Inclusion allowance, the FAQs on the use of the card are changing (but there is still no clarity)

In recent days, we at Money.it have pointed out an inconsistency in the FAQs of the Ministry of Labor relating to the use that can be made of the new Inclusion Allowance, a measure which has replaced Citizenship Income since 1 January 2024.
In the part that talked about purchases allowed with the Adi card, we limited ourselves to indicating food items, as well as purchases in pharmacies and parapharmacies (except for luxury goods).
However, subsequently, where prohibited purchases are mentioned, some are added – such as weapons and fireworks – whose specification was not necessary.
A clarification that almost seemed to deny what was established in the list of permitted purchases, as we at Money.it promptly pointed out to the Ministry of Labour, even asking the undersecretary Claudio Durigon.
An issue that was also brought to the attention of Fratelli d'Italia deputy Walter Rizzetto, now president of the Labor Commission in the Chamber.
A work that led to the modification of the FAQ relating to permitted purchases, which returns to being more generic – like, among other things, the decree that regulates the instrument of the Inclusion Allowance, n.
48 of 2023 – postponing the task of precisely defining what can and cannot be purchased with the new card to a subsequent decree from the Ministry of Labour.
Purchases allowed Inclusion allowance, the FAQ modified thanks to Money.it Article 4, paragraph 8 of decree no.
48/2023 establishes that the inclusion allowance can be spent "to satisfy the needs foreseen for the purchasing card".
As we at Money.it have had the opportunity to specify, however, we cannot be certain that the term "purchase card" refers to the instrument introduced by Legislative Decree no.
112 of 2008 as there is no regulatory reference.
For this reason we waited to comment on what can be purchased with the Inclusion Allowance, trusting in an immediate clarification from the Ministry of Labour.
In the meantime, the FAQ has arrived in which it is said that the credited money can only be used for the purchase of food and non-luxury products that can be purchased in pharmacies and parapharmacies.
A clarification that we at Money.it have contested, believing it to be in conflict with the list of prohibited purchases indicated in the second FAQ.
We were right: after our reports the FAQ referring to the possible use of the Adi card was modified with the following: It therefore remains generic, not precisely answering the question of what you can purchase.
The reference to food-only goods disappears, as well as to purchases in pharmacies and parapharmacies, suggesting that the list of permitted purchases will be broader.
In fact, no clarity is made but at least the previous contradiction has been eliminated.
Can I buy clothes and household appliances with the Inclusion Allowance? For the moment there are few certainties and many doubts.
For example, although the reference has disappeared from the aforementioned FAQs, we can go too far by assuming purchases of food, medicines and other essential products.
It will be the task of a specific decree from the Ministry of Labour, which according to what we read in the FAQ should be published imminently, to specify whether it will also be possible to purchase: clothes; home appliances; smartphones and tablets; personal hygiene products; books; tickets for cinemas, theaters and museums; mobile; fuel.
The feeling is that the aforementioned goods will be allowed, but let's wait to say too much.
Only the incoming decree will be able to answer with certainty, which will need to be done quickly given that the inclusion allowance should be paid as early as this week.
What is certain is that it will not be possible to purchase the following products, a list similar to that indicated for the Citizenship Income but with some new features (one above all the ban on purchasing cigarettes): purchases abroad, online or through direct marketing; games that involve winnings in money or other benefits; purchase of cigarettes, including electronic cigarettes, and smoking derivatives; pyrotechnic games; alcoholic products; purchase, rental and leasing of ships and pleasure boats, as well as port services; weapons; pornographic material and adult goods and services; financial and credit services; money transfer services; Insurance services; articles of jewellery; fur articles; purchases at art galleries and similar; purchases in private clubs.
read also Inclusion allowance 2024, requirements, amounts and rules for requesting it