The ISEE threshold set by the 2026 Budget Law to access the new national fund for textbooks is 30 thousand euros, as established by paragraph 518 of law 30 December 2025, n. 199, which establishes in the Ministry of the Interior’s estimate a budget of 20 million euros per year starting from this year. It is important to underline that this is not a single procedure, the same from Bolzano to Trapani, because the book bonus in Italy has never been, and still is not, a single measure. It is a mosaic of regional and municipal calls that overlap with a national framework that is almost thirty years old.
136 million euros allocated
The heart of the system remains article 27 of law 448/1998, which entrusts the Ministry of Education with the task of distributing funds every year among the Regions for the free or semi-free supply of textbooks to less well-off students. For the 2026 financial year, the Ministry has allocated 136 million euros, divided among the Regions based on the number of students and Istat data on family income. Added to this is the fund introduced by paragraph 518 of the 2026 budget: 20 million euros per year, this time destined not to the Regions but directly to the Municipalities, identified by a decree of the Minister of the Interior in agreement with the Ministries of Education and the Economy. The rule also explicitly covers digital texts, and sets the ISEE limit at 30,000 euros, a wider threshold than the historically lower one applied by already existing regional calls.
The requirements: the ISEE remains the main filter
Everywhere in Italy the access criterion is economic, what changes are the actual thresholds applied in the territory: they range from around 13,000 euros in Puglia (15,748.78 for families with three or more children) to 15,493.71 euros in Lazio, up to the 26,000 euros expected in Piedmont for families with children enrolled in state and private schools. There is only one practical rule before moving: check the announcement of your municipality of residence, because the threshold of 30,000 euros set by national law is valid as the reference ceiling for the new fund, not as the figure applied by each individual municipal or regional announcement. The benefit generally concerns students of lower and upper secondary schools (state and private) and, in many calls, also Professional Education and Training courses. Another common point remains: the contribution cannot be cumulated with other public support already received for the same purpose in the same school year.
How it works in Rome
For anyone living in the capital, the procedure is already active. Based on the guidelines of the Lazio Region of 29 July 2026, Roma Capitale has published its public notice for the 2026/2027 book vouchers: the application must be submitted exclusively online, with SPID, CIE or CNS, from 12pm on 7 August to 12pm on 25 September 2026. The ISEE limit is set at 15,493.71 euros, and the value of the voucher varies based on the class attended: 230 euros for first middle school and first and third year of high school (including IeFP), 175 euros for all other years. A useful detail: there is no need to attach the ISEE certificate or enter it manually, because the Municipality will retrieve it directly from the INPS database by cross-referencing the student’s tax code, which reduces, at least on paper, the risk of errors in the application. Residents in Rome who attend a school elsewhere can still request the voucher, while those who reside in another municipality, despite studying in the capital, must contact their municipality of residence. Once accepted, the voucher can be downloaded as a PDF and spent at participating bookshops and stationery shops: it covers paper and digital textbooks, dictionaries, fiction texts recommended by the school, software and in some cases even notebooks or tablets. The window of use closes on January 20, 2027.
What you need to apply, in summary
Here are the main points:
Outside Lazio, times change a lot: some regions, such as Lombardy and Piedmont, have already closed applications in the summer; Tuscany, with the “Free Books” program, also closed the call for applications on June 30th. The Buono Libri del Veneto, however, remains open until 9 October, providing up to 200 euros for ISEE below 10,632.94 euros and 150 euros in the next range, up to 15,748.78 euros.
