Corporate welfare: school expense reimbursement valid if spouse pays

Pay and benefits
Welfare schemes and education expenses: the tax relief remains available even if paid by the spouse
Italian Revenue Agency

A corporate welfare scheme allowed employees to claim reimbursement of education expenses incurred for their children. The employer’s doubt arose when the cost, although referring to the employee’s child, was paid by the spouse from a current account held solely in her name.
The Italian Revenue Agency clarifies that this circumstance does not, in itself, prevent the favourable treatment. The reimbursement can remain excluded from employment income even if payment was made by the spouse, provided the documentation allows the beneficiary of the service and the nature of the expense to be identified, so as to verify its consistency with the permitted educational purposes.
For the employer, documentary control remains central.
A declaration must be obtained from the employee confirming that the same invoices have not been and will not be used to obtain other reimbursements, including from different parties. The employee must also retain the documents referred to in the declaration for any future checks.
The clarification therefore broadens the flexibility of welfare schemes: what matters is whether the expense can be attributed to the family member and to the eligible purpose, not who physically made the payment. The possibility of combining further tax relief on the same cost remains excluded.