One of the European countries that is Italy is going to follow in the footsteps of Portugal in further strengthening the regulation of cryptocurrency and not forgetting to also increase the tax on the trading of digital assets.
Among the details contained in the provisions of Italy's 2023 budget plan is the imposition of a 26% tax on capital gains made through crypto trading.
However, the tax will only be applied once crypto profits exceed €2,000 ($2,062) while Italian authorities begin to view the digital asset as a foreign currency.
While Giorgia Meloni, who was newly appointed as the Prime Minister of Russia, not only ordered taxpayers to declare the value of their digital assets on January 1, 2023, but also to pay a 14% tax.
It is understood that the objective of the action is to further encourage Italians to disclose their respective asset holdings including their tax returns.
As a result, most Italians will be less interested in delving into or making any investments in crypto following the exorbitant taxes.
The total Italian population that owns the digital asset is only 1.3 million people which is 2.3% compared to France at 3.3% and the United Kingdom (UK) 5%.
Despite this, some crypto exchange companies such as Binance have taken the golden opportunity to establish their services in the Italian country which is considered to have potential for the future.
In fact, the companies Nexo and Gemini have received permission to offer crypto services to Italian citizens after their registration was approved by the country's regulator.
Meanwhile, Portugal announced in October 2022 that its country will impose a massive tax of 28% on digital assets that make short-term gains.
