Italy’s year-old Digital Nomad Visa may soon be matched by a tailor-made fiscal incentive. On 22 November the specialist outlet Investment Migration Insider reported that legislators are examining an amendment to the 2026 Budget Law that would create a “Digital Nomad Tax Bonus”.
The proposal comes only ten months after Italy tightened its flagship Impatriati regime, a move that inadvertently excluded many location-independent professionals who lacked a recent three-year period of tax residence abroad or a recognised university degree. By carving out a parallel incentive, the government signals that it wants to stay competitive in a European market where Portugal, Spain and Croatia already combine remote-worker visas with favourable tax rules.
![Italy Weighs Dedicated Tax Break to Complement the Digital Nomad Visa]()
Although the technical parameters have not yet been released, officials have hinted at a multi-year partial exemption on employment and freelance income earned while the holder resides in Italy. Eligibility is expected to mirror the Digital Nomad Visa (minimum income about €28,000, private health cover and proof of remote work) but could dispense with the Impatriati degree requirement and the obligation to spend most working days on Italian soil.
For employers, the measure would remove a mismatch that currently forces globally mobile staff to choose between immigration convenience (the visa) and tax efficiency (the Impatriati regime). Multinationals running “work-from-anywhere” policies should therefore start mapping payroll scenarios and shadow-payroll obligations in anticipation of the final text, likely to surface during parliamentary budget debates in December. If enacted, the tax bonus would apply from 1 January 2026 and could spur a new wave of talent relocations to Italy’s second-tier cities and under-populated regions.
Advisers caution that social-security coordination and permanent-establishment risk remain open questions. Until guidelines are issued, remote workers should assume they will enter the Italian social-security system once they spend more than 183 days in the country and that foreign employers may need to register locally for withholding purposes.
The proposal comes only ten months after Italy tightened its flagship Impatriati regime, a move that inadvertently excluded many location-independent professionals who lacked a recent three-year period of tax residence abroad or a recognised university degree. By carving out a parallel incentive, the government signals that it wants to stay competitive in a European market where Portugal, Spain and Croatia already combine remote-worker visas with favourable tax rules.
Although the technical parameters have not yet been released, officials have hinted at a multi-year partial exemption on employment and freelance income earned while the holder resides in Italy. Eligibility is expected to mirror the Digital Nomad Visa (minimum income about €28,000, private health cover and proof of remote work) but could dispense with the Impatriati degree requirement and the obligation to spend most working days on Italian soil.
For employers, the measure would remove a mismatch that currently forces globally mobile staff to choose between immigration convenience (the visa) and tax efficiency (the Impatriati regime). Multinationals running “work-from-anywhere” policies should therefore start mapping payroll scenarios and shadow-payroll obligations in anticipation of the final text, likely to surface during parliamentary budget debates in December. If enacted, the tax bonus would apply from 1 January 2026 and could spur a new wave of talent relocations to Italy’s second-tier cities and under-populated regions.
Advisers caution that social-security coordination and permanent-establishment risk remain open questions. Until guidelines are issued, remote workers should assume they will enter the Italian social-security system once they spend more than 183 days in the country and that foreign employers may need to register locally for withholding purposes.
