Manoeuvre, government ready to ease tax squeeze on bitcoin and crypto assets

Thegovernment clampdown on crypto assets is being loosened. Under the pressure of the same majority forces, the idea of revising the sting inserted in the draft budget and raising from 26 to 42% the substitute tax rate on capital gains and other income realised on the redemption or disposal of crypto assets of not less than EUR 2,000 is being considered.

Confirmation will have to wait until the next few days when the Budget Committee will start to get serious about voting on amendments to the manoeuvre. It will start on Wednesday pending the reformulations and amendments by the government and rapporteurs.

The Lega is pushing to limit the levy increase by only two percentage points by moving the current rate from 26% to 28%, while Forza Italia is asking to limit the tax squeeze by only cancelling the EUR 2,000 exemption limit without intervening with an increase in the substitute tax rate. For their part, the oppositions are pushing to delete Article 4 of the Budget Bill, which also contains the extension of the web tax to SMEs, altogether and alternatively, they too are asking to delete the EUR 2,000 exemption.

The solution could be the one indicated by the Azzurri Roberto Pella and Francesco Cannizzaro with which Forza Italia asks, as mentioned, to replace the increase in the levy up to 42% with the mere cancellation of the limit of 2,000 euro below which any capital gains, redemptions or transfers of crypto assets, however denominated, are not subject to substitute tax. In addition, the Pella amendment, aims to definitively clarify that on these capital gains the levy is 26 per cent and not 12.5 per cent as might emerge from a reading of the rules in force today, going so far as to also include the capital gains indicated in letter c-sexies) of Article 67 of the consolidated text of direct taxes on crypto assets among the financial annuities that with Decree No. 66 of 2014 of the then Renzi Government went from a tax of 12.5 per cent to 26 per cent.

The latest snapshot of how much the Italian tax authorities collect from crypto activities was taken by the Ministry of Finance in response to a question time in the Finance Committee of the Chamber of Deputies last week. From an examination of the F24 payment slips, the 26% substitute tax produces annual revenue of 27 million. Paying are 22,439 taxpayers, of whom 22,331 are natural persons paying 22 million with an average of 985 euro. The remaining taxpayers are 88 corporations that pay 5 million to the Treasury with an average payment of 57 thousand euro.