IRAP and associated practices: the Constitutional Court looks at substance, not form

In judgment no. 153 of 2026, filed on 24 July, the Italian Constitutional Court held that the assimilation of professional associations to società semplici (Italian simple partnerships) – laid down in Article 5(3)(c) of the TUIR (Italian consolidated income tax act) and applied for IRAP purposes by Article 3(2)(c) of Legislative Decree 446/1997 – does not follow from the legal form chosen, but from the profession actually being practised jointly. The question had been referred by the first-instance tax court of Florence by order of 17 November 2025, in a dispute over the refund of 2022 IRAP paid by an associated notarial practice.

The test set out by the Court is depersonalisation: the taxable event exists where the service becomes attributable to the structure rather than to the individual. The organisational features listed by the Court are not sufficient on their own – sharing costs and fees, jointly leasing the office, jointly purchasing capital assets, managing support staff. The ruling concerns an association of notaries, but the principle is bound to apply to any practice in which the activity remains substantially individual.

Summary note by the CommercialistiAvvocati network, based on specialised legal and practice sources. The text does not reproduce original contributions and does not constitute professional advice.