2023-12-30T08:15:25+00:00
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/ The Italian government decided not to extend the tax exemption procedures that foreign players in Italian clubs benefit from.
These players benefited from a measure, which also applies to many university-educated skilled workers, which allows only half of their total income to be taxed during the first five years of their work in Italy.
In a statement, the president of the Italian Footballers’ Association, Umberto Calcagno, considered that the previous feature “punished the entire national football movement. Finally, from January 1, Italian and foreign footballers will be in the same situation, and I thank the government for that.”
Italy’s Sports Minister Andrea Abodi was in favour of extending the tax exemption for footballers, but several other members of the government opposed it, including Deputy Prime Minister and leader of the anti-immigrant League party Matteo Salvini, according to the Italian news agency AGI.
“The cuts offered to foreign footballers who earn millions are immoral, and the clubs are now investing in Italian youth,” Luca Toccalini, a member of the Italian parliament for the League party, said on Thursday.
The ANSA news agency reported that the Italian League expressed its concern about the measure, which it said would have “a result that is completely contrary to the desired result: less competitiveness for the teams, leading to less income and fewer resources for young people (…) and less income for the tax authorities.”