On the role of the property tax in financing local expenditure: the case of Italy

The paper discusses some issues concerning the local property tax in the light of the Italian experience. The main developments concerning the municipal property tax in Italy, since its introduction and until the most recent events, are briefly described. Then three main issues regarding the local property tax are addressed. First, the question whether there is any economic rationality in exempting owner occupied houses, a theme that has been central in the Italian debate and in the political arena in the last years; second, the long debated issue of whether the local property tax is a good benefit tax; and, finally, the possibility that a “residence tax”, levied on the occupant of the dwelling, would represent a better opportunity for implementing the benefit principle than the traditional property tax levied on the owners.