The Italian Financial Transaction Tax introduced by the 2013 Stability Law applies in general to transfers of the ownership of shares. However, exclusions from taxation and tax debenture reduction are provided for transactions that take place in regulated markets and in multilateral trading facilities, with the clear aim of favouring development of these trading venues. Regarding initial public offerings, it may be observed that an offer for the subscription of newly issued shares in the primary market is not subject to the Italian Financial Transaction Tax (IFTT) while an explicit exclusion is not clearly stated by the regulatory framework in respect to an offer for the sale of existing shares on the secondary market. In this article, the authors analyse the latter issue.
Intertax