If Italy makes the same distinction as Switzerland and in my view most other countries, that trading above a certain threshold (volume, frequency, education, experience etc.) is taxed as business income instead of capital gains, then self-employment tax would be relevant? So I assume what you are saying is that Italy does not make this distinction. Are you sure that is the case?
It doesn’t. You can apply as a net worth individual and You just pay a flat fee. (Around 100k per year )
Just an honest question... Have you ever lived in Italy before? Or have you any idea how it is to live there?
No, I may not qualify if I had. I have been in Italy only on holiday. Have you lived in Italy and can educate me?
I did, but I wouldn't have the arrogance of saying I could educate you. Italy is a nightmare of a country. I'm Brazilian and I have the Italian citizenship and the best that this has brought me is the possibility to live in Austria hassle free. I absolutely loved it and so did my wife. That's why we're going back. We lived in Italy after living there and it was a complete bureaucratic nightmare. To get you a sense of it, I, as an Italian citizen, could get my wife the "Aufenthaltstitel"(residence permit) in Austria without any problems with my Italian passport. But in Italy, I couldn't get the "Permesso di Soggiorno"(their residence permit), because they said they couldn't tell that I was the same person in the brazilian marriage certificate that was officially transcripted to the "Comune di Roma" by the Italian Consulate in Brazil(Estratto di Matrimonio). That is not a simple "official translation". That is a document that is the result of the Consulate informing Italian authorities that I got married in Brazil. Why did this happen? Because when my Italian Citizenship was made, the Italian government, by law, allowed a maximum of 3 names on the Passport, so they simply cut one of my middle names when they issued the document (and that cannot be corrected in future passports). So, one of my middle names are missing in my Italian Passport (Note again that this was never an issue in Austria, a simple official translation of my Brazilian marriage certificate was enough there). In addition, I lived in the border of Italy and Switzerland at the time and I had to go all the way to Rome to get this marriage transcript, because there was no other way to get this document. The same problem came up too when I went to get my Italian ID card. Even though I already had the "Estratto di Matrimonio" when I went to do it, they said they couldn't put "married" in the ID card for the same reason. They said I had to get a certificate from the Italian Consulate in Brazil that the person in my passaport was the same person in the document I got in Rome. So I did that. When I got back there with the Certificate, they said it was still not enough, because the signature of the ITALIAN VICE-CONSUL on the certificate was not recognized in any Notary's Office. As crazy as it may seem, many other absurd and stupid shit like these happened while we lived there, I could go on and on. Indeed a beautiful country to visit, but to live there... I wouldn't do it just for tax purposes. If you go through with it, maybe you'll have a different experience.
Your anecdote is a reminder that the Euro crisis is only in hibernation and will reveal itself with force again in the future, When the euro crisis erupts again I will remind people of the old quote from Yogi Berra it ain't over till it is over.
I think you should be saying one of the few good things about E-trade is it allows accounts from Italy.