Article 2 of the bill on tax federalism under discussion in Parliament would introduce new provisions on taxation of Italian real estate income for individual taxpayers. Under current law, real estate income (both foreign and domestic) is reported on individual taxpayer’s annual income tax return and is taxed as ordinary income at graduated rates. Under the new provisions, domestic real estate income would be subject to withholding tax at the flat rate of 20 per cent. The withholding tax would be a final tax. As the bill is currently drafted, the new flat tax would not apply to foreign source real estate income, which would still be part of total income subject to tax on a net basis. To the extent that the different taxation system leads to a harsher taxation of foreign real estate income compared to domestic real estate income, the new provisions could be challenged as invalid under the non discrimination and freedom of movement of capital principles of EU tax law. For foreign investors in Italian real estate, the new provisions would be beneficial because they would grant a lower tax rate under domestic law – the new flat 20 percent tax – than the tax rate currently commonly granted under tax treaties – 30 per cent.