Antonio Tajani relaunches the reduction of IRPEF up to 60 thousand euros and the flat tax on thirteenth wages in view of the 2027 budget. Here’s what could change for workers, employees and VAT numbers
The campaign for the 2027 Budget started months in advance and, as often happens when the fiscal policy calendar is still far from the test of accounts, the great promises are back on stage that speak directly to the largest and most stressed part of the fiscal country: the middle class, employees, VAT numbers, professionals and all those families who in recent years have seen salaries and incomes remain stagnant while inflation, bills and the cost of living continued to rise.
From the stage of the Rome Labor Festival, Antonio Tajani brought two of the most discussed topics of recent years to the center: the extension of the IRPEF reduction up to the threshold of 60 thousand euros and the tax relief on thirteenth wages. Two measures which, at least in the intentions of the deputy prime minister, should lighten the tax burden and increase the purchasing power of Italians, but which also immediately reopen the most delicate issue of all: that of economic coverage.
IRPEF up to 60 thousand euros: what could really change
The proposal relaunched by Tajani concerns the second IRPEF bracket, the one currently taxed at 33 percent. With the latest tax reform, the Government had already reduced the rate from 35 to 33 percent for incomes between 28 thousand and 50 thousand euros, leaving the threshold above which the 43 percent increases unchanged.
The idea now would be to expand this bracket up to 60 thousand euros, thus allowing those with an income exceeding 50 thousand euros to continue paying 33 percent rather than immediately entering the maximum rate.
Translated into practical terms, it would mean a tax discount especially for the medium-high range of employees and professionals, i.e. the one who in recent years has become central in the political debate on tax pressure. We are therefore not talking about a generalized flat tax, but about a further intervention on the progressivity of the IRPEF to lighten the burden on medium-high incomes.
Currently the 2026 IRPEF rates are divided as follows:
- 23 percent up to 28 thousand euros;
- 33 percent from 28,001 to 50 thousand euros;
- 43 percent over 50 thousand euros.
Raising the threshold of the second bracket to 60 thousand euros would mean avoiding the immediate jump to 43 percent for a part of taxpayers who are today considered “productive middle classes” by the center-right.
The coverage issue remains enormous
The problem, however, always remains the same: cutting taxes costs money. And it costs a lot.
The latest IRPEF revision approved with the 2026 Budget cost around 2.8 billion euros, which is why the Government had decided to stop at the 50 thousand euro threshold without going any further.
Extending the second bracket further would require significant new resources in a phase in which the Minister of Economy Giancarlo Giorgetti continues to maintain a very prudent line, especially considering international economic uncertainty, weak growth and increasingly tight budget margins.
And it is precisely here that the distance between political announcements and financial sustainability becomes evident again: the declaration phase is the one in which everything seems possible, but the decisive moment will only come at the end of 2026, when it will really be necessary to find the coverage in the Budget Law.
Flat tax on thirteenths: the return of an old idea
The other major theme relaunched by Tajani is that of the tax relief on thirteenth wages, a proposal that the center-right has been pursuing for years now and which had already been evoked by the deputy minister Maurizio Leo in 2023.
According to Tajani, intervening on the taxation of the additional monthly salary would serve to immediately increase the purchasing power of workers, especially at a time when consumption and salaries continue to show signs of suffering.
The topic is particularly sensitive because thirteenths, unlike other items in the pay slip, are fully taxed and are often “heavier” due to the absence of bonuses and deductions which normally lighten the tax burden during the year.
In recent months the Government has already introduced a series of subsidized flat taxes on productivity bonuses, overtime and increases deriving from contract renewals, but the thirteenth has remained excluded from the structural measures.
Yet the cost of a truly generalized tax relief would be enormous: the fiscal value of the thirteenth is estimated at around 14.5 billion euros. A figure that makes the operation extremely complex without new spending cuts or new revenues.
Because the tax issue becomes central again
The return of the debate on IRPEF and flat tax comes at a time when the burden of taxes has once again become one of the most sensitive issues for millions of Italians. It does not only concern self-employed people and VAT numbers, but also employees who see salaries eroded by inflation and families who increasingly struggle to support ordinary expenses.
For this reason, Tajani’s words immediately reignited online attention and political discussions: the idea of paying less taxes continues to be one of the strongest themes in the Italian electoral consensus, especially for that segment of taxpayers who feel excluded from both social assistance and real tax breaks.
