Italy’s 2026 budget plan introduces a new €2 levy on parcels under €150 and doubles the Tobin Tax

Italy’s government has unveiled key amendments to the 2026 budget, including a €2 charge on all parcels worth up to €150 and an immediate doubling of the Tobin Tax on financial transactions.

The new €2 levy will apply to every small parcel shipped within Italy or arriving in the country. The measure is designed to avoid conflict with EU customs rules: limiting the fee only to non-EU shipments would effectively amount to a customs duty, which falls exclusively under EU jurisdiction.

The Tobin Tax will also double starting in 2026 — from 2‰ to 4‰ on non-regulated markets and from 1‰ to 2‰ on regulated markets. Currently, the tax generates around €546 million per year. The increase is expected to provide roughly €1.5 billion in additional revenue over three years, covering around 60% of the funding required for the budget plan.

These two measures are intended to offset the cost of eliminating double taxation on dividends for companies with holdings above 5% or worth more than €500,000, thus maintaining the benefits of the participation exemption regime.

The government has also streamlined the amendment package, discarding dozens of proposals submitted by various ministries. The updated budget plan confirms changes to short-term rental taxation: the 21% rate will remain for the first property, while the second will be taxed at 26%. Rental activity will be considered a business from the third property instead of the current threshold of five.

Regarding corporate taxation, the planned 2-point IRAP increase will apply only to banks and insurance companies. These sectors will also contribute an additional €600 million over three years through tighter limits on deducting past losses. For insurers, the obligation to repay the 10-point gap between the 12.5% car insurance tax and the 2.5% personal injury coverage tax has been removed. The alignment to the higher rate will apply only to policies issued from January 1, 2026.

Funds generated from these measures will support the continuation of tax incentive compensation schemes (ZES, transition 4.0 and 5.0) through INPS and INAIL contributions, as well as the extension of the hyper-amortization regime for new investments until June 2028.

The proposed €2 parcel fee is expected to spark debate, especially given the boom in e-commerce since the pandemic. The government stresses that the measure is separate from the ongoing EU initiative to remove customs duty exemptions for low-value parcels arriving from outside the Union. That EU reform, currently under discussion, is not expected to take effect before mid-2026.