Crypto taxation in Italy: 33% substitute tax in 2026

01An imposta sostitutiva regime

Capital gains on the disposal of crypto-assets fall, for an individual, under redditi diversi (miscellaneous income, article 67 of the TUIR) and are subject to an imposta sostitutiva (substitute tax) at a fixed rate, rather than the progressive income tax scale.

02The rate: 33% since 1 January 2026

The 2026 budget law (Legge n° 199 of 30 December 2025, article 1, paragraphs 28 to 31) raised the substitute tax rate from 26% to 33% for capital gains realised from 1 January 2026, whether they come from disposal for legal tender, exchange, or use of crypto-assets. This is, of the four regimes reviewed by Uncrypt to date, the highest headline rate.

One exception exists: euro-denominated electronic money tokens (MiCA-compliant "electronic money tokens", backed by reserves entirely in euros) remain taxed at 26%, the rate that applied to all crypto-assets until 2025.

03The 2,000 € exemption threshold is gone

Until 2025, annual capital gains below 2,000 € were exempt from tax. The 2026 budget law removed this threshold: every capital gain, even of just a few euros, is now taxable from the first euro.

04What triggers tax

Converting to euros or any other legal tender is always a taxable operation. Exchanges between crypto-assets with equivalent characteristics and functions remain fiscally neutral, however, a nuance close to the French regime but narrower in scope: Italian doctrine reasons asset by asset rather than applying a general principle of non-taxation for crypto-to-crypto swaps.

05An extra layer: the imposta sulle cripto-attività

Beyond the tax on capital gains, Italy applies an annual wealth-style levy on the value of crypto-assets held as of 31 December: 2 per mille (0.2%) of the total value, regardless of the year's outcome (gain, loss, or no movement at all). This levy, introduced by decree-law 73/2023 to replace IVAFE for crypto-assets, does not apply below a due amount of 12 €. It is the only one of the four regimes reviewed by Uncrypt to tax mere holding, independently of any disposal.

If the crypto-assets are held exclusively through an Italian intermediary registered with the OAM (Organismo Agenti e Mediatori), that intermediary withholds the corresponding imposta di bollo directly; for an account held abroad, including on a platform licensed under MiCA in another EU member state, the tax remains due and must be self-declared.

06Filing: quadro RW and F24 code 1715

Crypto-asset holdings, whether held in Italy or abroad, are declared in the quadro RW (or quadro W depending on the form) of the income tax return (modello Redditi or 730), which also serves to calculate the imposta sulle cripto-attività due. The substitute tax on capital gains is paid separately via form F24, under tax code 1715.