Advertisement

Immigrants contribute over €6bn in Italian taxes

The Local Italy
The Local Italy - [email protected]
Immigrants contribute over €6bn in Italian taxes
Migrants should be seen as a resource and not a burden, the Venice-based Leone Moressa Foundation said. Photo: Marcelo Paternostro/AFP

Immigrants in Italy paid over €6 billion in taxes last year and should be seen as a resource and not a burden, a Venice-based think-tank has said.

Advertisement

With foreigners-born workers now making up ten percent of the Italian workforce, the Leone Moressa Foundation said on its website that "we can no longer consider immigrant labour as a component that is separate from the national dynamic, but increasingly, as an integral part of it".  
 
Citing a study by the organization, Ansa reported that many of the migrants who landed on Italy's shores after the Arab Spring are "now paying taxes and running small businesses".
 
There are more than two million foreign-born taxpayers in Italy, a number that has grown since 2008, and their tax contribution in 2013 totaled €6.7 billion, the report said.
 
The number of people making the treacherous crossing to Italy from north Africa so far this year has reached some 118,000, triple the number last year, but the foundation said the migrants should be seen "as a resource and not a burden".
 
According to the UN refugee agency UNHCR, more than 2,500 people have drowned or gone missing attempting the crossing.

Meanwhile, a report in September said the number of small businesses owned by immigrants surged 44 percent between April and June.

READ MORE HERE: Immigrants drive Italy's economy

More

Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.

Please log in to leave a comment.

See Also