For a long time, Italy had no clear crypto regulations. However, this situation has changed, and now this is one of the jurisdictions where Binance and many other exchanges got the regulator’s approval.
Full overview of crypto regulation and relocation options in Eastern Carribean countries - Grenada, Dominica, St.Kitts, Antigua.
Asia and Africa are the most perspective crypto markets by amount of users, and we review crypto legislation in key countries in these regions.
SWOT analysis for new digital nomad visas (Italy, South Africa, Turkey)
For a long time, Italy had no clear crypto regulations. However, this situation has changed, and now this is one of the jurisdictions where Binance and many other exchanges got the regulator’s approval.
According to our rating, Italy is a Safe place at the security level. Jurisdiction has 52.7 points (from 100) for safety level in Numbeo crime rating (1). The homicide level (2) is 0.5 per 100,000 inhabitants a year. Story of firearm-related death (3) 1.13 per 100,000 inhabitants a year.
The activities regulated by the new AML and tax legislation include transferring crypto assets and payments.
Below is a summary table relating to the tax treatment of some transactions with crypto-assets:
Operation | Tax regime |
Exchange between virtual currencies | Exempt |
Using a crypto-asset to purchase a good or service | Taxed |
Using virtual currency to buy an NFT | Taxed |
Converting a virtual currency into Euros or other FIAT currencies | Taxed |
There needs to be a precise regulation for crypto salaries in Italy.
In Italy, cryptocurrencies and other digital assets are considered financial instruments and fall under the supervision of the Bank of Italy. All VASPs must be registered by The Organismo Agenti e Mediatori (OAM) (4), a supervisory body in Italy that maintains lists of financial agents like credit mediators and money changers operating in the country.
Italian anti-money laundering law (Legislative Decree no. 231 ) defines "virtual currency" as "providers of services relating to the use of virtual currency" and "providers of digital wallet services.” For more details, see the Thomson Reuters guide (5).
The Decree of the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) of January 13, 2022, published in the Official Gazette no. 40 of 17-02-2022 (6). There is a summary of this decree by Scorechain (7), which defines two types of licensed crypto entities:
Digital wallet service providers: any natural person or entity other than a natural person who provides on a professional basis, including online, services for safeguarding private cryptographic keys on behalf of its clients, for the purpose of holding, storing, and transferring virtual currencies;
Virtual currency service provider: any natural person or entity other than a natural person who provides on a professional basis, including online, services related to the use, exchange, storage of virtual currency and their conversion from or into legal tender or digital representations of value, including those convertible into other virtual currencies as well as the services of issuing, offering, transfer and clearing services, and any other services related to the acquisition, trading or interchange of such currencies;
The list of OAM-registered crypto companies (8) includes more than 73 legal entities like Binance, Coinbase, and Blockchain.com.
Tax name | Index |
PIT tax Min | 23 |
PIT tax Max | 43 |
Corporate tax (CIT) | 24 |
Min Individual CGT (for crypto) | 26 |
Max Individual CGT (for crypto) | 26 |
Wealth tax Min | 0 |
Wealth tax Max | 0 |
Italy's current crypto taxation review is based on the Koinly tax guide (9).
Previously, it was a tax exemption of €51,645.69. Now this rule is canceled and PIT according to PWC (10) has 23-43% tax rate.
This tax is applied as 26% on any crypto gains estimated to be more than 2,000 EUR
The same approach as foreign currency transactions for corporate crypto income. The general tax rate is 24%.
1)Crime Index by Country 2023 Mid-Year
2)List of countries by intentional homicide rate
3)List of countries by firearm-related death rate
4)The Organismo Agenti e Mediatori (OAM)
6)Official Gazette no. 40 of 17-02-2022. PDF-file
7)Binance regulated in Italy: what is the state of crypto regulation? Article
8)List of OAM-registered crypto companies
9)Koinly tax guide. Italy Crypto Tax Guide 2023. Article