In 2023, Italian taxpayers paid a total of 190 billion euros in Irpef, the income tax of natural persons who alone represents about a third of the national tax revenue. This is what emerges from an elaboration of the Cgia Studies Office on the data of the Ministry of Economy and Finance.
The IRPEF ranking in Italy
The analysis, which considers the declarations of income net of deductions and deductions, photographs a country split in two from the tax burden. The national average stands at 5,663 euros in taxpayer, but the values vary enormously from Province to Province.
In the first place is the metropolitan city of Milan, where the average net tax touched 8,850 euros. The taxpayers of Rome (7,383 euros) and the province of Monza and Brianza (6,908 euros) also rise on the podium. At the bottom of the ranking, the residents of the province of Southern Sardinia are those with the lowest average withdrawal, 3,619 euros.
- Milan – 8,846;
- Rome – 7,383;
- Monza and Brianza – 6,908;
- Bolzano – 6,863;
- Bologna – 6,644;
- Parma – 6,579;
- Lecco – 6,572;
- Trieste – 6,265;
- Modena – 6.178;
- Genoa – 6.176.
Milan leads not only the ranking of the provinces with the highest average Irpef, but also the one with the higher average total income (33,604 euros). Following, we find the same provinces in the top positions:
- Bologna (29,533 euros);
- Monza and Brianza (29,455 euros);
- Bolzano (28,780 euros);
- Rome (28,643 euros).
The North-South gap confirms the fracture in income Italy
The gap between the north and south of the country strongly emerges from the data on the IRPEF and income, confirming a still very profound economic and social fracture.
The most emblematic data? The first province of the South for Irpef revenue and average income is Cagliari, which in both national rankings is positioned only at the 25th and 46th out of 107 provinces. A detachment that measures the distance of the southern regions from the richest areas of the country.
Photography becomes even more clear by analyzing the distribution of wealth. At national level, 65.9% of taxpayers declare an income of less than the Italian average (24,830 euros). In the South and on the islands, however, this percentage splashes over 70%, touching the most alarming peak in Calabria.
77.7% of taxpayers (about 919,000 people) have an income below the national average threshold, confirming a widespread economic unease that characterizes transversely all of the South.
Who pays the Irpef in Italy
In Italy there are 42.5 million taxpayers Irpef. The large majority is made up of employees (23.8 million) and retirees (14.5 million), while autonomously represent a smaller slice, about 1.6 million.
On a geographical level, Rome is the metropolitan area with the highest number of taxpayers, almost 3 million. Milan follow (2.4 million), Turin (almost 1.7 million) and Naples (1.65 million). At the bottom of the ranking, the province of Isernia has just over 59,000 taxpayers, to underline the strong demographic differences in the country.
Tax burden 2025, because the official data (42.7%) is misleading
Looking at 2025, the economy and finance document estimates a tax burden on 42.7%. A fact that, however, is misleading for accounting reasons.
The 2025 budget law replaced the previous contribution relief for employees with an Irpef bonus for low -income workers. The gearbox has a crucial accounting effect: while the old decontribution reduced the revenue (lowering the tax burden), the new bonus is counted as public spending.
This mechanism artificially “weighted” the data. With the same benefit for citizens, if this aspect was taken into account, the actual tax burden would instead drop to 42.5%, thus recording a slight decrease.
