Certification benefits and tax incentives: what the law actually provides

An accredited management system certification — ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 45001 and related schemes — brings real, documentable economic benefits, but each one comes with specific conditions, percentages and deadlines set by law. We set them out below with precise legal references, because in this field a figure quoted without a source is worth little.

Reduced INAIL insurance premium (OT23 scheme)

Legal basis: Article 23 of the Rules for the Application of Premium Tariffs, Ministerial Decree of 27 February 2019. Companies that carry out health and safety improvement measures beyond their legal obligations can obtain a reduction in their average INAIL tariff rate. The size of the reduction depends on the number of worker-years insured under the relevant territorial insurance position (PAT):

• up to 10 worker-years: 28% reduction
• 11 to 50 worker-years: 18% reduction
• 51 to 200 worker-years: 10% reduction
• over 200 worker-years: 5% reduction

A fixed 8% reduction applies instead during the PAT's first two years of activity. Holding an accredited ISO 45001 certification allows a company to reach directly the 100 points required to access the reduction, without having to document each individual improvement measure separately. The application must be submitted online by 28 February (29 in leap years) of the year for which the reduction is requested, covering measures carried out in the previous year.

Reduced tender guarantee deposit in public procurement

Legal basis: Article 106, paragraph 8, of Legislative Decree 36/2023 (the Public Contracts Code currently in force). It's worth clarifying a point that often causes confusion, since the previous Code (Legislative Decree 50/2016) set different percentages. Under the Code currently in force:

• holding a quality certification compliant with the UNI CEI ISO 9000 series, issued by bodies accredited under the UNI CEI EN ISO/IEC 17000 series of standards, entitles the holder to a 30% reduction in the tender guarantee deposit;
• this reduction can be combined with a further 20% for holding one or more of the SA8000, ISO 14001 or ISO 45001 certifications;
• a separate 50% reduction, which cannot be combined with the above, is reserved for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises regardless of whether they hold any certification.

These are therefore two alternative benefits, not cumulative: a non-SME company can reach a maximum of 50% (30%+20%) through certifications, while an SME can choose the flat 50% reduction regardless of whether it holds any certification.

Social-security relief for gender-equality certification

Legal basis: Article 5, Law No. 162 of 5 November 2021, implemented by the Decree of the Minister for Equal Opportunities and the Family of 29 April 2022. Private employers holding gender-equality certification (issued in accordance with UNI/PdR 125:2022 by bodies accredited under EC Regulation 765/2008) are entitled to a 1% exemption on their share of social-security contributions, up to a maximum of €50,000 per year per beneficiary. Once granted, the exemption applies automatically for the entire validity period of the certification (36 months).

The role of Accredia

In all three cases, the law does not refer generically to "certification", but to certification issued by bodies accredited under the UNI CEI EN ISO/IEC 17000 series of standards (or EC Regulation 765/2008, for gender equality). In Italy this accreditation role belongs to Accredia, the only national accreditation body designated by the State: it is therefore the correct institutional source to refer to, not an incidental detail. Accredia also publishes, together with INAIL and Prometeia, periodic studies on the economic impact of accredited certification: the latest found a median gross operating margin of 12.7% for certified companies against 8.9% for non-certified ones, and average revenue growth 11.4 percentage points higher over two years than non-certified companies. Unlike the tax and contribution reliefs above, these figures don't depend on a law that could change.

One thing worth keeping separate

The most stable value over time remains easier access to supply chains and clients that require certification as a prerequisite — a market requirement, not a legal provision, and therefore less exposed to regulatory change than the reliefs listed above.

Official sources

• INAIL — Reduction of the average tariff rate for prevention (OT23 form) (Italian)
• Legislation — Art. 106, para. 8, Legislative Decree No. 36 of 31 March 2023 (Public Contracts Code) — Normattiva.it (Italian)
• INPS — Social-security exemption for gender-equality certification, Art. 5, Law 162/2021 (Italian)
• Accredia — The benefits of accreditation and Accredia Observatory (Italian)

Percentages, thresholds and amounts are verified against the sources above as of this article's publication date: since they derive from laws and circulars that are periodically updated, they should be re-checked case by case before being communicated to a specific client. For an assessment tailored to your company, contact us.