Cgia analysis: 95.7% of Italian employee taxes are ‘invisible’

An analysis by the Cgia research office reveals that 95.7% of taxes and contributions paid by employees in Italy are ‘invisible’ to the taxpayer. These payments are either automatically deducted from payroll or embedded in the prices of daily goods.

For a typical Italian family—consisting of two employees, one dependent child, two cars, and a home—the total annual tax burden is estimated at 20,592 euros. Of this, 13,030 euros (63.3%) are collected through direct withholdings such as Irpef and social security contributions. An additional 6,676 euros (32.4%) are collected through ‘hidden’ taxes, including VAT, fuel excises, and the Rai license fee.

Only 4.3% of the total tax burden, amounting to approximately 887 euros, is paid through conscious, direct methods like car tax or waste tax. The study highlights a significant disparity between employees, whose tax relationship with the state is largely automated, and self-employed workers, who must manually manage and pay a larger portion of their tax burden.