The Italian government chaired by the far-right Giorgia Meloni has approved the creation of a 40% tax on windfall profits from bankslimited to the years 2022 and 2023 and that will not exceed 25% of net worth, and whose collection will be used entirely to “support the purchase of mortgages and tax cuts.”

“It is a consistent measure and it will feed tax cuts and support mortgages” because “we are not talking about a few handfuls of millions, but billions“, assured this Monday the Vice President and Minister of Transport and Infrastructure, Matteo Salvini. The new rate has been included by surprise in the last decree approved by the Executive of Giorgia Meloni before the summer holidays, since it did not appear in the published draft by the Italian media in the days prior to its approval.

According to the standard, it will be activated if the interest margin registered in 2022 “exceeds the value of the year 2021 by at least 3%“, a percentage rises to 6% if 2023 is compared with the previous year. The extraordinary tax instituted for 2023 has a rate of 40%, but the amount, in any case, may not exceed a proportion equal to 25% of the value of net assets at the end of the fiscal year preceding the one in progress on January 1, 2023.

In addition, it is not deductible for income tax and regional tax on economic activities. “It is a norm of social equality”Salvini said at the end of the Council of Ministers about the measure with which the Government hopes to raise more than 2,000 million euros to “feed” the next General Budgets, according to some media.

The minister said that “all the proceeds will go to two items: Aid for first home mortgages and tax reductions“, explaining that “the ECB rate hike has caused an increase in the cost of money for households and businesses. There hasn’t been a rise as diligent, fast and significant for consumers.”

“So in this gap there will be a 40% tax on the multi-million dollar extra profits of the banks. We are not going to go into the figures, but it is enough to look at the profits of the first half of the banks for 2023 to realize that we’re not talking about a few handfuls of millionsbut a few billion can be assumed,” he added.

Other measures were approved in the decree, such as the increase in taxi licences, the brake on the increase in the cost of flights and waiving the salary cap of 240,000 euros for the company in charge of building the Messina bridge, which will link the Italian peninsula with the island of Sicily.