The Italian Supreme Court annuls a ruling by the Piedmont Regional Tax Court which voided a decision requiring two companies to return illegal State aid (A.O. / A.A.)

On 20 November 2020, the Supreme Court delivered Decision No. 26477 in a case concerning penalties imposed by the ITA on A.O. and A.A. for failure to comply with the implementing provisions of a Commission recovery order. Background & facts of the case By Decision 2005/315/EC of 20 October 2004, the Commission found that Italy’s State aid scheme for undertakings that invested in municipalities affected by natural disasters in 2002, as set out in Art. 5(e) of Law Decree No. 282 of 24 December 2002 and converted by Law No. 27 of 21 February 2003, was unlawfully put into effect in breach of Art. 88(3) EEC Treaty (now Art. 108(3)