The government's 2026 budget bill has finally arrived on the floor of the Senate after being cleared by the Upper House's budget committee following many rows and much wrangling, including within the coalition supporting Premier Giorgia Meloni's executive.
The package, which features around 22 billion euros in new measures, including 3.5 billion added in a late government amendment, is expected to get the green light in the Senate on Tuesday and then go to the Lower House after Christmas to get final approval before the deadline of New Year's Eve.
The budget had caused tension within the ruling coalition with changes affecting the requirements for people to be able to start taking their State pension early causing outrage, including from Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti's own League party.
These issues were ironed out but unions and opposition parties have continued to lambast the budget, saying it does not do enough to boost growth or address the needs of the national health system, among other things.
One of the headline measures of the package is the cut to the second band of the Irpef income tax for earnings of between 28,000 and 50,000 euros from a 35% tax rate to 33%.
