activity. This leads to important reflections for entrepreneurs: it is essential that the transferred assets are suitable to ensure the continuity of the economic activity; otherwise, there is a risk of encountering tax issues.

Conclusions

Ruling No. 8805 of 2024 represents an important guide for understanding the dynamics related to business transfer. It clarifies that the expressed will of the parties is not enough to configure an operation as such, but it is essential to concretely assess the functionality of the transferred assets to the entrepreneurial activity. Entrepreneurs and legal professionals should therefore pay attention to these aspects to avoid tax issues and ensure the correct management of their business operations.

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