In fact it is a small asset. We are talking about the so-called stamp duty, the tax of 34.20 euros paid to the State every year by anyone who has an average balance of at least 5 thousand euros in their current account, a limit introduced by the Monti reform of 2012 (before then it was always paid, even below this threshold). The payment is divided into installments based on the frequency with which the bank sends the account statement, usually 4 quarterly installments of 8.55 euros or in a single annual solution, depending on the conditions of your institution.
The tax is not new and was not introduced by the Meloni government, but it has existed for decades. Only accounts with balances of less than 5,000 euros and holders of a “Basic account” who have an ISEE below a certain threshold are exempt from the tax.
Stamp duty on securities
For the rest, all account holders have to pay, nor are those who invest their savings in shares or government bonds spared. In the latter case we talk about stamp duty on securities and the amount is proportional to the assets.
The ordinary rate is 0.20% per year calculated on the total value of the investments you have in your portfolio. Some examples:
- 10,000 euros in securities → The amount will be 20 euros per year.
- 50,000 euros in securities → 100 euros per year
- 200,000 euros in securities → 400 euros per year.
The tax affects almost all financial products, including deposit accounts, and there is no exemption threshold. There are very few exceptions that are saved from 0.20%:
- Traditional life insurance policies;
- Pension funds.
The legal loophole
There is no escape from stamp duty on securities. However, there is a legal loophole to avoid paying stamp duty on your current account, provided you don’t have a lot of liquidity. However, the mechanism is cumbersome and the game is not always worth the risk. The trick consists in dividing your savings across multiple current accounts, even in the name of the same person, so as to keep the average balance of each individual account under 5,000 euros. Of course, the game only makes sense if the accounts are zero-fee or have very low costs.
For example, if an account holder has 9,000 euros in his account, he can divide the sum into two separate accounts (4,500 euros each). In this way the average balance of each individual relationship will remain below the legal limit, completely eliminating the tax. It goes without saying that along with the accounts, the complications in managing your finances also increase. Maybe for 34 euros it’s not worth it.