Traceable payments, income limits and the overall cap above 75,000 euros

Marco paid 600 € in cash for his son's swimming lessons and 400 € for a visit to a private specialist outside the national health network. Everything was invoiced, and all of it is lost: without a traceable payment these costs have earned no credit since 2020. The medicines he paid for in cash at the chemist that same day still qualify. One precise rule explains the gap.

The traceable-payment rule

Since 1 January 2020 the 19% credit on article 15 charges is only available if payment goes through a bank or post office transfer or another traceable system: debit, credit and prepaid cards, personal or banker's cheques. For these charges, paying cash forfeits the credit even when a proper invoice exists.

The exceptions are few and all concern health. Medicines and medical devices can be paid in cash without losing the benefit, and so can any service from a public facility or from a private facility accredited to the national health service, even when used privately. The regions publish the lists of accredited facilities.

For Marco, then, the medicines are safe, while the visit to the non-accredited private specialist and the swimming course are not. The working rule is simple: outside the pharmacy and accredited facilities, pay by card or transfer and keep the payment receipt with the invoice.

Credits that shrink above 120,000 euros

Paragraph 3-bis of article 15 scales credits down for higher incomes. Up to 120,000 euros of total income the credit is due in full. Above that it is due in part, equal to the ratio between 240,000 euros minus the income and 120,000 euros. At 240,000 euros the ratio reaches zero.

Paragraph 3-quater takes some items out of the paragraph 3-bis cut: mortgage interest and medical costs escape the proportional reduction. It therefore hits school, sport, insurance, funerals and the other items in paragraph 1. Above 200,000 euros, however, a further cut applies, paragraph 5-bis, which spares medical costs alone.

The income compared with the thresholds is total income minus the notional income of the main home and its appurtenances, as paragraph 3-ter provides. In the pre-filled return the Agenzia adds that income taxed under the cedolare secca flat rate on rents also counts: landlords using it include that rent in the comparison.

The higher the income, the smaller the ratio. At 192,000 euros it is (240,000 − 192,000) / 120,000 = 0.4: of a 39.90 euro credit for a child's sport, 15.96 euros remain. In this band, 19% items other than mortgage and health make little difference to the final tax bill.

The reorganisation above 75,000 euros: an overall spending cap

From the 2025 tax year article 16-ter adds a second mechanism for anyone whose total income exceeds 75,000 euros. It does not touch the rates. It limits the total amount of charges and expenses that can go into credits, on top of the individual cap that each item already carries.

The cap is a base amount multiplied by a coefficient. The base amount is 14,000 euros when income is above 75,000 euros but not above 100,000, and 8,000 euros beyond 100,000. The coefficient depends on the dependent children in the household, adopted and fostered children included.

Not everything goes into the count. Paragraph 4 leaves out medical costs and investments in innovative start-ups and SMEs. Paragraph 5 leaves out interest on loans taken out up to 31 December 2024, premiums on insurance signed by that date and instalments of multi-year spending incurred up to that day.

For spending spread over several years, such as renovation work, only that year's instalment enters the cap. Here too income is measured without the main home. The most recent consolidated version adds a paragraph 5-bis which, above 200,000 euros of income, cuts the credit on 19% charges by 440 euros, medical costs excepted.

The children who count for the coefficient are those who are tax dependants under article 12 of the code and live in the household: recognised, adopted, affiliated or fostered. A single dependent child with a disability certified under law 104 is enough to apply the full coefficient, even with only one or two children.

Keep the two mechanisms apart. Paragraph 3-bis of article 15 scales the credit down through a ratio, starting at 120,000 euros. Article 16-ter caps the eligible spending, starting at 75,000 euros, and leaves the rates intact. A taxpayer on 150,000 euros can be caught by both.

In practice nobody has to do the sum by hand. The pre-filled return, the Agenzia explains, works out the limit automatically and, when spending exceeds it, trims first the items with the lowest credit rate, leaving the most favourable result. You can switch the automatic reorganisation off, but then the trimming must be done manually.

Those who choose the manual route do so in the section devoted to automatic reorganisation, within charges and expenses. If the amounts entered exceed the limit, the return shows a blocking warning with the applicable cap and will not let you file until the figures are reduced. Leaving the calculation to the procedure is usually wiser.

In the example the funeral costs, having the lowest rate, drop out of the count entirely: 1,550 euros. The remaining 2,000 euros come off the renovation instalment, which stays eligible for 4,000 euros. The final credit is 4,000 × 50% = 2,000 euros. It is the same order the pre-filled return follows.

The practical lesson is for anyone close to the 75,000 euro line. A 19% expense paid in a year when the cap is already full may be worth nothing. Before bringing forward a large payment, estimate your income and check how much room is left under the cap.

Non-dependent relatives and illnesses exempt from the ticket

As a rule, spending on a relative who is not a dependant cannot be claimed. Paragraph 2 of article 15 makes one exception for the medical costs of a relative with a condition that exempts them from the ticket: whoever pays may claim the part the relative's own tax cannot absorb, within an annual limit.

The rule only covers costs linked to those conditions. It takes two steps: first check how much the relative can offset against their own tax, then the payer claims whatever is left. The annual limit in the consolidated text is still written in lire.

Organising payments through the year

Many mistakes are made at the till, not on the tax return. Three habits prevent most losses: pay by card or transfer for everything except the pharmacy and accredited facilities, have the invoice made out to whoever actually pays, and file the payment receipt with the tax document straight away.

Couples do well to agree who pays for what. A child's school and sport costs can be split between the parents, but the per-child cap is shared. If one partner has little tax, letting the other pay the heavier bills avoids losing credits for lack of tax capacity.

Reimbursed costs and the paperwork to keep

You can only claim what you actually bear. A cost repaid by whoever caused an injury cannot be claimed. Costs repaid by health insurance you pay for yourself, or by an employer policy that was taxed as part of your income, still count as borne by you: those premiums gave no tax advantage.

The most technical case involves supplementary health funds. Contributions up to 3,615.20 euros are not taxed as income, so costs the fund repays cannot be claimed. Where contributions exceed that figure, part of the repaid costs becomes claimable again, in proportion to the excess contributions over the total paid.

Many of these costs are already in the pre-filled return, sent in by universities, nurseries and funeral firms, alongside the medical cost totals. The data still needs checking. A cost paid in cash outside the health exceptions, or paid by another family member, must be corrected or removed before you accept the return.

Documents must be kept until 31 December of the fifth year after the return is filed, because the Agenzia can audit until then. For charges subject to traceability, keep the invoice together with the proof of payment: bank statement, card slip or transfer confirmation.

For medical costs the Agenzia specifies that its checks rely on invoices, receipts and itemised till slips, with no need to show proof of payment. Traceability nonetheless remains the condition for claiming non-accredited private services: a card slip kept on file costs nothing and settles any argument.