To the tax authorities 20 billion from the top five Italian banks in 2019-2023
Should the figures for the first half of 2024 be confirmed between July and December, the fees paid by institutions this year could exceed 8 billion according to the banking union
2' min read
2' min read
From 2019 to 2023, the top five Italian banks have paid EUR 20 billion into the state coffers. Over the past five years, the banking sector has represented an important revenue opportunity for our country's tax authorities, and the profits milled in the first six months of this year offer an attractive scenario for the state's coffers in 2024 as well. This is what the banking union Fabi points out in an analysis.
Trend until June
While the top five credit groups took home an impressive EUR 45 billion in profits, overall, payments to the tax authorities rose from EUR 6.1 billion in 2019 to EUR 1.9 billion in 2020, EUR 1.7 billion in 2021, EUR 3.3 billion in 2022 and EUR 6.7 billion in 2023, the golden year. Intesa, Unicredit, Banco Bpm, Bper and Monte dei Paschi di Siena have collectively paid 19.936 billion in taxes to the general taxation, and if the annual accounts shine in the wake of the positive numbers at the end of June, the state coffers will also gain. The tax revenues from the major players in the banking sector could exceed 8 billion.
The Outlook
.Tax payments have seen an acceleration since 2021, and the favourable environment provided by the European Central Bank's monetary policy could continue this trend for a long time to come.
"Less risk with more revenue and profit"
.More generally, 'the face of the Italian banking sector over the last five years can be summarised as less risk with more revenue and profit,' according to Fabi. "And, while European rate policy is about to reach a crossroads in the coming months, with a reduction that could bring the cost of money below 4%, more than positive signals have come from the accounts for the first six months of 2024". The figures for the first six months of 2024 say that "between the growth in turnover and a very feeble growth in costs, Intesa Sanpaolo, Unicredit, Banco Bpm, Bper and Monte dei Paschi di Siena brought home a haul of almost 34 billion in 'turnover' and came in at a final profit of almost 1.3 billion euro: if, for some observers, it is the best half-year ever, for others it is only the overtaking of past results, but equally important and growing for years".
