Frequently asked questions: Money and savings

Every Italian bank must belong to a recognised deposit guarantee scheme. For most banks this is the FITD (Fondo Interbancario di Tutela dei Depositi); cooperative credit banks (banche di credito cooperativo) belong to the FGD (Fondo di Garanzia dei Depositanti del Credito Cooperativo). If a bank is placed in compulsory administrative liquidation (liquidazione coatta amministrativa) or the Banca d’Italia determines that it is unable to repay its deposits, the fund reimburses your deposits up to €100,000 per depositor and per bank, as a rule within seven working days (within six months for deposits on which there have been no transactions in the last 24 months). In the special cases of temporarily higher protection listed below, you also receive the first €100,000 within seven working days; only the part above that is paid within six months – for the FITD, according to the FITD and the Banca d’Italia, only if you apply for it to the bank’s liquidators within 60 days of the date on which the compulsory administrative liquidation takes effect. The limit applies separately to each bank: balances at different banks are each protected up to €100,000; anything above that amount at one bank is not reimbursed by the fund.

Protected are balances in current accounts and deposit accounts (including fixed-term ones), savings passbooks (libretti di risparmio), certificates of deposit (certificati di deposito), bank drafts (assegni circolari) and prepaid cards with an IBAN, provided they are issued by a bank. Not protected are shares and bonds issued by the bank itself, repurchase agreements (pronti contro termine), money invested in other financial products and the contents of safe-deposit boxes. By law, securities that the bank holds for you in a custody account form assets separate from those of the bank; the bank’s creditors cannot access them. This does not, however, protect you against falls in market prices. Postal savings passbooks (libretti di risparmio postale) and postal savings bonds (buoni fruttiferi postali) are not covered by such a fund; according to the Banca d’Italia, they are backed by a state guarantee.

For joint accounts, according to the Banca d’Italia, the balance is attributed to the joint holders in equal shares; each holder’s share counts towards their own €100,000 limit. Temporarily higher protection: for deposits of natural persons, the €100,000 limit does not apply for nine months after the money is credited if it comes from the purchase or sale of a home (more precisely: from the transfer or creation of a right in rem over residential property), from divorce, retirement, termination of employment, invalidity or death, or from insurance benefits, damages or compensation for harm caused by crimes against the person or for wrongful detention.

Deposits with cooperative credit banks (banche di credito cooperativo, e.g. the Raiffeisen banks) are protected by the deposit guarantee fund of the cooperative banks (FGD) – with the same limits of €100,000 per depositor and per bank. For cooperative credit banks with their registered office in the provinces of Bolzano and Trento, the Consolidated Banking Act also allows them to set up an institutional protection scheme (sistema di tutela istituzionale) instead of forming a cooperative banking group (Art. 37-bis(1-bis) TUB). Which deposit guarantee scheme your bank belongs to is stated in the depositor information template, which the bank must give you.

Sources: D.Lgs. 385/1993 (TUB), art. 96-bis.1 (normattiva) · D.Lgs. 385/1993 (TUB), art. 96-bis.2 (normattiva) · D.Lgs. 385/1993 (TUB), art. 37-bis, c. 1-bis (normattiva) · D.Lgs. 58/1998 (TUF), art. 22 (normattiva) · Banca d’Italia – Il Fondo interbancario di tutela dei depositi · Banca d’Italia – La tutela dei depositi in 5 domande (17.3.2023) · FITD – FAQ

Interest, dividends and other investment income, as well as capital gains on securities (plusvalenze), are generally subject to a 26% substitute tax (imposta sostitutiva, or a withholding tax at the same rate, ritenuta). For private investors, this applies to dividends and capital gains on shares regardless of whether the shareholding is qualifying or not. Exception: gains and other income from crypto-assets realised since 1 January 2026 are taxed at 33% (euro-denominated e-money tokens remain at 26%). On interest on your current account or savings account, the bank withholds the 26% directly; you do not report this income in your tax return. By contrast, you must report foreign income received without the involvement of an Italian bank or intermediary (e.g. into an account abroad) in your tax return yourself. Accounts, custody accounts and other financial assets abroad must, as a rule, also be reported in Quadro RW of your tax return; instead of Italian stamp duty, you pay IVAFE on them yourself (see the question on stamp duty on accounts and custody accounts).

For Italian government bonds (e.g. BOT, BTP) and equivalent securities, as well as for bonds issued by states on the so-called “white list” (states with an adequate exchange of information with Italy) and by their regional and local authorities, the reduced rate of 12.5% applies – both to interest and to gains on sale or redemption.

For securities in your custody account there are two options (for discretionary portfolio management, gestione patrimoniale, the risparmio gestito regime applies instead): under the administered savings regime (risparmio amministrato), which you choose in writing at your bank, the bank calculates and pays the substitute tax on each individual gain and offsets losses within the same custody account; the choice applies for the whole year and can be revoked by the end of each year with effect from the following year. Without this choice (regime dichiarativo), you report gains and losses in your tax return yourself and pay the substitute tax yourself.

Losses (minusvalenze) can only be offset against capital gains and other “miscellaneous” financial income (redditi diversi), not against interest, dividends or gains on investment fund and ETF units (these count as investment income, redditi di capitale) – and at most up to the fourth following tax year. Under the regime dichiarativo, the losses must be reported for this purpose in the tax return for the year in which they arose. Crypto-assets form a separate category: losses on them can only be offset against gains on crypto-assets, and vice versa (Art. 68(5) and (9-bis) TUIR).

Until 31 December 2026, the legal basis is mainly the TUIR (D.P.R. 917/1986), Arts. 5 to 7 of D.Lgs. 461/1997, Arts. 26 and 27 of D.P.R. 600/1973 and Art. 1(24) of the 2025 Budget Law (L. 207/2024). These provisions are repealed with effect from 1 January 2027; the rules will then be found in the new consolidated act on income taxes (D.Lgs. 117/2026) and, for withholding tax on investment income, in the consolidated act on payments and collection (D.Lgs. 33/2025).

Sources: D.L. 66/2014, art. 3 (normattiva) · Agenzia delle Entrate – Circolare 19/E del 27.6.2014 · D.P.R. 600/1973, art. 26, c. 2 (normattiva) · D.P.R. 600/1973, art. 27, c. 1 (normattiva) · Legge 205/2017, art. 1, c. 999–1006 (normattiva) · Legge 207/2024, art. 1, c. 24 (modificato dalla Legge 199/2025, art. 1, c. 28) (normattiva) · D.Lgs. 461/1997, art. 6 (normattiva) · D.Lgs. 461/1997, art. 7 (normattiva) · D.P.R. 917/1986 (TUIR), art. 44 (normattiva) · D.P.R. 917/1986 (TUIR), art. 68 (normattiva) · Agenzia delle Entrate – Istruzioni Redditi PF 2026, Fascicolo 2 (quadri RL, RT e RW) · D.L. 201/2011, art. 19, c. 18–22 (IVAFE) (normattiva) · D.Lgs. 117/2026 (Testo unico delle imposte sui redditi, applicabile dal 1.1.2027), artt. 376 e 377 (normattiva) · D.Lgs. 33/2025 (Testo unico in materia di versamenti e di riscossione) (normattiva)

On current accounts and savings passbooks (libretto di risparmio), stamp duty for individuals (persone fisiche) is €34.20 per year. It is not due if the average balance (giacenza media) of all current accounts and savings passbooks held in exactly the same names at the same bank does not exceed €5,000 in total in the relevant reporting period. If you receive statements several times a year, the duty is calculated pro rata for each period (e.g. one quarter each time for quarterly statements). It is also due if no statement is sent. For customers who are not individuals (e.g. companies), it is €118 per year (increased from €100 to €118 by D.L. 38/2026 for statements and reports issued from its entry into force on 28.03.2026).

On financial products in a custody account – e.g. shares, bonds, fund units, postal savings bonds (buoni fruttiferi postali) and crypto-assets – as well as on certificates of deposit and, depending on the contract, money held in savings deposit accounts (depositi, even if represented by certificates), it is 0.2% per year (2 per mille) of the market value or, failing that, of the nominal or redemption value. It is also calculated pro rata for the reporting period and is due at least once a year or when the account is closed. There is no maximum for individuals; for other customers, the maximum is €14,000 per year. Postal savings bonds with a total redemption value of no more than €5,000 are exempt, as are statements from pension funds, pan-European personal pension products (PEPP) and health funds.

Accounts and custody accounts abroad: here, instead of stamp duty, IVAFE applies, which you calculate and pay yourself through your tax return (Quadro RW): 0.2% per year on financial products (0.4% in states or territories with a preferential tax regime), and for current accounts and savings passbooks a fixed amount equal to stamp duty, i.e. €34.20 per year for individuals (according to the Agenzia delle Entrate not due if the average balance does not exceed €5,000) – in each case in proportion to the share held and the holding period.

Until 31 December 2026, the legal basis is Art. 13 of the Tariff annexed to D.P.R. 642/1972. This article is repealed with effect from 1 January 2027; the rules will then be found in the new consolidated act on registration tax and other indirect taxes (D.Lgs. 123/2025, Annex 3), which likewise sets the amount for non-individuals at €118.

Sources: D.P.R. 642/1972, Tariffa parte I, art. 13, c. 2-bis e 2-ter (normattiva) · D.L. 38/2026, art. 12 (normattiva) · D.Lgs. 123/2025 (Testo unico registro e altri tributi indiretti), art. 205 e Allegato 3 (normattiva) · Agenzia delle Entrate – Circolare 48/E del 21.12.2012 · D.L. 201/2011, art. 19, c. 18–22 (IVAFE) (normattiva) · Agenzia delle Entrate – Istruzioni Redditi PF 2026, Fascicolo 2 (quadro RW)

The ISEE (Indicatore della Situazione Economica Equivalente – equivalent economic situation indicator) is the national instrument used to assess, according to uniform criteria, the economic situation of people applying for subsidised social benefits. It is calculated for the whole family unit (nucleo familiare): income plus 20% of assets (property and financial assets, after deduction of exempt amounts (franchigie)), divided by a factor that depends on the composition of the family (scala di equivalenza).

It is based on the DSU (Dichiarazione Sostitutiva Unica – single self-declaration). You can submit it yourself online to INPS – including in pre-filled form (precompilata) – or at a CAF (tax assistance centre), at your municipality or at the body providing the benefit. The DSU is valid from submission until 31 December of the same year. The ISEE is needed, for example, for the single universal child allowance (assegno unico; without an ISEE you only receive the minimum amount), for university study support (diritto allo studio universitario, with its own calculation rules) and for many other subsidised benefits.

Recent changes: for DSUs submitted since 3 April 2025, Italian government bonds, postal savings bonds (buoni fruttiferi postali) and postal savings passbooks are not counted as assets up to a total of €50,000 per family. Since 1 January 2026, a more favourable calculation has applied to the Assegno di inclusione, the Supporto per la formazione e il lavoro, the single universal child allowance, the nursery bonus (bonus asilo nido) and the bonus for newborns: the value of the home you own and live in (net of any outstanding mortgage) is disregarded up to €91,500 (up to €120,000 in the capital municipalities of metropolitan cities; in each case plus €2,500 for each child living in the household after the first), and any amount above this counts at two thirds; in addition, the equivalence-scale increases (maggiorazioni) for families with two or more children are higher. For these benefits, INPS uses a separate ISEE value (ISEE per prestazioni familiari e per l’inclusione).

Not to be confused with South Tyrol’s EEVE: it is the basis for many provincial benefits (see the question on the EEVE). Which of the two declarations you need depends on the benefit in question.

Sources: DPCM 159/2013, artt. 2, 8 e 10 (normattiva) · DPCM 159/2013, art. 5, con nota di aggiornamento sulle soglie per la casa di abitazione (Legge 199/2025, art. 1, c. 208) (normattiva) · INPS – ISEE e DSU: nuove regole dal 3 aprile 2025 · Ministero del Lavoro – FAQ ISEE 2025 (esclusione titoli di Stato) · Legge 199/2025, art. 1, c. 208 (normattiva) · INPS – Circolare n. 7 del 30.1.2026 (ISEE per prestazioni familiari e per l’inclusione) · Autonomous Province of Bolzano/South Tyrol – Unified Income and Asset Declaration (EEVE)