Italian Patent Box Regime: Thinking Outside the Box or Just More Harmful Tax Competition?

Abstract

The authors examine the technical aspects of the new Italian patent box regime introduced in 2015 which provides for a partial exemption of income arising from qualifying intellectual property rights. Topics considered include historical development, current requirements and international aspects of the Italian patent box regime, comparing it to regimes applicable in other countries. This article consists of two parts, the second of which is primarily focused on the valuations techniques relevant to qualifying IP assets and will appear in a future issue of this journal.