Italy Taxes Cryptocurrency Capital Gains 26%

On December 29, 2022, just a few days before the end of the year, Italy's Senate gave its approval to the country's budget for 2023. This budget included an increase in taxation for crypto investors in the form of a 26% tax on capital gains on crypto-asset trading that was more than 2,000 euros (approximately $2.13 at the time of publication).

Previously, in this nation, crypto assets were regarded the same way as foreign currency, which meant that they were subject to reduced taxes.

In addition, the bill stipulates that taxpayers will be able to declare the value of their digital-asset holdings beginning on January 1 and pay a tax rate of 14% if they do so. These incentives are designed to encourage Italians to declare their digital assets and are therefore included in the bill.

Tax amnesties to lower penalties for missing tax payments, fiscal incentives for job development, and a reduction in the age at which one may retire are a few of the other changes that were brought about by the legislation governing the budget.

In addition to that, it provides tax incentives for a combined total of 22.4 billion euros, or 21 billion euros, for firms and people who are coping with the energy crisis.

Even though she campaigned in September on a platform of enacting significant tax cuts, Giorgia Meloni, Italy's first woman to hold the office of prime minister, was able to get widespread support from the Italian legislature for the measure she proposed.

According to reports from local media outlets, one of the measures taken by the Italian government to reduce gas consumption across the country includes making buildings without central heating go without it for more than 15 days. Additionally, during the winter months, residents are being asked to turn their heating down one degree and turn it off for one hour more each day.

After the Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) bill was passed on October 10, providing an uniform legal framework for cryptocurrencies throughout the 27 member nations of the European Union, Italy's lawmakers moved quickly to pass their own laws on the subject.