The government of Giorgia Meloni has dealt a hard blow to Italian football by removing tax benefits for hiring foreigners. It was news greatly feared by the Italian teams, to the point that the AC Milan delegated advisor, Giorgia Furlani, had warned: “If the tax benefits guaranteed by the ‘Growth Decree’ cease, it would represent the destruction of Italian football.” The pressure on the Executive from the most important teams has not worked and, as of January 1, 2024, they will no longer enjoy advantages that have allowed them to attract and increase the number of renowned footballers in Serie A in the last years.
He ‘Growth Decree’ It was introduced in 2019, coinciding with Cristiano Ronaldo’s signing for Juventus. From then on, foreign footballers have benefited from a tax regime that reduced their tax to the public coffers by half. To do this, it was necessary that his tax residence was not in Italy in the two years prior to his hiring by a club in the country, and that the residence was maintained in the following two years. The foreign player only paid personal income tax on 50% of his salary, a tax regime that has had a notable impact on Italian football.
The main driver of the end of these advantages has been the leader of the Northern League, the populist Matteo Salvini, a great ‘tifoso’ for Milan, the team that was most attentive to the market for foreign players to reinforce its squad in January. Salvini fought in the Council of Ministers to eliminate this tax benefit: «It is immoral to give discounts to multimillionaire foreign footballers. Clubs should think about investing in youth teams and young Italian players,” Salvini said.
The leader of the League, who is very much influenced by the polls and is already in the electoral campaign for the European elections next June, knows that many Italians are against these tax benefits for clubs. For example, the Corriere della Sera, the country’s first newspaper, picks up this opinion from a ‘typho’, Antonio Mandaglio, who also considers the tax reduction for foreign footballers immoral: «Treating football clubs differently, when thousands of Italian companies pay taxes, personal income tax, salaries, without help from the Government, it is immoral.
He Minister for Sports, Andrea Abodi, in favor of extending the current tax regime for foreign athletes, attempted mediation with this argument: Repealing the ‘Growth Decree’ creates problems for a sector, Serie A football, which suffers both the effects of Covid and competition ruthless of other championships that have had or have tax advantages. To support his arguments, the Minister for Sports had the detailed report that Serie A sent to the Executive, specifying the benefits that the current football tax regime had provided so far. In particular, the document highlighted that, thanks to the ‘Growth Decree’, last season three Italian teams reached the final of the European Cups (Inter Milan in the Champions League; Roma in the Europa League, and Fiorentina in the Conference League) and that in 2023-24 there are only 50 foreign footballers subject to this regime, compared to a total of 653 players in Serie A. In short, Serie A highlighted that the tax regime has been applied in a limited way and that its disappearance will mean more 150 million in additional taxes for Italian clubs.
Surprise and worry
Faced with the Government’s measure, which “La Gazzetta dello Sport” prominently describes on its front page as a “slap in the face to football”, Serie A has reacted with “surprise and concern.” In fact, in a note he explains that the decision “will only have a result opposite to what is sought.” That is, “the non-renewal of the tax regime will produce less competitiveness of the teams, with the consequent reduction in income, less resources from the clubs for their youth teams, less activities related to football and less income for the treasury.” The League suspects that “a distorted vision of football has prevailed, which does not take into account its economic, social and cultural role.” That is why Serie A concludes its statement by expressing its “hope that Parliament can correct this error that harms not only Italian football but the entire sport.” The controversy is served: the measure was the cause of a lively discussion in the Council of Ministers and the same thing is happening in the street, as is done in Italy with football, with fans for and against, but in the end it is assumed that The Government, which has a large parliamentary majority, will not back down.
2023-12-29 16:18:46
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