(Alliance News) - To finance the budget, the government is considering doubling the Tobin Tax, a measure that has historically been unpopular with the markets.
As Milano Finanza points out, introduced in 2013, it affects purchases of shares in companies with registered offices in Italy and a market capitalization of more than EUR 500 million.
The proposal provides for a doubling of the rates: from 0.1% to 0.2% for listed securities, from 0.2% to 0.4% for unregulated securities, and from 0.02% to 0.04% for high-frequency trading, excluding intraday transactions.
The tax is easily collected, but the revenue is uncertain: in 2024, the maximum collection was EUR 546 million, far from the initially estimated EUR 1 billion per year. During the same period, trading volumes on the Italian stock exchange fell by about 40%, unlike markets such as Switzerland, the UK, and Northern Europe.
The risk is that doubling the tax will further penalize liquidity, just as the government is aiming to strengthen the capital market.
The most affected would be large blue chips, including many state-owned companies such as Enel, Eni, Poste, TIM, and Leonardo, with the possible disengagement of foreign investors.
According to Ambromobiliare, without the Tobin Tax, the state would have collected twice as much, while the tax has had an overall negative effect on volumes, intermediaries, and indirect tax revenue.
The doubling would increase the risk of relocation of registered offices to countries such as the Netherlands and would mainly affect institutional investors and high-turnover strategies, while the impact on small savers would be more limited but noticeable, for example on accumulation plans.
Overall, this measure is less controversial than increasing taxes on returns but has potentially distorting effects on the competitiveness of the Italian stock exchange.
By Giuseppe Fabio Ciccomascolo, Alliance News senior reporter
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