Crypto-Asset taxation: aligning capital gains tax at 26% is a matter of fairness

At the General States of the Italian Parliamentary Intergroup on Digital Assets, Blockchain and Bitcoin, Ferdinando Ametrano presents the findings of the working group on taxation. According to a forthcoming survey, 55% of Italians support aligning the taxation of capital gains from crypto-assets with that of other investments.

Rome, September 24, 2026 - Bringing crypto-assets back under the ordinary rules for financial income was one of the main topics discussed today at the Italian Chamber of Deputies, during the General States of the Parliamentary Intergroup on Digital Assets, Blockchain and Bitcoin.

Ferdinando Ametrano, CEO of CheckSig - the first crypto-asset service provider authorized in Italy by CONSOB under the MiCAR regulation - took part in the event. Within the Parliamentary Intergroup, Ametrano heads the working group on Digital Asset Taxation and Tax Compliance. Taxation is an issue CheckSig has been raising for years, calling for clear rules and treatment consistent with that of other financial investments.

The starting point is the tax-rate gap. Since 2026, capital gains from crypto-assets in Italy have been taxed at 33%, compared with the standard 26% rate applied to other financial income.

Four proposed measures

The Intergroup’s working proposal outlines four main interventions:

1. A 26% tax rate from January 1, 2027, in line with other types of financial income.
2. Deductibility of costs related to the capital gain, using the same formula already applied to stocks, bonds and foreign currencies.
3. Offsetting across different instruments: capital losses on crypto-assets could be offset against capital gains on other financial instruments, and vice versa, as is already the case across all other asset classes.
4. Annual step-up of the cost basis at 21%, at the same rate and on the same schedule already used for equity holdings, replacing the one-off step-up windows of 2023 and 2025.

The impact on public finances would be limited. According to the working group’s estimates, the measure would affect less than 0.01% of the State’s tax revenue.

What Italians think

The debate is unfolding against a backdrop of favorable public opinion. According to a forthcoming survey, 55% of Italians agree that gains from crypto-assets should be taxed the same way as gains from stocks and bonds. 68% believe that anyone who wants to invest in crypto-assets should be free to do so, at their own risk. 28% of respondents - nearly one in three Italians - already has some connection to Bitcoin and crypto-assets: owning them, having owned them, or following their performance.

”Today, the tax system penalizes anyone who buys crypto-assets directly, even when they rely on an authorized Italian operator,” said Ferdinando Ametrano, CEO of CheckSig. “What Italians and the industry are asking for is simple: bring this income back under the ordinary framework of financial taxation. We are not asking for a tax break, but for an end to unequal treatment. These principles were also acknowledged as valid by Deputy Minister Maurizio Leo in his welcome message to the Intergroup.”

”With MiCAR and the automatic exchange of information required under the DAC8 directive, the intermediated segment is now supervised and traceable,” Ametrano added. “2027 is the right moment to bring ordinary rules to a market that now has ordinary rules. A tax framework consistent with other instruments strengthens the case for relying on regulated operators, protecting savers. It is on this basis that we want to contribute to the parliamentary debate.”

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