Who are the profiles that have record discounts on taxes in Italy: from pensioners arriving from abroad to teachers and researchers returning home
In Italy there is a small “army” of taxpayers who manage to exploit the Tax breaks dedicated to different profiles: this is what emerges from the photograph of ‘Il Sole 24 Ore’ on the tax returns published by the Department of Finance.
Italy, those who have discounts on taxes: the subsidized regimes
According to data relating to the 2022 tax year, in our country there are 37,331 taxpayers who, having transferred their residence to Italy, have taken advantage of the special regimes of the Italian tax system, introduced to bring expatriate professionals and employees back home.
However, there are close to a thousand new wealthy residents who have chosen Italy to live: 46% of these have produced a total income of 75 million euros, mainly made up of employed work.
Since 2017, a new law has come into force subsidized regime intended for natural persons who move to Italy and opt for the new resident relief, regardless of whether they carry out a particular work activity: the regime provides for the application of a substitute tax on income produced abroad calculated on a flat rate basis equal to 100,000 euros for each tax period in which the option is valid.
This option is revocable and ceases to produce effects once fifteen years have passed from the first tax period of validity; furthermore, it cannot be cumulated with the benefits for the return of teachers, researchers and repatriates. For income that is produced on national territory, however, the taxation remains the same, the ordinary one.
The situation of pensioners, teachers and researchers
Partly following the example of Portugal which for years was one of the most advantageous countries for pensioners, in 2019 Italy decided to introduce a drastic tax cut for foreign pensioners who moved to certain areas of our country: municipalities in Abruzzo, Basilicata, Calabria, Puglia, Sardinia and Sicily with a population of no more than 20 thousand inhabitants.
The discount for these profiles is very advantageous: nothing is paid on 93% of the pension from a foreign source and a substitute tax rate of 7% can be applied. According to data from the Department of Finance, 474 subjects chose the “tax haven” of the South and the islands: in total they declared foreign pension income for 19 million euros and income from foreign sources of 28.7 million euros, with the substitute tax approaching 2 million euros.
Over time, the subsidized regime established for the purpose of bringing talents and workers from abroad back home has been subject to various changes: one of the most recent, in chronological order, concerns the implementation of the tax reform with the decree on international taxation, which cut the subsidized regime by 50%.
In 2022, teachers and researchers who could benefit from benefits on 90% of incomes exceeded 3,000, with an average gross amount from employment of 56,492 euros. The impatriate regime instead involved more than 32,600 employed workers, for an average gross amount of 114,501 euros according to data from the Department of Finance reported by ‘Il Sole 24 Ore’. The data, we remind you, refer to the 2023 tax returns relating to the 2022 tax period.
