Italian taxi drivers earn less than EUR 18,000 gross per year: data in 7 cities

The recovery is there but not visible. Having come out of the Covid tunnel that in 2020 had caused average annual earnings to plummet below the 4,000 euro threshold, even registering some minus signs as in the case of Florence (-2155 euro) and Naples 8-634 euro), the trend of taxi incomes in 2023 remains more or less nailed to the usual values, with a national average increase of 208 euro per month and a total national value of 17,904 euro gross per year, equal to a monthly income of 1,492 euro. This is recounted in the data processed by the Finance Department of the Mef for Sole24Ore, which this year, as in the past, are on 'mini' numbers. And which take into consideration the latest available tax returns, fiscal year 2023. The increase is minimal compared to average values with peaks in some cities and flat calm in others.

In 2023 the greatest increase in absolute terms in the average annual income declared by the people of white cars is recorded in Florence with an average annual income of 24,160 euro, 3,509 more (+17%) which, spread over 12 months, makes just over 2,000 euro gross per month. In Milan the average earnings are 22,551 euro, among the highest declared in the ranking of sample cities taken as a reference by the MEF. Here the increase over the previous year is 15.2%, while monthly income stands at 1879 euro, while Rome has the highest value in percentage terms of average annual earnings, even if Roman taxis do not manage to declare 16,000 euro per year: per month they stand at 1310 euro.

Going down the list of the least profitable cities, in Naples taxpayers declare an annual income of 12,791 euro, an increase of 2,594 euro (+25.4 per cent) compared to 2022. Finally, at the bottom of the ranking is Palermo: here the average annual income is 10 thousand euros, 894 per month, an increase of 17.8 per cent.

For the time being, in short, it is a flat calm: the increases are infinitesimal compared to the levels of past years, with the exception of the annus horribilis of the Pandemic, which, however, does not take into account a general trend that now seems more than consolidated (see the table on the page). The real test will be in 2027 when the data from the 2025 declarations will be released: this year the obligation to keep (and use) Pos on board for electronic payments for rides was triggered. A step forward on the transparency of income received, which, however, to work, will have to go hand in hand with tax controls, since the ride receipt is a mere piece of paper with no value for the treasury.

The data processed by the Mef are based on the income declared by subjects falling within the Ateco 49.32.10 sector corresponding to taxi transport, an activity carried out by various types of companies (individuals, partnerships, joint stock companies, cooperatives and forfeit companies). These numbers are still provisional, but - also based on the trends of past years - do not deviate much from the figures that will be consolidated next year. And which so far have never been disproved.