On taxes and savings, Italy ends up offside for the EU. The Commission opens a double infringement procedure on the PIR (individual savings plans) and on the tax treatment of bonds. In the case of PIRs, Brussels' complaint is that the favorable tax regime discourages residents from investing in companies from other member states, limiting their opportunities to diversify investments in the EU single market. On the bond front, however, the problem raised by the EU is that custody and administration services provided by financial intermediaries established in other EU member states or in EEA countries without a permanent establishment in Italy are less attractive than equivalent services provided by Italian financial intermediaries and discourage non-resident investors from using such financial intermediaries.
Individual savings plans (Pir) allow for a tax exemption from taxation of income deriving from investments made. The main conditions are represented by the fact that at least 70 percent of the portfolio must be made up of shares and bonds issued by Italian companies and that it is necessary to maintain the investment for at least five years. The complaint raised by the EU Commission against Italy on PIRs and Slovenia on individual investment accounts is that they "constitute an unjustified restriction on the free movement of capital". In particular, Brussels accuses Italy and Slovenia that their respective favorable legislation discourages "their respective residents from investing in companies from other member states, limiting their opportunities for diversification of investments in the EU single market". And, consequently, «this constitutes, among other things, an obstacle also for non-national companies wishing to attract cross-border investments from Italy and Slovenia respectively, thus contributing to the fragmentation of the EU capital markets».
Another point on which Brussels has opened an infringement towards Italy concerns bonds. The EU Commission accuses Italy of not having adapted its legislation on the tax treatment of interest and other income deriving from Italian bonds to the rules on the freedom to provide services (Article 56 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and Article 36 of the Agreement on the European Economic Area). Under Italian tax law, interest and other income from Italian corporate and government bonds is generally subject to withholding tax. Some non-resident investors may benefit from a tax exemption. This only occurs when the bonds are deposited with a financial intermediary resident in Italy, the Italian permanent establishment of a non-resident intermediary or, in some cases, a non-resident intermediary that has appointed an Italian tax representative. These conditions make custody and administration services provided by financial intermediaries established in other EU Member States or EEA countries without a permanent establishment in Italy less attractive than equivalent services provided by Italian financial intermediaries and discourage non-resident investors from using such financial intermediaries.
As they specify from Brussels «the decision falls within the scope of the Commission's enforcement activities aimed at removing barriers in the single market in 11 priority areas, as announced in the communication “A simpler, clearer and better applied EU regulation” (COM(2026) 380 final, Annex II) and in the 2025 communication “Savings and Investment Union: a strategy to promote citizens' wealth and economic competitiveness in the EU” (COM(2025) 124 final)".
Both in the case of the PIRs and in that of the bonds, the Commission sent a letter of formal notice to Italy, which now has two months to respond and remedy the shortcomings highlighted by the Commission. In the absence of a satisfactory response, the Commission may decide to issue a reasoned opinion.
