Italy’s top official calls for 5% annual levy on 10 banks

Italy’s League party is calling for a new three-year levy on the country’s 10 largest banks as part of the government’s 2027 budget plans, Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini said on August 11.

The proposal is aimed at providing additional support for Italy’s public finances and would apply only to the country’s biggest lenders, with smaller local banks excluded, Caliber.Az reports, citing British media.

“We as the League will ​ask, and I am convinced the entire ​coalition will support us, for a three-year ⁠contribution from the top 10 Italian banks,” Salvini was quoted by AGI news agency as saying during a visit to a construction site in Rome.

Salvini said that if annual profits in the banking sector came ​in at around €30 billion ($35 billion), the government should ​seek “5% a year for three years”.

His comments come as Italy’s banking sector undergoes a wave of mergers and acquisitions. The country’s two largest banks, Intesa Sanpaolo and UniCredit, reported combined first-half profits of almost €12 billion, Salvini said, implying annual earnings of more than €24 billion.

The Italian government has already turned to the financial sector for additional revenue. Under its 2026 budget, it raised up to €6 billion through a series of tax increases affecting banks, insurance companies and market transactions.

Salvini’s proposal would extend that approach, with the new levy focused specifically on Italy’s 10 largest lenders.

By Aghakazim Guliyev