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Italy

#36 overall · Score 50.8 / 100 · unchanged from 2025

Overall

#36

50.8 / 100

unchanged from 2025

Corporate

#27

59.1 / 100

unchanged from 2025

Individual

#16

63.5 / 100

unchanged from 2025

Consumption

#37

34.2 / 100

up one place from 2025

Property

#38

31.9 / 100

unchanged from 2025

Cross-border

#22

66.7 / 100

unchanged from 2025

Strengths

  • Italy has above-average cost recovery provisions for investments in machinery, buildings, and intangibles.
  • Last In, First Out treatment of the cost of inventory is allowed.
  • Italy has a broad tax treaty network with 106 countries.

Weaknesses

  • Italy has multiple distortionary property taxes with separate levies on real estate transfers, estates, and financial transactions, as well as a wealth tax on selected assets.
  • The VAT rate of 22 percent applies to the sixth-narrowest consumption tax base in the OECD, subject to the second-highest VAT threshold.
  • The corporate tax rate of 27.8 percent is significantly above the OECD average of 24.2 percent.

Component Scores

Italy category scores out of 100Corporate Taxes: score 59.1, rank 27. Individual Taxes: score 63.5, rank 16. Consumption Taxes: score 34.2, rank 37. Property Taxes: score 31.9, rank 38. Cross-Border Tax Rules: score 66.7, rank 22255075100Corporate Taxes: 59.1 (rank 27)Individual Taxes: 63.5 (rank 16)Consumption Taxes: 34.2 (rank 37)Property Taxes: 31.9 (rank 38)Cross-Border Tax Rules: 66.7 (rank 22)CorporateIndividualConsumptionPropertyCross-border
Category Rank Score vs 2025
Corporate Taxes #27 59.1 unchanged from 2025
Individual Taxes #16 63.5 unchanged from 2025
Consumption Taxes #37 34.2 up one place from 2025
Property Taxes #38 31.9 unchanged from 2025
Cross-Border Tax Rules #22 66.7 unchanged from 2025

Ranking Changes, 2014–2026

Italy's best overall rank was 34th and its worst was 37th. It ranks 36th in 2026.

Overall rank by year for ItalyItaly: 2014 rank 34, 2015 rank 37, 2016 rank 37, 2017 rank 35, 2018 rank 37, 2019 rank 36, 2020 rank 37, 2021 rank 37, 2022 rank 36, 2023 rank 37, 2024 rank 37, 2025 rank 36, 2026 rank 362014201520162017201820192020202120222023202420252026Italy 2014: rank 34Italy 2015: rank 37Italy 2016: rank 37Italy 2017: rank 35Italy 2018: rank 37Italy 2019: rank 36Italy 2020: rank 37Italy 2021: rank 37Italy 2022: rank 36Italy 2023: rank 37Italy 2024: rank 37Italy 2025: rank 36Italy 2026: rank 36#34#36

OECD Context

Each row places all 38 countries on a 0–100 score scale for one measure. Italy is highlighted; the dashed line is the OECD median.

All 38 Countries' Ranks

Overall and category ranks for all 38 countries
CountryOverallCorporateIndividualConsumptionPropertyCross-border
Estonia#1#2#1#24#1#7
Latvia#2#1#8#22#4#6
New Zealand#3#31#7#1#8#14
Switzerland#4#7#9#4#36#2
Lithuania#5#3#10#23#6#16
Luxembourg#6#20#21#7#15#5
Czech Republic#7#9#4#32#5#11
Australia#8#29#14#9#3#23
Turkey#9#21#6#15#22#8
Hungary#10#5#3#38#23#4
Israel#11#11#31#11#10#18
Slovak Republic#12#24#2#33#7#17
Sweden#13#6#18#26#9#12
Costa Rica#14#35#13#6#11#29
Canada#15#17#28#8#25#28
Netherlands#16#23#30#14#20#3
United States#17#8#17#3#27#37
Austria#18#18#27#17#17#10
Germany#19#30#34#13#12#9
Norway#20#15#29#27#16#15
Mexico#21#28#26#12#2#38
Finland#22#10#24#28#21#24
Greece#23#22#5#29#30#19
Chile#24#32#23#10#13#36
Slovenia#25#14#12#30#24#30
Korea#26#26#38#2#31#34
Belgium#27#16#15#25#28#21
Japan#28#36#35#5#26#31
Ireland#29#4#36#35#18#27
United Kingdom#30#25#22#34#33#1
Denmark#31#19#37#20#14#32
Poland#32#12#11#36#29#25
Portugal#33#34#19#21#19#33
Iceland#34#13#32#19#34#26
Spain#35#33#20#18#35#20
Italy#36#27#16#37#38#22
Colombia#37#37#25#16#37#35
France#38#38#33#31#32#13

Among European Peers

Italy ranks 26th of 27 European OECD members on the overall index.

Source: 2026 International Tax Competitiveness Index.

Notes on the Data

The 2026 Index uses the most up-to-date data available as of July 2026. Data may not reflect changes in countries making rapid reforms.

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About the Authors

Alex Mengden Tax Foundation
Expert

Alex Mengden

Economist

Alex Mengden is an Economist at the Tax Foundation, where he focuses on international tax issues and tax policy in Europe. He holds a BA in philosophy and economics from the University of Bayreuth and an MSc in economics from the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich.

Tax Foundation Staff

Luis Zarka

Transatlantic Tax Fellow

Luis Zarka was a 2026 Transatlantic Tax Fellow with the Tax Foundation’s Center for Global Tax Policy.

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Sarah Wilbur

Communications Manager

Sarah Wilbur is Communications Manager at the Tax Foundation where she advances the organization’s institutional reach by developing its corporate communications and media programs.

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Jesse Solis

Vice President of Communications

Jesse Solis is Vice President of Communications at the Tax Foundation, where he leads the communications team and works to build coverage of Tax Foundation’s experts and their work across the globe. He joined the team in 2021 as Communications Manager and became Communications Director in 2024.