Leathergoods and footwear manufacturers in Italy are threatening legal action in response to what they claim is an unfair demand from the government for back taxes. By Leatherbiz.

The disagreement centres on tax relief that companies were able to claim between 2015 and 2019 on money they invested in research and development. The government at the time offered this incentive with a view to encouraging manufacturers to move towards Industry 4.0.

This was a term much in use at the time to describe the integration of advanced technology, including artificial intelligence, robotics and other forms of automation, into manufacturing practices.

Now the current government has said it wants companies to pay some of the money back, sparking protests from businesses that benefited and the threat of recourse to the courts.

The newly elected president of Confindustria Accessori Moda, the Italian fashion sector’s main representative body, Giovanna Ceolini, has said that asking companies now to return money that they say was confirmed as a tax credit “risks collapsing the whole of Made In Italy”.