Growth Decree to be scrapped as government crack down on tax relief

As of the beginning of 2024, the growth decree, a system that provided tax relief for high-earning workers moving from abroad, will no longer exist, which could impact a number of Serie A’s summer arrivals. 

A crackdown in tax relief provided by the decree came as a result of a meeting held between government ministers on Monday evening. The changes are set to come into effect on January 1, 2024. 

Introduced in 2017, La Gazzetta dello Sport suggest that some players had received tax reductions of close to 50%.

Meanwhile, Gianluca Di Marzio reports that those on high incomes who moved to Italy were able to pay a fixed tax of €100,000 of all income from foreign sources for a maximum period of 15 years.

Now, however, that will no longer be the case and most foreign players who moved to Serie A from July 1 onwards will now be exempt from receiving the benefits of the growth decree.

Some examples of players who will be affected by the new tax law include Milan delegates Christian Pulisic, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Samuel Chukwueze and Tijjani Reijnders. 

Inter’s list of affected players include Marcus Thuram and Benjamin Pavard. At Juventus, Timothy Weah is expected to take a hit, as are Napoli’s Jesper Lindstrom and Jens Cajuste.

There is, however, an exception for Romelu Lukaku, due to his previous residency in Italy before this year’s cut-off point, despite having joined Roma on loan from Chelsea at the end of the summer transfer window.