BancaMarch: On Thursday, potential tax hikes in France were discussed, this Friday it is the turn of Italy. In the Gallic country, the Budget Minister has given more details on temporary taxes on higher-income taxpayers and large companies – already announced on Monday by Barnier and on Wednesday by Macron. In the first case, he indicated that they would affect only 0.3% of households, those without children who earn more than €500,000 per year. ‘It will not be a generalised tax increase on income’. As for companies, he pointed out that those with annual profits of more than €1 billion could be targeted.
In Italy, the finance minister has announced plans to increase taxes on companies that have benefited most from the economic turmoil. These could include banks (due to high interest rates) and the arms production sector (due to armed conflicts).
However, he stressed that ‘everyone’ will contribute, not just banks, including the profits and incomes of individuals, as well as businesses, from small to large.
Last year, proposals to impose a tax on banks fell flat after the collapse of Italian bank markets, which spread to other European banks. Italy, the country with the highest deficit in the EU in 2023 (7.4 per cent of GDP), expects a reduction to 3.8 per cent this year and aims to contain the mismatch to below 3 per cent in 2026.
