Covid rules
Italy’s few remaining Covid-19 health measures are set to be further relaxed, if not scrapped altogether, in the new year.
Planned changes include scrapping the requirement for infected people to test negative to exit quarantine following the five-day isolation period and reducing the ‘self-surveillance’ masking period for close contacts from ten to five days.
READ ALSO: How Italy plans to scrap remaining Covid rules by New Year
The revised rules would also end the requirement for all visitors to hospitals and care homes to show a ‘green pass’ health certificate proving vaccination against Covid-19 or a recent negative test result.
The amendments have been passed by the Senate and are awaiting final approval from the lower house of parliament before New Year’s Eve.
Italy’s 2023 budget
Italy’s budget law for 2023 is also yet to be finalised. The government continues to debate amendments though the final text must be ready by the end of the year.
Key measures include raising the salary ceiling for freelancers who can benefit from a 15 percent tax rate from €65,000 to €85,000; limiting unemployment payments to seven months; and slighting reducing the retirement age.
READ ALSO: EU approves Italy’s 2023 budget despite tax evasion concerns
The government wanted to scrap a requirement for businesses to accept card payments for transactions worth less than €60, but this plan has since been scrapped.
You can read more on the budget and what it means for you here – bear in mind the plans are still subject to change.
Economy expectations
It’s not a cheerful picture as we enter 2023, as Italy’s economy is expected to slow down significantly. Italy’s national statistics agency Istat predicts 0.4 percent GDP growth for the year, down from 3.9 percent in 2022.
Credit ratings agency Fitch meanwhile predicts GDP growth of -0.1 percent for Italy – though this was revised up from a previous forecast of -0.7 percent.
Domestic demand is expected to be the driving force behind the economy, with foreign demand providing a net negative contribution.
A slight growth in Italy’s employment rate of 0.5 percent is foreseen for 2023, down from 4.3 percent in 2022.
Inflation is also expected to slow down over the coming year – though the timing and speed of the deceleration is still uncertain.
Property prices
Italy’s property market grew in 2021 and 2022 after years of stagnation. But with soaring inflation and a worsening cost of living crisis, will this trend continue in 2023?
Italy’s housing market is expected to experience modest growth next year, albeit at a slower rate than in 2022, according to forecasts including the most recent one from research institute Scenari Immobiliari.
Factors putting the brakes on growth include the soaring cost of living eroding households’ purchasing power, rising mortgage interest rates, and a shrinking economy.
And some financial aid measures introduced under previous governments to promote home ownership – such as a bonus for first-time buyers under the age of 36 – will come to an end by the start of next year.
Read more about the predictions for Italy’s property market in 2023 HERE.
Building ‘superbonus’
Italy’s popular ‘superbonus 110’, which offers homeowners the chance to claim a tax deduction of up to 110 percent of the cost of renovation work, has been extended into 2023 – albeit in a reduced form.
READ ALSO: Who can claim Italy’s building superbonus in 2023?
Under plans outlined by the government, from January the maximum available rebate will drop from 110 to 90 percent, and the scheme will exclude many of those who were previously eligible to claim.
You can read more about the precise changes planned for the bonus HERE.
Italy also has a number of other ‘bonuses’ and tax breaks available for everything from solar panels to new furniture, but until the 2023 budget is finalised it won’t be known exactly which of these funds will still be available to claim next year, or under which terms.
Energy crisis
In response to the soaring cost of energy due to the knock-on effect of the war in Ukraine, the Italian government has provided energy discounts which, according to the current draft budget, it plans to extend into the next year.
These measures are primarily aimed at helping businesses and families on especially low incomes, meaning the majority of households will not be eligible for help with rising bills.
The new budget is expected to provide energy aid measures for families with an ISEE of up to 15,000 euros, with funds available until the end of at least March 2023.
Gas bills in Italy have risen by 93 percent over the past two years, according to consumer group Assoutenti. Photo by Ida Marie ODGAARD / Ritzau SCANPIX / AFP
Meanwhile, it’s not yet known exactly what will happen with electricity and gas prices from January.
For Italian energy customers it will depend on several factors, mainly the wholesale cost of raw materials used for energy production, which remain high at the moment.
READ ALSO: Heating homes: What are Italy’s rules on using fires and wood-burners?
There’s also the European Commission’s proposed EU-wide limit on the price of gas, which is likely to be set at between 200 and 220 euros per megawatt hour, significantly lower than the August record (which exceeded 300 euros per mw/h) but higher than current market rate (around 130 euros per mw/h).
This price cap has yet to be agreed between member states at the time of writing, but if finalised by early 2023 such a measure could protect some households’ bills if prices soar again.
Meanwhile, electricity prices for some customers in Italy on a fixed-rate tariff will depend on rates set by Italy’s energy price regulator, Arera.
By the beginning of January, Arera is expected to announced its latest changes in rates for electricity (covering the first quarter of 2023) and the new price of gas (for the current month of December)
The update is expected to bring a slight drop in the price of electricity, which currently exceeds 50 cents per kw/h for fixed-rate customers.
Driving licence extension for British residents?
At the moment there’s still no news on the situation for Italy’s British residents regarding the recognition of driving licences in 2023.
Unless an agreement is reached or the current grace period is extended, British driving licence holders who are resident in Italy face the prospect of no longer being able to legally drive on Italian roads from December 31st, 2022 under post-Brexit changes.
READ ALSO: Who needs to exchange their driving licence for an Italian one?
UK driving licence holders in Italy are holding out for a deal to be reached before New Year or, more likely, another eleventh-hour extension to the grace period around Christmastime.
Read our most recent update on the situation HERE. The Local will continue to publish any news on this issue in our Brexit-related news section here.
Photo by Vincenzo PINTO / AFP
Public holidays
Italy gets a good number of public holidays, but they sometimes fall on a weekend.
This means Italy can have ‘good’ holiday years, with more opportunities for long weekends, and ‘bad’ ones, with few extra days off work (at least, if you work Monday to Friday).
While 2022 wasn’t a particularly good year in this respect, as four public holidays fell on a weekend, 2023 has a few more opportunities for breaks throughout the year..
Here are the dates to plan for next year.
EU travel dates to watch out for
Finally, there are two bits of EU travel news to keep in mind next year.
Firstly, from May 2023 border controls will be implemented in May 2023 in the EEA countries (EU plus Norway and Iceland), which could cause issues for non-EU citizens visiting the EEA countries.
The EES (‘Entry and Exit System’) means automated passport scans at EU external borders, which will increase security and tighten up controls of the 90-day rule – you can find a full explanation of how they work HERE.
The European Commission told The Local that EES does not apply for non-EU citizens who are living in Italy, meaning residents should not use the automated gates but should go to a manned gate and present their passport and residency papers together.
And EU-wide rules on Covid travel certificates are due to expire on June 30th, unless they’re extended. More on Covid travel certificates here.
READ ALSO: What the EU’s new EES system means for travel to Italy
So, there’s clearly a lot to keep an eye on in 2023. We’ll be following the latest updates on all of these topics and more at The Local over the next year, and as always please get in touch if you have any questions about issues affecting your life in Italy.