Capital gains tax in Italy: how much you really pay in 2026 (and how to pay less)

Last reviewed: November 2026 · Reviewed by Stéphane Gombauld, tax expert, technologist and digital nomad

You hold shares, ETFs, crypto or a flat, and Italy is (or will be) your tax home. By the end of this guide you will know the exact rate for each asset, which gains are exempt, how losses work, and what changes if you are not resident.

Italy capital gains tax in 2026: the key figures

Is this guide for you?

Read on if you…

• live in Italy, or plan to, and hold investments or crypto;
• are selling a property in Italy and want to know if the gain is taxed;
• are a non-resident wondering whether Italy taxes your Italian shares or flat.

Probably not your case if you…

• sell assets through a company. Read corporate income taxes in Italy instead;
• only want the crypto rules in detail. Cryptocurrency taxes in Italy covers them.

How much tax do you pay on shares, funds and bonds in Italy?

Italy does not add investment gains to your salary. Instead, gains on financial assets are redditi diversi di natura finanziaria (financial "other income"). They are taxed at a flat 26% substitute tax under Legislative Decree 461/1997. The ordinary IRPEF brackets of 23% to 43% do not apply.

The 26% covers shares and ETFs (Italian or foreign), corporate bonds, certificates, fund units, derivatives and forex. Qualified holdings also sit at 26% since 2019.

Here's the one carve-out that matters. Gains and interest on Italian government bonds (BTP, BOT, CCT) and on white-list sovereign and supranational bonds are taxed at 12.5%. A fund holding 60% BTPs gets 12.5% on that share of the gain.

How is the gain calculated?

Gain = sale price minus purchase price minus related costs (commissions, trade stamp duty). Convert both legs to euro at their own dates, so currency moves count. No holding-period discount, no inflation adjustment.

Three ways to settle the tax

1. Regime amministrato. Your Italian broker withholds 26% on each gain and offsets losses automatically. Nothing to declare.
2. Regime dichiarativo. You compute everything in the Redditi PF return (quadro RT) and pay by 30 June of the following year. Mandatory with a foreign broker.
3. Regime gestito. For discretionary portfolios: tax on the yearly result, gains and dividends netted.

Dividends are different. They are redditi di capitale, taxed at a final 26% and never offset by capital losses.

What happens with capital losses?

Losses from the sale of shares, bonds and funds can be offset against gains of the same category (financial "other income") in the same year and the four following years. Two traps:

• Losses cannot offset dividends, coupons or fund distributions. A portfolio of dividend stocks that drifts down can leave you paying 26% on income while sitting on unusable losses.
• Fund and ETF gains count as income (redditi di capitale), while fund losses count as "other income". So an ETF loss can offset a share gain, but an ETF gain cannot absorb a share loss. Many Italian investors structure around this with single stocks or certificates.

How are capital gains on property taxed in Italy?

The rule depends on how long you owned the property and what you used it for (article 67 TUIR).

• Sold within 5 years of purchase or construction: the gain is taxable. You either add it to your IRPEF income (23% to 43% plus surcharges) or ask the notary to apply a 26% substitute tax at the deed. For most people the 26% option is cheaper.
• Sold after 5 years: no tax, whatever the gain.
• Main residence: exempt even within 5 years, if you or your family lived there for most of the holding period.
• Inherited property: always exempt.
• Superbonus trap: since 2024, property renovated with the 110% Superbonus is taxable if sold within 10 years, and the subsidised works cannot be deducted from the cost base in the first 5 years.
• Building land: always taxable, no 5-year rule.

The gain is price minus purchase cost minus documented costs (notary, registration tax, renovation invoices, agent fees). Non-residents follow the same rule: Italian real estate gains are always taxed in Italy, and most tax treaties leave that right to Italy.

Do non-residents pay Italian capital gains tax?

Residents pay 26% on worldwide gains, with a foreign tax credit where a treaty applies. For non-residents the picture is narrower:

• Gains on non-qualified holdings in Italian listed companies are exempt, whoever you are.
• Gains on non-qualified holdings in unlisted Italian companies and on Italian bonds are exempt if you live in a white-list country. Portugal and Spain qualify.
• Gains on qualified holdings (over 2% of votes or 5% of capital in listed companies; 20% or 25% in unlisted) are taxable at 26%, unless a treaty gives the taxing right to your home country. Most Italian treaties do.
• Gains on Italian real estate are taxed in Italy as described above.
• Foreign shares, foreign funds and crypto held by a non-resident: outside Italy's reach.

Your status follows the tests in tax residency in Italy. There is no split year: if you are resident for 2026, every gain realised in 2026 falls under Italian rules, even one from January before you arrived.

Moving in and out: timing is the real lever

Italy has no exit tax on private shareholdings. If you leave Italy and become non-resident before selling, the gain escapes Italian tax, as long as you really moved and the 183-day test is met. Italian citizens moving to a listed low-tax jurisdiction are presumed still resident, so document the move. See ceasing your tax residency in Italy.

The reverse matters too. Italy gives no step-up on arrival. Gains that built up for years abroad are taxed in full at 26% when you sell as an Italian resident. Selling before you move, or taking the HNWI flat tax described in tax incentives for expats and digital nomads in Italy, are the two legal ways around it. Under the flat tax, foreign-source gains are covered by the lump sum, except gains on qualified holdings sold in the first five years.

How can you legally pay less?

• Hold Italian or white-list government bonds for 12.5% instead of 26%.
• Open a PIR. Invest up to EUR 40,000 a year (EUR 200,000 in total) mainly in Italian and EU companies, hold 5 years, and gains and dividends are exempt. It also escapes inheritance tax.
• Harvest losses before year-end inside the same category, and watch the 4-year expiry.
• Keep property 5 years (10 if Superbonus) or make it your main home.
• Sell before you become resident, or after you have genuinely left.
• Compare with neighbours. See capital gains tax in Portugal and taxation of capital gains in Spain.

Don't forget the holding taxes: foreign accounts and crypto trigger IVAFE at 0.2% a year and reporting in quadro W. See specific taxes in Italy.

Common mistakes (and what they cost)

• Using a foreign broker and assuming it reports for you. Nothing is withheld, so you owe 26% in the Redditi return, plus up to 70% penalties on undeclared tax if the Agenzia finds it first.
• Selling the flat in year four. A EUR 100,000 gain costs EUR 26,000 at the 26% flat rate; twelve months later it would cost zero.
• Netting ETF gains against share losses. The offset is refused and the losses sit unused, often expiring after four years.
• Arriving in Italy with large unrealised gains. No step-up means 26% on years of foreign growth. A pre-move sale or the flat-tax regime would have avoided it.
• Forgetting quadro W and IVAFE. Monitoring penalties run from 3% to 15% of the undeclared value per year, doubled for black-list countries.

Frequently asked questions

What is the capital gains tax rate in Italy in 2026?

Most financial gains of individuals are taxed at a flat 26% substitute tax: shares, bonds, funds, ETFs, derivatives and crypto. Italian and white-list government bonds are taxed at 12.5%. Property gains follow a separate rule: taxable within five years of purchase at IRPEF rates or an elective 26%, exempt afterwards. The Budget Law 2026 position on crypto should be checked before filing.

Is there a capital gains tax exemption after holding shares for a long time?

No. Unlike Germany or Belgium, Italy gives no exemption for long-held shares. Every gain is taxed at 26% whether you held the position for a month or twenty years. The only long-term exemptions are the five-year rule for real estate and the five-year PIR plan, which exempts gains on qualifying Italian and EU investments.

How is crypto taxed in Italy?

Gains from selling crypto for fiat, swapping crypto for stablecoins or spending crypto are taxed at 26%, with no de minimis threshold since 2025. Crypto-to-crypto swaps between assets with the same characteristics are not taxable events. Losses carry forward four years. You must also report holdings in quadro W and pay 0.2% IVAFE on their value. A 33% rate had been scheduled for 2026 and should be verified.

Do I pay tax when I sell my home in Italy?

Not if it was your main residence for most of the time you owned it, and never if you owned it five years or more. If you sell a second home within five years, the gain is taxed. Ask the notary to apply the 26% substitute tax at the deed; it is usually cheaper than adding the gain to your IRPEF income at up to 43%.

Are capital gains taxed if I am not an Italian tax resident?

Italy taxes non-residents on gains from Italian real estate and from qualified holdings in Italian companies, subject to treaties. Gains on non-qualified listed Italian shares are exempt for everyone, and gains on unlisted non-qualified shares are exempt for residents of white-list countries. Your foreign shares, funds and crypto are outside Italy's reach once you are genuinely non-resident.

Can I deduct capital losses from dividends in Italy?

No. Dividends and coupons are "capital income" taxed at a final 26%, while capital losses belong to "other income". The two categories never meet. Losses only reduce gains on shares, bonds, certificates or crypto, in the same year or the next four years. Plan sales so that gains and losses fall in the same category.

Related guides

• Cryptocurrency taxes in Italy: 26%, reporting and IVAFE
• Tax residency in Italy: the 183-day test and domicile rule
• Tax incentives for expats and digital nomads in Italy
• Specific taxes in Italy: IVAFE, IVIE, stamp duty and inheritance
• Capital gains tax in Portugal
• Taxation of capital gains in Spain
• Tax landscape overview of Italy
• All country tax guides

Sources

• Agenzia delle Entrate – official portal
• Normattiva – Legislative Decree 461/1997 and TUIR (Presidential Decree 917/1986)
• Gazzetta Ufficiale – Budget Law 2025 (Law 207/2024) and Budget Law 2026
• Ministry of Economy and Finance – Dipartimento delle Finanze
• PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries – Italy

This guide is general information, not personalised tax advice. See how we research and review.