Digital Services tax: Italy is ready for dialogue with the new US administration

The Italian authorities intend to start negotiations with the Trump administration to prevent possible retaliatory measures in connection with the introduction of a tax on web services in Rome. 

In 2019, Italy introduced a 3% digital tax on income from Internet transactions. The tax applies to digital companies with an annual turnover of over 750 million euros (about $786 million), provided that at least 5.5 million euros of this income is received in Italy. Recently, Washington has again called on Italy to abolish this tax, which, according to the American side, works against technology giants from the United States – Meta Platforms, Google and Amazon.

The Ministry of Finance tried to make changes by removing tax thresholds in the budget bill for 2025, but critics argued that this would harm small businesses. After discussions with the ruling Forward Italy party, the government decided to maintain the threshold of 750 million euros.

At the same time, Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti stressed that extending the Italian web tax to small companies could help avoid conflict with the United States.