180% hyper-depreciation

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With the new set of incentives for Industry 4.0, the Government has reintroduced a tax tool of major interest for companies investing in advanced automation: hyper-depreciation, with an uplift up to 180% of the cost of capital goods.

This mechanism is well known in the industrial world, but today it has a particularly relevant impact for anyone evaluating solutions such as autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) for internal logistics and production flows.

What is hyper-depreciation and how does it work

Hyper-depreciation is a tax incentive that allows a company to increase the tax-deductible value of an investment compared to its actual purchase cost.

In practical terms, an asset purchased for €100,000 can be depreciated for tax purposes as if it had cost €180,000, with an 80% uplift compared to the real value.

This additional value is not a direct grant; it is an extra deduction that reduces the company’s taxable income over the depreciation years.
The result is a tangible reduction in taxes (IRES and IRAP) and an improvement in mid-term cash flow.

Why AMRs qualify among eligible assets

Autonomous mobile robots fully fall within the Industry 4.0 framework when they are:

  • digitally controlled
  • interconnected with the company’s information systems
  • integrated into logistics or production processes
  • part of an automated and traceable flow

AMRs designed for industrial intralogistics—such as those developed by SST Robot—meet these requirements because they operate as intelligent, connected, and integrable systems with ERP, MES, and WMS.

This makes the investment potentially eligible for hyper-depreciation, subject to technical verification and the expert appraisal required by regulation.

The real economic benefit: a practical example

To understand the impact of hyper-depreciation, a simplified example is useful.

A company invests €300,000 in an AMR fleet:

  • real investment cost: €300,000
  • tax-deductible value with 180% hyper-depreciation: €540,000
  • additional tax deduction: €240,000

This €240,000 difference is depreciated over the years, reducing taxable income and therefore taxes due.

The benefit is not theoretical: it directly affects the income statement and improves investment return compared to a non-incentivized solution.

Hyper-depreciation and ROI: why it changes the investment logic

When evaluating technologies such as AMRs, the point is not only the initial cost, but the investment payback time.

Hyper-depreciation allows you to:

  • reduce the effective net cost of the asset
  • shorten the payback period
  • improve overall project ROI
  • free up financial resources for additional investments

In practice, the tax incentive adds to AMRs’ operational benefits: higher efficiency, reduced logistics bottlenecks, operational continuity, and fewer errors.

Who benefits most from investing in AMRs with hyper-depreciation today

This measure is particularly attractive for:

  • manufacturing companies

  • businesses with complex internal logistics
  • organizations automating material handling
  • SMEs that want to grow without increasing their cost structure
  • companies planning multi-year Industry 4.0 investments

In all these cases, hyper-depreciation becomes a financial accelerator of innovation, not just a tax benefit.

An industrial choice, not only a tax one

It is important to underline that hyper-depreciation should not be the sole reason for investment, but a value multiplier for industrial choices that are already solid.

Autonomous mobile robots are a concrete answer to the flexibility, safety, and efficiency needs of modern factories. The new Industry 4.0 measure makes this step more sustainable from an economic standpoint as well.

Conclusion

The return of 180% hyper-depreciation opens a concrete window of opportunity for companies that want to innovate their logistics and production processes.

Investing in AMRs today means combining automation, digitalization, and tax advantage, turning a cost into a strategic medium-to-long-term asset.

To assess the eligibility of your project or estimate the actual tax savings, the topic can be explored through a dedicated analysis and a preliminary technical review.