Agricultural youth enterprise, what is it and what incentives are available?

On 15 March 2024, Law 36 of 2024 was approved, containing facilitation measures for the promotion and development of youth entrepreneurship in the agricultural sector.
The legislation provides for various types of support measures for "youth entrepreneurship in the agricultural sector and relaunching the agricultural production system through interventions to encourage the settlement and permanence of young people and generational turnover in the agricultural sector".
The benefits for agricultural youth businesses are numerous and of various kinds, here are the main measures.
To whom do the benefits of the agricultural youth enterprise apply? The scope of application of the legislation is defined by article 2 of the law which incorporates the definitions of article 2135 of the civil code for the definition of agricultural enterprise and recognizes the benefits on condition that: the owner is an agricultural entrepreneur over the age of 18 and under 41 years of age; in the case of partnerships and cooperative societies, including the cooperatives referred to in article 1, paragraph 2, of legislative decree 18 May 2001, n.
228, at least half of the members are agricultural entrepreneurs aged over 18 and under 41; in the case of joint-stock companies, at least half of the share capital is subscribed by agricultural entrepreneurs aged over eighteen and under forty-one years of age and the administrative bodies are made up, at least half, of the same individuals.
Concessions provided for the agricultural youth enterprise In order to achieve the objectives aimed at supporting and promoting agricultural youth enterprise, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Forestry has established a fund with an endowment of 15 million euros per year starting from the 2024 for the financing of programs aimed at youth entrepreneurship in the agricultural sector.
The fund is intended for: purchase of land and structures necessary for starting agricultural business; purchase of capital goods, with priority for those intended to increase company efficiency and introduce innovations relating to the product, cultivation practices and natural maintenance of the land and the process of growing the products through precision techniques; expansion of the minimum production unit, defined according to location, cultivation direction and use of labour, in order to promote company efficiency; purchase of already operational business complexes.
read also What an agricultural company can sell and produce Tax breaks for a youth agricultural business The breaks provided for young people who decide to invest in agriculture are different.
Entrepreneurs can opt for a preferential tax regime with a rate of 12.5% applied to the tax base made up of the business income produced in the tax period (art.4).
In the case of a land purchase and sale contract with a consideration of up to 200 thousand euros, a preferential rate is applied for the notary's fee which cannot be higher than that indicated in table A- Notaries annexed to the regulation referred to in the decree of the Minister of Justice 20 July 2012, n.
140.
The legislation provides benefits for participation in training courses: a contribution is granted, in the form of a tax credit, equal to 80 percent of the expenses actually incurred in the year 2024.
The contribution can be obtained in the form of tax credit on an expense of a maximum amount of 2,500 euros.
Expenses must be properly documented.
On the basis of article 7, the agricultural entrepreneur and direct farmer regularly registered with the social security management, in the case of purchase or exchange of land, pay the mortgage and cadastral tax at the rate of 60% compared to the ordinary ones.
read also cadastral tax: what it is, how much and when it is paid