Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni won a 113-70 confidence vote in the Senate on 23 December, moving Italy’s 2026 budget a step closer to enactment before year-end. While headlines focused on deficit reduction, global-mobility teams should zero in on two measures that will directly affect assignees and employers: a two-point hike in the regional IRAP corporate tax and the doubling of the Tobin tax on equity transactions.
IRAP is often charged back to foreign parent companies that second staff to Italian subsidiaries, meaning the increase could lift assignment on-costs for professional-services firms and manufacturers with large posted-worker populations. Meanwhile, a higher Tobin tax will raise the cost of share-based compensation plans, prompting some multinationals to rethink equity awards for Italy-bound executives.
For organisations navigating both these fiscal shifts and Italy’s complex immigration procedures, VisaHQ can serve as a one-stop partner. The company’s dedicated Italy portal (https://www.visahq.com/italy/) streamlines work-permit filings, business-visa applications and residence-permit renewals, giving HR teams real-time visibility into case status and easing the administrative burden that often follows legislative change.
![Italian Senate approves 2026 budget—tax changes to hit expatriate payroll costs]()
The budget also maintains reductions in income-tax brackets for low- and middle-earners, partially offsetting higher social-security ceilings due in 2026. Employers should run gross-to-net simulations to recalibrate cost-of-living and tax-equalisation allowances before issuing new contracts in the first quarter.
Although the bill contains no fresh immigration quotas—those are set by the October DPCM on 2026-28 flows—it allocates €150 million to digitise work-permit processing and to expand biometric enrolment stations at prefectures, a move welcomed by relocation providers struggling with appointment backlogs.
Final passage in the lower house is expected by 31 December; mobility stakeholders should watch for last-minute amendments that could tweak the “impatriate” tax break or extend incentives for southern-Italy postings.
IRAP is often charged back to foreign parent companies that second staff to Italian subsidiaries, meaning the increase could lift assignment on-costs for professional-services firms and manufacturers with large posted-worker populations. Meanwhile, a higher Tobin tax will raise the cost of share-based compensation plans, prompting some multinationals to rethink equity awards for Italy-bound executives.
For organisations navigating both these fiscal shifts and Italy’s complex immigration procedures, VisaHQ can serve as a one-stop partner. The company’s dedicated Italy portal (https://www.visahq.com/italy/) streamlines work-permit filings, business-visa applications and residence-permit renewals, giving HR teams real-time visibility into case status and easing the administrative burden that often follows legislative change.
The budget also maintains reductions in income-tax brackets for low- and middle-earners, partially offsetting higher social-security ceilings due in 2026. Employers should run gross-to-net simulations to recalibrate cost-of-living and tax-equalisation allowances before issuing new contracts in the first quarter.
Although the bill contains no fresh immigration quotas—those are set by the October DPCM on 2026-28 flows—it allocates €150 million to digitise work-permit processing and to expand biometric enrolment stations at prefectures, a move welcomed by relocation providers struggling with appointment backlogs.
Final passage in the lower house is expected by 31 December; mobility stakeholders should watch for last-minute amendments that could tweak the “impatriate” tax break or extend incentives for southern-Italy postings.
