LECCE – Without the possession of the Soa certificate by the company in charge, redevelopment works exceeding 516 thousand euros cannot be carried out on private properties. As data analyst Davide Stasi recalls, the provisions of decree law 21 of 2022 have entered into force, with which it was intended to introduce a squeeze on the entire system of tax breaks linked to building bonuses.
If until 30 June it was sufficient to sign a contract with a company that issues the certificates, from Saturday 1 July it is necessary to demonstrate possession of the certificate. The purpose of the rule, which already existed for public contracts for amounts exceeding 150 thousand euros, is to raise standards, considering the amount of public resources invested and therefore the need to prevent fraud.
“The instrument chosen to initiate the selection among the companies – explains Davide Stasi – was the certificate issued by a SOA which is a private subject but supervised by the Anac. Only companies involved in public works worth more than 150 thousand euros were in possession of it. Most construction companies still don’t have one.” To evaluate the potential impact of this novelty, it should be considered that just under 10,000 construction companies are active in the province of Lecce alone.
“For the issue of the SOA qualification – continues Stasi – a long series of requirements are first verified, such as, for example, the regularity of social security contributions, in addition to compliance with the rules on the prevention of mafia infiltration and anti-mafia interdiction, but checks are also carried out on the economic capacity, measuring the work carried out in the past, the equipment, the employees and more. In short, it is substantially impossible for a newly established or improvised company to obtain qualification”.
The expert also clarifies another aspect: “The attestation is not a certification of quality or safety which, usually, provides for a path at the end of which it is still possible to get certified. For the SOA, on the other hand, if the requisites are missing, it is not possible to achieve it and the clients, or the home owners, could pay the consequences as they would lose the deductions. The Revenue Agency has recently intervened on this obligation – Stasi points out – (with circular letter 10/E) which clarified that the certification obligation concerns all home bonuses, not just the superbonus “.
Some clarifications are necessary. The first concerns the methods for calculating the ceiling: “The limit of 516 thousand euros must be calculated – Stasi points out – with regard to each tender contract and each subcontract individually. In other words, if the amount of the individual assignment of works does not exceed 516 thousand euros, the contracting companies will not have to be qualified”.
The second invests the hypothesis of any subcontracting: “The conditions for the SOA must be respected by the contractor company, in the event that the value of the total work exceeds 516 thousand euros, as well as by the subcontractor companies only if they carry out of an amount exceeding 516 thousand euros, but the amount of the works must be understood as net of VAT”.