2026 super-deduction and other tax incentives for press brakes

01 — OverviewFour instruments, one window.

On November 6, 2025 Italy’s Ministry of Enterprise (MIMIT) confirmed that the Transizione 5.0 budget was exhausted. From January 1, 2026 the incentive landscape for anyone buying a press brake has changed completely: the old 20% 4.0 Tax Credit is closed (still usable only for those who paid a 20% deposit by December 31, 2025 and complete the investment by June 30, 2026), and in its place a new four-pillar architecture has opened up.

Super-deduction (iperammortamento), the refinanced Nuova Sabatini, ZES Unica for southern Italy, and the ISI INAIL grant. Four distinct instruments, all active right now, stackable within the EU aid intensity cap. For a company buying a press brake in 2026, the combined effect can cut the net investment cost well beyond what was possible last year — provided you know the order in which the paperwork has to move.

These incentives apply to Italian tax residents — Italian SMEs and companies with production facilities in Italy. International buyers benefit indirectly, through PG’s competitive pricing on the Italian market and through the 4.0/5.0-ready standard configuration which streamlines the certification process for any Italian end customer.

In this article we look at the exact numbers behind each instrument and put them together on a concrete €250,000 case. For the up-to-date commercial summary, our complete guide to 2026 incentives remains the reference.

02 — Super-deductionThe pillar: how it actually works.

The 2026 super-deduction is governed by Article 1, paragraphs 427-436 of Law No. 199/2025 (Italy’s 2026 Budget Law). It applies to investments made between January 1, 2026 and September 30, 2028: a long window, no click-day, but with reservation of the funds on the GSE platform in chronological order until the allocated budget runs out. Every company that meets the technical and tax requirements is entitled to it, provided it moves and files in time.

The mechanism is no longer an F24 tax credit but a step-up in the deductible cost for depreciation purposes. On the first €2.5 million of investment, the tax-deductible depreciation base is increased by +180%; from €2.5M to €10M the step-up drops to +100%; from €10M to €20M it falls to +50%; above that, none. In practice, on a €250,000 press brake the step-up is worth €450,000 — an additional taxable base spread across the asset’s useful tax life (typically five to six years for a press brake).

Two recent updates that mainstream coverage often misses. First: Decree-Law 38/2026, Article 7, in force from March 28, 2026, removed the EU/EEA origin requirement that the original law had set for tangible capital goods (it remains in place only for photovoltaic modules registered with ENEA). Second: the MIMIT implementing decree signed on May 4, 2026 introduced a mandatory sworn technical appraisal for investments of any size, removing the self-certification that was allowed under €300,000. The procedure now always requires a chartered engineer or registered industrial expert.

On technical requirements, Annex IV of Law 199/2025 codifies the framework known as “5+2 of 3” for Group I (machine tools, press brakes included). Five mandatory features — CNC control, interconnection to the factory management system with remote loading of part programs, integration with the logistics system and with bending cells, simple HMI interfaces, full compliance with safety standards — plus at least two out of three: tele-diagnostics and tele-maintenance, adaptive sensor-based process-parameter monitoring, and integration with modelling and digital twins. PG press brakes (DCA hydraulic, H.DCA hybrid, E.DCA electric, sheet-metal Lattoneria, Tandem DCA) cover the full framework in standard configuration: ESA CNC with management-system interconnection, ready for robotic cells, touch HMI, CE marking compliant with EN 12622, tele-diagnostics and continuous monitoring as standard. No additional options are required.

One exclusion worth clearing up immediately. Used equipment is out of the 2026 incentives: neither the super-deduction, nor Nuova Sabatini (ordinaria or 4.0), nor the ISI INAIL grant accept used, refurbished or ex-demo machines — all three require goods that are new from the factory (“km 0” units count only if never registered or used). For anyone choosing a used press brake the lever is not fiscal: the value is in price and delivery times, not in incentives. DS guillotine shears, on the other hand — which PG supplies new — due to the nature of pure cutting do not, in standard appraisal practice, fully meet the technical requirements of Annex IV’s Group I (adaptive process monitoring and digital twin are typically missing): when bought new they remain eligible for Sabatini ordinaria, ZES Unica, and ISI INAIL — the instruments we cover in the next sections.

03 — Nuova SabatiniThe refinanced interest-rate subsidy.

The 2026 Budget Law refinanced Nuova Sabatini with a total of €650 million, split into €200 million for 2026 and €450 million for 2027. Disbursement is on a rolling basis, in chronological order, until funds run out.

Sabatini is not a tax credit nor a discount on the price: it is an interest-rate subsidy that MIMIT pays to the company to lower the cost of a bank loan or lease with a conventional five-year term. The conventional rate is 2.75% per year for ordinary goods and 3.575% for 4.0 and green goods (a 30% mark-up). The subsidy is paid in annual instalments after reporting (in a single payment for smaller loans): the five years are the conventional term of the financing, not the number of instalments. It admits only goods that are new from the factory. The ceiling on the eligible loan is €4 million per company.

On a €250,000 investment financed at the conventional 4.0 rate, the nominal Sabatini benefit lands around €22,000. It stacks with everything else: with super-deduction (a general tax rule, not state aid, so it does not consume the EU GBER ceiling), with ZES Unica, and with ISI INAIL, subject to the cumulative aid-intensity cap that applies to state aid proper.

04 — ZES UnicaThe southern tax credit — and now Marche and Umbria too.

ZES Unica Mezzogiorno today covers ten regions: Abruzzo, Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Molise, Puglia, Sardegna, and Sicilia, plus Marche and Umbria added by Law No. 171 of November 18, 2025 (Provisions for the relaunch of the economy), published in the Official Gazette on November 19, 2025. It is a tax credit on the eligible investment, applicable to projects with a minimum total cost of €200,000 (on the whole project, not on a single asset). 2026 budget: €2.3 billion.

The rates depend on macro-area and company size:

• Calabria, Campania, Puglia, Sicilia: 60% Small · 50% Medium · 40% Large.
• Basilicata, Molise, Sardegna: 50% Small · 40% Medium · 30% Large.
• Abruzzo, Marche, Umbria: 35% Small · 25% Medium · 15% Large.
• Enhanced areas (Taranto, Sulcis): up to 70% Small · 60% Medium · 50% Large.

The operational deadline goes in the calendar. Every year the preliminary notice to the Italian Revenue Agency opens on March 31 and closes on May 30; the integrative reporting notice runs from January 3 to 17 of the following year, on pain of forfeiture. For 2026 the window is closing: anyone who does not file by the end of May loses the year. Our incentives page tracks the deadlines as they are published.

ZES stacks with super-deduction, Sabatini, and ISI INAIL within the aid-intensity limits set by the 2022-2027 Regional Aid Map. We come back to this cap in the worked example.

05 — ISI INAIL grantThe non-repayable grant for replacement projects.

The 2025/2026 ISI INAIL call has a total budget of €600 million. The online application desk is open from April 13 to May 28, 2026; the click day for final submission is scheduled after compilation closes. The contribution is a non-repayable grant of up to 65% of eligible expenses, capped at €130,000 per project (minimum €5,000).

For anyone buying a press brake, the relevant line is the replacement of an obsolete machine with a new machine fitted with compliant safety devices: optical laser scanners, two-hand controls, certified valves, photoelectric barriers, CE marking under EN 12622. The purchased machine must be new from the factory. Press brakes and guillotine shears are among the most-funded items in the call — and, importantly, the DS shears, which sit outside the 4.0 perimeter, are fully eligible here.

ISI is competitive: the application enters a ranking and the contribution only materialises if it gets funded. For cash planning it should be treated as a potential option, not as a certain amount.

06 — Worked exampleA €250,000 project, the four instruments in sequence.

Let’s build a concrete case. A company based in Campania, classified as a Small SME, is buying a new CNC press brake with full tooling, installation, training, and commissioning: total investment €250,000. Here is what comes back in cash by activating the four instruments, using the prudent numbers our incentives page keeps updated. To size the machine before the investment, the bending force calculator remains a useful tool upstream of everything.

• Super-deduction: the €250,000 sits entirely within the first tier (≤ €2.5M) → +180% step-up on the deductible cost, i.e. €450,000 of additional deductible base. At the ordinary 24% IRES rate the gross tax saving is in the order of ~€108,000, spread across the asset’s useful tax life (five to six years); the actual benefit depends on IRES capacity and the company’s tax profile and must be validated with the accountant.
• Nuova Sabatini 4.0: interest-rate subsidy on a conventional 5-year loan at 3.575%. Nominal benefit: ~€22,000 spread over annual instalments.
• ZES Unica (Campania, Small SME, 60% rate on the eligible investment): nominal tax credit up to ~€150,000, to be booked with the preliminary notice to the Revenue Agency by May 30, 2026.
• ISI INAIL (machine-replacement line, best-case scenario with funded application): non-repayable grant capped at €130,000.

A word on stacking, because the right picture is not always reported. The super-deduction is a general tax rule: it is not state aid and does not consume any ceiling. The other three — Sabatini, ZES, ISI — are state aid and together fall under the aid-intensity cap set by EU Regulation 651/2014 (GBER) and the 2022-2027 Regional Aid Map: for a Small SME in Campania that ceiling is 60% of the eligible investment, i.e. around €150,000 on €250,000. ZES alone (60%) already saturates that ceiling, so Sabatini and ISI do not add on top of the €150,000 of total state aid: the three measures offset within the cap, they do not sum nominally.

The concrete result, then, is the sum of two distinct components: the tax benefit of the super-deduction (in the order of €100,000 in lower taxes, but spread over five-six years and subject to the company’s IRES capacity) and the state aid up to the 60% ceiling (about €150,000). How much of this actually turns into cash, and over what timeframe, depends on the tax profile, the offsetting rules between the measures, and whether the ISI application is actually funded: this is exactly the calculation to run with the accountant. To build the technical configuration to start from, the press brake configurator is the starting point — the rest is teamwork with the accountant.

07 — WorkflowWhat to do, in what order.

The four instruments run on different timelines and channels. To stay aligned, the moves should follow a precise sequence.

• Technical quote and configuration. We define the press brake together: tonnage, useful length, controlled axes, tooling, integration with cells or robots if planned. It is the foundation of everything: a wrong technical configuration means a fragile tax file.
• Accepted order and a deposit of at least 20%. These are needed for the confirmation notice to the GSE, to be sent within 60 days of the positive outcome of the preliminary notice: it is this step that reserves the funds on the budget. The asset’s tax competence, however, follows delivery (Article 109 of the Italian Tax Code), not the order — the deposit locks the budget allocation, it does not by itself “anchor” the tax year.
• Preliminary ZES notice to the Italian Revenue Agency by May 30 of the investment year, if the company sits in one of the ten ZES regions.
• ISI INAIL application filing, where applicable, within the annual window (April 13 – May 28 for 2026).
• Delivery, installation, commissioning, and validated interconnection with the company management system. This is the technical activation that makes the asset “4.0” in the eyes of the appraisal.
• Sworn technical appraisal issued by a chartered engineer or registered industrial expert. It certifies compliance with Annex IV and the completed interconnection. After the MIMIT decree of May 4, 2026 it is mandatory for any amount.
• Five notices to the GSE through the online platform: 1) preliminary, ex-ante before starting; 2) confirmation, within 60 days of the positive outcome, with the order details and the deposit of at least 20%; 3) annual periodic notice by January 20; 4) integrative notice with the depreciation plan by June 30; 5) completion notice. The operating procedures are on the GSE online platform.
• Integrative ZES notice for reporting, between January 3 and 17 of the year following the investment (for those who activated ZES).

It looks like a lot. In practice, once the order with PG is underway, our engineering team handles the interconnection checks and provides the appraiser with compliant documentation. The tax file remains the company accountant’s job, but we provide all the technical material the appraiser needs so nothing has to be rebuilt from scratch. To get started, the quickest route is an email to our contacts with two lines about the parts you bend and the shifts you run.

Information current as of June 2026 and verified against official sources (MIMIT, the Italian Revenue Agency, INAIL, the Official Gazette). Tax rates, deadlines, stacking conditions, and operational procedures may change during the year; for the specific tax handling of your investment, consult your accountant or a qualified tax advisor. Our incentives pillar page keeps the commercial summary continuously updated.

08 — FAQQuick answers to recurring questions.