From the 19% deduction for school expenses to the nursery bonus of up to 3,600 euros, including the contribution for private schools and book bonuses. Here’s what you can ask for and what the requirements are
From nursery school to high school, children’s education increasingly weighs on families’ wallets. For textbooks alone, spending in Italy is around one billion euros (surveys from the Eures-Adoc Observatory) and Federconsumatori reports an average price increase of 2.3% in stationery bookstores this year and a jump of 5.6% for those who buy online. Added to this are nursery school fees, school contributions, canteens, transport and educational trips. All together it turns the return to school into one of the heaviest moments of the year for the family budget. But there are possible tax deductions and economic bonuses to lighten these costs.
School deduction in 730: what is recovered and what is left out
The first tool available to families is the 19% tax deduction on school expenses, to be recovered in the tax return. In practice, for each child who attends school – from childhood to high school – 19% of what has been spent is recovered, up to a maximum of one thousand euros of expenditure per student. This means that the highest possible saving is 190 euros per year for each child. Not all school expenses, however, can be deducted. They give the right to a 19% deduction enrollment fees and contributions required by the school; the school canteen fee; before-school and after-school services; school trips, educational trips and educational outings; extracurricular courses (English, music, workshops) if approved by the school board and school transport, including the school bus. However, they remain outside the deduction textbooks, dictionaries and all stationery material such as notebooks, diaries, pencil cases and backpacks. To deduct these expenses the payment must be traceable (bank transfers, credit or debit cards and postal orders, no cash) and that all documentation is kept (receipts, invoices, certificates). And we must remember that the expense must be indicated in the year in which it was actually paid; therefore, the expenses incurred in 2026 will be included in the tax return for that year.
Nursery: INPS bonus and regional measures that can eliminate the fee
For families with children up to three years old, the nursery bonus provided by the INPS remains active, which covers part of the fees for public and private nurseries, micro-nurseries and supplementary educational services or supports home care in the case of serious chronic pathologies. The amount depends on the minor ISEE and the child’s date of birth: ranging from 1,500 euros up to a maximum of 3,600 euros for those born on or after 1 January 2024. The application, which can be submitted online on the INPS portal with Spid, Cie or Cns or through a patronage, now no longer needs to be renewed every year: just submit it once, and it remains valid until the child turns three, provided you continue to send the documentation certifying attendance annually. Then there are children of nursery age regional measures which, added to the state contribution, reduce the fee to zero. In Lombardy, for example, the “Nidi Gratis Plus” benefit allows families with an ISEE of up to 25 thousand euros to obtain reimbursement of the portion that remains to be paid after receiving the INPS bonus, with the contribution paid directly to the affiliated structures. But be careful: applications from parents are not yet open, the announcement is expected in the autumn.
Bonus for school books: municipal coupons and the national measure still awaiting the decree
For the purchase of textbooks, which do not fall within the 19% tax deductions, local bonuses exist (which vary from Municipality to Municipality and from Region to Region). They are often coupons or vouchers, generally reserved for families with ISEE up to 15,493.71 euros, although each Municipality can set wider thresholds. The rules change from area to area, so you need to check the regulations of your Region and Municipality. And for school books there is also the 20 million euro annual fund contained in the 2026 Budget Law. It is designed for those who have an ISEE of up to 30 thousand euros and are excluded from local subsidies, intended for the purchase of books for secondary school. But the implementing decree is still missing, which establishes the criteria and methods of request: the measure exists on paper, it is not yet operational.
Private school bonus 2026: amounts, requirements and deadline of 21 September
Then there is the private schools bonus. It concerns families with ISEE not exceeding 30 thousand euros and children enrolled, in the 2025-2026 school year, in a private first level school (middle school) or in the first two years of private high schools, including high schools, technical and professional institutes. The amount changes based on the ISEE: from 600 to 1,500 euros for those who do not exceed 10 thousand euros; from 400 to 1,300 euros between 10 and 20 thousand euros; from 200 to 1,000 euros between 20 and 30 thousand euros. The application must be submitted online, on the Single Platform of the Ministry of Education, by logging in with Spid, Cie, Cns or eIDAS, by 21 September 2026. Anyone who has already obtained regional aid for the same purpose must declare it, because the system verifies that the total support does not exceed the average student cost ceiling. Only after the applications have been closed will the ministry define the ranking and the actual amounts. For now it has not yet been clarified whether the measure will be repeated for subsequent school years.
