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LinkedinPublication: 3 April 2017 Latest update: 12 May 2023
What is it?
A social allowance is an economic service that can be claimed by submitting a claim. It is aimed at Italian and foreign citizens facing economic difficulties with earnings lower than a threshold prescribed annually by law.
Since 1 January 1996, social allowances have replaced the social pension.
The benefit is of a welfare nature and cannot be exported; therefore, it cannot be recognised if the benefit holder resides abroad.
The benefit is not reversible to surviving family members.
Who is it aimed at?
The benefit is intended for:
- Italian citizens;
- EU citizens registered with the registry office of their municipality of residence;
- non-EU citizens who are family members of EU citizens (Article 19, paragraphs 2 and 3, Legislative Decree 30/2007);
- non-EU citizens holding an EU long-term residence permit and foreign citizens or stateless persons holding political refugee or subsidiary protection status.
Beneficiaries must receive an income lower than the thresholds established annually by law.
How does it work?
START DATE AND DURATION
Payment of the allowance starts on the first day of the month after submitting the claim. The benefit is provisional in nature and verification of socio-economic eligibility and actual residence takes place annually.
WHAT AM I ENTITLED TO?
The amount of the allowance for 2023 is Euro 503.27 for 13 months.
The income limit is Euro 6,542.51 per year and Euro 13,085.02 if the person is married.
The following are entitled to the full allowance:
- unmarried persons who do not have any income;
- married persons whose family income is less than the total annual allowance.
The following are entitled to a reduced allowance:
- unmarried persons who have an income below the annual amount of the allowance;
- married persons whose family income is between the annual amount of the allowance and twice the annual amount of the allowance.
The allowance is not subject to IRPEF deductions.
WITHDRAWAL OF BENEFIT
The allowance is suspended if the holder stays abroad for more than 29 days.
One year after suspension, the benefit is withdrawn.
Claim
REQUIREMENTS
To obtain the allowance, all Italian and foreign citizens must meet the following requirements:
- 67 years of age (from 1 January 2019);
- Be in need of financial assistance;
- Italian citizenship and equivalent situations;
- actual residence in Italy;
- requirement of ten years of legal and continuous residence in Italy (since 1 January 2009).
Entitlement to the benefit is ascertained on the basis of personal income for unmarried citizens and on the basis of the combined income of the spouse for married citizens.
The following incomes of the spouse and the applicant are taken into account for the attribution:
- income subject to IRPEF, net of taxation and contributions;
- tax-exempt income;
- income subject to withholding tax at source (winnings from lotteries, games of skill, competition prizes, paid by the State, public and private legal persons);
- income subject to substitute tax such as postal and bank interest, interest on CCTs and any other government bonds, interest, premiums and other income on bonds and similar securities issued by banks and joint stock companies, etc.;
- income from land and buildings;
- war pensions;
- annuities paid by INAIL;
- pensions received from foreign countries;
- pensions and allowances paid to civilian invalids, blind civilians and deaf persons;
- maintenance payments paid under the Italian Civil Code.
The following do not count for the purposes of the attribution:
- severance indemnity and advances on severance pay indemnity;
- the income of the residential house;
- arrears subject to separate taxation;
- attendance allowances paid to civilian invalids, blind civilians and communication allowances for deaf persons;
- the WW1 military pension.
HOW CAN I CLAIM?
The claim to INPS must be submitted online using the dedicated service.
Instructions on how to fill in the form can be found in the manual that can be downloaded once the service has been accessed.
Alternatively, claims can be made by:
- Contact centre at 803 164 (free from Italian landlines) or +39 06 164 164 from mobile phones.
- Online services offered by patronage institutes and intermediaries thereof.
Processing times
The deadline to define the decision was set at 45 days by the Regulation for the definition of the terms to conclude the administrative proceedings adopted by INPS pursuant to article 2, Law 241/1990.