Would you retire in Italy for an income tax rate of 7 per cent? That’s the rate being offered by the Rome government in an initiative aimed to entice people with spending power to move to its towns and villages.The special tax regime is available for up to 10 years to anyone drawing a pension from abroad who has not recently been resident in Italy, if they move to a municipality with 30,000 residents or fewer in the south and parts of central Italy.Vico Equense on the Sorrento coast, an hour south by commuter train from Italy’s third city Naples, is one of the towns that newly qualify as of this year when the population cap for qualifying areas was raised from 20,000.Local mayor Giuseppe Aiello says retirees from Ireland would be welcome.“You certainly eat well here, so the local cuisine is very important. We have a wonderful landscape – the sea and the mountains,” Aiello says.A traditional getaway spot for well-heeled Neapolitans built atop the dramatic cliffs characteristic of the Sorrento coast, the town has a low-key, local feel and has avoided catering to mass tourism. Umbrellas and sunbeds on a beach in Vico Equense, Italy. Photograph: Ivan Romano/Getty A street in the old town of Vico Equense. Photograph: Naomi O'Leary There are panoramic views down to the beaches either side of the old town, which is built around a 13th-century castle and has a famous Gothic church looking over the sea.The town hosts a nativity procession at Christmas and summer festivals that celebrate local products like riavulillo, a droplet-shaped cheese stuffed with olives and chilli oil and served roasted.“It’s very calm here,” says local real estate agent Lucio Verdoliva. “People come here for the clean air, the sea, the beaches.” The famous ruins of Roman Pompeii are a short train ride away.As well as being on Naples’ coastal commuter train line with easy access to the healthcare and cultural offerings of a city of a million inhabitants, Vico Equense is a 40-minute drive from Naples airport, which has direct flights to Dublin and Shannon.However, the town is no undiscovered secret to Italians, and prices can reach €6,000 a metre in the centre or €4,000 a little further out.“Up the mountain the prices are lower, but you need a car to get around,” Verdoliva says.Among the properties advertised are a two-bedroom beachfront chalet for €590,000, a three-bedroom apartment in the town centre for €450,000 or a two-bed for €365,000. A five-bedroom villa is €750,000, a little further out.In flashier restaurants with sea views, main courses cost about €20, but unassuming family-run restaurants like Al Buco in the town centre offer pasta dishes from €8 and full pizzas from €6. Pizza sold by the metre at the famous L'Università della Pizza in Vico Equense. Photograph: Naomi O'Leary Wine and other local specialties at Pizzeria da Franco. Photograph: Naomi O'Leary The town is famous for its long, rectangular pizzas that are ordered by the half-metre length at L’Universitá della Pizza, where summer seasonal specials include courgette flower, stracciatella, Parma ham and lemon rind.Is it fair on the local population for foreigners to be offered such low taxes – especially if they might be older people with healthcare needs?“I think it’s fair, but it would also be fair to reduce the tax burden for everyone. Because in Italy, people pay a very high level of tax,” says Aiello, the mayor, who was elected with the support of a centrist to right-wing coalition.“It’s definitely a good thing.”Vico Equense is just one of hundreds of towns that qualify for the special tax regime. Any municipality qualifies that has fewer than 30,000 inhabitants on the islands of Sicily and Sardinia or in the regions of Calabria, Campania, Basilicata, Puglia and Molise – anywhere from the ankle of Italy’s boot down.The initiative is an attempt to reinfuse economic activity and spending power into southern Italy, which has suffered decades of economic decline relative to the industrial north and continues to suffer outward migration.A cat sleeps under a moped in Vico Equense.