ROME: Italy is the latest country to roll out the welcome mat for the international elite just as Britain is intent on pulling it away. This month Italy ushered in a new tax regime that will apply to the super-rich of all nationalities who have lived outside the country for at least nine years.
The measures exempt foreign income from Italian tax in exchange for the payment of €100,000 a year. Hundreds of people, including Italians returning home from abroad, are expected to take up the offer, according to Antonio Tomassini, a partner of law firm DLA Piper.
The tax breaks, intended to boost investment and consumption, can be used for up to 15 years. Their appeal is also enhanced by having relatively few reporting requirements concerning overseas income. Mr Tomassini said: “Wealthy people like privacy.”
To participate, candidates will be expected to buy a property and live in Italy for half the year. After a long decline in prices in Italy, housing may represent good value, he says.
The new regime is being introduced just ahead of changes to the UK’s “non-dom” regime, which gives a special status to residents whose domicile or permanent home is outside Britain. From April, non-doms living in the UK for more than 15 years will lose some of their tax privileges.
Withers, an international law firm, says Italy’s decision to create new tax perks at the same time as the UK was withdrawing them “suggests that Italy might be seeking to woo high net worth individuals looking for a new home following Brexit or deterred by the tightening of rules in the UK”.
