Italy weighs one-off levy to bring private gold holdings into formal economy

Italy is contemplating a one-off levy for households to declare gold held off the books, an modification to the 2026 finances legislation confirmed, in a transfer that would probably yield the state greater than 2 billion euros ($2.3 billion).

The proposal would permit people to pay a 12.5% tax to certify the market worth of bullion, gold jewelry, and collectible cash for which buy information are lacking, the identical charge as on authorities bonds. The certification has to be completed by June 2026.

Under present guidelines, the dearth of proof of buy can lead to a 26% tax on your complete sale worth, moderately than simply the precise capital achieve.
This has discouraged folks from promoting their inherited gold on the official market and pushed some transactions into casual or undeclared channels, limiting market liquidity and tax revenues, lawmakers from the co-ruling League and Forza Italia get together stated.

Some estimates put privately held gold in Italy at 4,500–5,000 metric tons, price roughly 500 billion euros at present costs.
Italy’s community of “Compro Oro” outlets — companies that purchase and promote gold — has seen a pointy rise in exercise as costs hit document highs. Sales of used gold jumped by round 25% in 2025, with greater than 1.2 million transactions per 30 days, pushed by households cashing in previous jewelry and cash, in accordance to Metropolitan Magazine, an Italian publication.

Under the proposed measure, taxpayers opting in would declare their holdings at market worth, pay the substitute tax in a single or three annual instalments, and acquire a stepped-up fiscal worth foundation for future gross sales. The course of could be overseen by authorised intermediaries and advisers, with strict anti–money-laundering checks.

Supporters say the measure may generate vital one-off revenues for the Treasury, whereas bettering transparency in a market lengthy characterised by opaque holdings and casual household transfers. Based on an assumption that 10% of privately held funding gold is licensed, the draft estimates extra income of up to 2.08 billion euros.

The proposal additionally seeks to encourage the “legal circulation” of gold by eradicating what stakeholders see as a punitive regime for people unable to doc purchases made years—or generations—in the past. The modification nonetheless wants to clear parliamentary scrutiny and authorities vetting.