Music rights and management mandates: tax aspects in ruling reply No. 13/2026

By ruling reply No. 13 of 20 January 2026, the Italian Revenue Agency addressed the tax regime applicable to fees arising from the administration and management of copyright relating to musical works, clarifying the distinction between a mandate for the management of rights and the assignment of economic exploitation rights.

The case examined concerns a contractual structure under which an artist grants a company, on an exclusive basis, the administration and collection of proceeds deriving from the economic exploitation of his or her musical works, with the company being entitled to receive a percentage of future gross proceeds. The interpretative issue submitted to the Italian Revenue Agency concerned the tax classification of that relationship and, in particular, whether the transaction could be assimilated to an assignment of copyright exploitation rights or should instead be classified as a mere activity of administration and management of those rights.

The Tax Authorities clarified that, in the case at hand, the artist retains ownership of the copyright and the related economic rights, while the appointed company carries out only an activity of administration and collection of proceeds. The contractual relationship is therefore classified as a management mandate, with the consequence that the fee received by the company constitutes consideration for the provision of services and not the price for an assignment of economic exploitation rights.

The distinction is not merely formal. From a tax perspective, the classification of the relationship as a management mandate means that the proceeds deriving from the exploitation of the works remain attributable to the artist as the owner of the rights, while the fee paid to the appointed company qualifies as income deriving from the activity of managing and collecting the rights. In this context, the ordinary income classification rules under the Italian Income Tax Code apply, with possible implications also from a VAT perspective in relation to the services provided by the mandatary company.

The dividing line between the administration of rights and their transfer is, however, one of the most delicate issues in contractual practice in the music and audiovisual sector. Where clauses grant the appointed company particularly broad powers in the economic management of the works — or provide for remuneration mechanisms similar to participation in the proceeds from exploitation — the risk that the relationship may be reclassified as an assignment of economic rights cannot be excluded. From a prudential perspective, the correct legal classification of the contractual relationship and the precise definition of the powers granted to the party appointed to manage the rights are therefore of decisive importance for the tax treatment of the transaction.

The Italian Revenue Agency’s reply thus confirms that, in the field of copyright management, the contractual structure adopted by the parties is the decisive element for the tax classification of the economic flows deriving from the exploitation of the works.