In order to help businesses and individuals dealing with the energy shortage, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's 2023 stimulative budget includes 21 billion euros ($22.3 billion) in tax reductions. The proposal was finalized in a rush before the end of the year.
The 387-page budget legitimizes crypto assets in Italy, where they are still mostly uncontrolled, by describing them as a digital representation of value or rights, which may be exchanged and held electronically, using the technology of distributed ledger or comparable technologies.
Prior to the adoption of the Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) law, which guarantees a licensing structure and necessary companies' criteria for crypto-service operators in the 27-member bloc, Italy decided to impose a capital-gains tax on cryptocurrency.
If gains from cryptocurrency trading reach 2,000 euros per tax period, they are subject to a 26% rate. The new legislation also establishes an alternate income tax for investors, set at 14% of the value of the securities held as of January 1, 2023, rather than the cost at the point of acquisition, as an incentive for disclosing cryptocurrency earnings.