Aiuto alla crescita economica "A.C.E.": un inquadramento scientifico delle logiche che sottendono tale agevolazione

“Ace” is a tax relief that allows entities to deduct a notional interest on the increase of equity from the income taxes. The ACE relief’s aim is to reduce the tax advantage of debt and encourage corporate capitalization. This benefit can be considered partially aligned, in its basic idea, to some scientific theories arising from International and National contributions within financial and management accounting studies. In particular it could have some common elements with a particular interpretation of the capital maintenance principle (see Anthony, 1975, 1983; Capodaglio, 1988, 2005). This paper is focused in particular on the capital maintenance principle considering the different meanings that it can assume and it analyses if and where ACE is consistent or not with such theoretical framework. This paper also analyses other aspects of this fiscal rule that can stimulate a theoretical debate. In particular it considers the role of this notional cost and the way it should be calculated considering the different purposes characterizing management accounting and financial accounting. To achieve this findings, first of all the relationships of the “notional interest” with the wider concept of the notional cost (onere figurativo) are analysed. Secondly the paper considers which elements of the equity should be considered to calculate the notional interest, verifying in particular if it is more appropriate to include (and in which measure) the Asset Revaluation Reserve. Strictly connected with this issue it also focuses on the notional interest rate that should be adopted to be consistent with the different accounting theories. Last, the paper analyses how the notional interest should be recognized if it were considered within financial accounting costs. This is a theoretical paper and adopts a deductive methodology, basing on the analysis and comparison of the International and National scientific theories with the new fiscal rule of the Italian law called ACE. As a results of these previous elements the paper finds that the fiscal rule of the ACE is not fully consistent neither with the accounting theories of the capital maintenance principle nor with the literature of management accounting which addresses the notional interest. Nevertheless ACE could represent an occasion to make a first step towards a different accounting framework creating a stronger connection among financial accounting, management accounting (Quagli, 2011) and also economic theories with reference to the concept of income. The paper is innovative since it should be the first analysing Ace in the light of the theoretical accounting literature analysing which could be the effects of recognizing notional interest within the financial statements for the entity and for the users of the information.