Aid for technical support services for businesses – Provincial Law 6/2023

It is possible to obtain a grant for initiatives aimed at developing modernisation processes within Trentino-based businesses through the provision of technical assistance and training in the following areas:

• technological and organisational innovation;
• business economic and financial management;
• access to finance;
• health and safety at work and environmental protection;

as well as activities aimed at achieving quality certification for companies.

Applications are assessed using an automated procedure.

Incentives and spending limits

The incentive, granted as alump sum, is equalto 80 per cent of the costs incurred for services provided to businesses in the financial year preceding the date of submission of the application, net of revenue and income received in the same financial year for the same activities.

The eligible costs incurred relate to staff costs and service costs, as shown respectively by the portion of the amount recorded under item B9 and item B7 of the profit and loss account in the annual financial statements or in the separate accounts, where applicable.

The revenue and income received for these activities correspond to the total amount of public contributions, aid or grants received for carrying out the activities provided to businesses, as well as the revenue obtained from the individual businesses benefiting from these activities(Please note: there are exceptions to these provisions).

The incentive is granted if it amounts to at least 10,000 euros and, in any event, up to a maximum of 100,000 euros per year for each beneficiary.

The aid is granted under the ‘de minimis’ scheme, in accordance with the new De Minimis Regulation 2023/2831. 

There are no spending limits. 

Specific obligations are set out in the general provisions applicable to all schemes and in the specific provisions for individual schemes relating to the support measure ‘Aid to businesses for technical assistance services’.

These include the requirement for the operational unit to remain within the province.

Business technical support centres - CATs set up by trade associations or entities providing collective credit guarantees, which meet the requirements and conditions laid down in the specific provisions of the individual schemes relating to the support measure ‘Aid to businesses for technical assistance services’ or in the general provisions common to all schemes.

The eligibility requirements and conditions also include:

• being up to date with social security and welfare contributions, as evidenced by a valid DURC on the relevant authorities’ portal;
• adopting, in relation to their employees, one of the contracts identified by the Provincial Executive in Resolution No. 1758 of 31 October 2024, as subsequently amended and supplemented;
• the taking out of insurance policies to cover damages, as provided for in Article 1, paragraph 101 of Law No. 213 of 30 December 2023.

Beneficiaries may take the form of independent entities (companies or consortia) or be established as internal units of the trade association or credit guarantee consortium. In the case of Technical Assistance Centres ( CATs) established as internal units, the formal beneficiary of the aid is the trade association, service company or credit guarantee consortium to which the internal unit belongs. The main entities must, however, maintain separate accounts for the Technical Assistance Centre.

Each applicant may submit one application per year, between 1 June and 31 August.

In any case, an application may only be submitted by a single technical assistance centre acting on behalf of the most representative trade association or credit guarantee consortia.

The application must be sent – by the owner/legal representative or their authorised representative - to the assessing body – the Provincial Agency for the Promotion of Economic Activities (APIAE) – via certified email (PEC) to the address: apiae.incentivi@pec.provincia.tn.it.

Specific documents must be attached to the incentive application, including, for applicants not registered in the Companies Register, a copy of the approved annual accounts for the financial year preceding that in which the application is submitted.

Please check the documentation in the ‘Forms’ section below.

Preliminary assessment: the preliminary assessment process begins on the day following the deadline for the submission of applications for each financial year. The grant decision is adopted within 60 days from the day following the deadline for the submission of applications for each financial year.

Payment: the grant is paid in a single instalment once the grant award decision becomes enforceable, subject to receipt of a declaration from the beneficiary certifying compliance with the obligations and conditions that have lapsed.