Opposition politicians in Italy have criticized Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's plan to cut income taxes for the country's middle-class, after economists warned it will mainly benefit top earners.

Rome's draft budget would lower the tax rate on income between 28,000 euros and 50,000 euros ($37,000 to $66,000) to 33 percent from 35 percent, with an estimated annual cost of roughly 3 billion euros in lost revenue.

The Treasury frames the change as support for households' purchasing power delivered under economic uncertainty, alongside a commitment to fiscal discipline.

Meloni casts the measure as relief for middle-income taxpayers and fulfillment of a campaign pledge, while Finance Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti says it will ease pressure on families and notes that around 13 million taxpayers are expected to benefit.

Since taking office in 2022, the government has moved to lighten the tax burden on lower earners and streamline the system.

But Italy's independent budget watchdog, the Parliamentary Budget Office, has said close to half of the value of the tax cut would be concentrated among just 8 percent of taxpayers, which are those earning 48,000 to 200,000 euros, because they will pay less on their income up to 50,000 euros.

The findings have ignited a fierce political row, the Financial Times, or FT, newspaper reported.

Opposition parties have denounced the proposed tax plan, and Italy's main labor federation, the Italian General Confederation of Labor, or CGIL, has called a national strike for Dec 12.

"Once again, they are helping the richest," the FT quoted Elly Schlein, leader of the opposition Democratic Party, as saying. "I know they are unhappy when we tell them that, but it's the truth because it is in their choices."

In response, Meloni pushed back against Schlein's definition of wealth.

"The left says we are helping the rich because, according to them, someone who earns, say, 2,400 euros per month and has, perhaps, three children is a rich person who should be hammered," she said at a campaign rally. "I disagree. These are people who work and need to be helped."

Giorgetti also took issue with critics and said Italy's independent agencies, including ISTAT, the official statistics agency, had a "somewhat skewed view of life" if earning 50,000 euros a year before tax qualifies as wealthy.

"We are being massacred … but we are convinced that we are right," he said, insisting the cut will not benefit the rich but "those earning reasonable amounts".

The dispute comes amid growing public frustration that wage growth has trailed behind the post-pandemic surge in prices, eroding the purchasing power of Italian workers and civil servants.

Recent figures from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development showed real wages in Italy were 7.5 percent lower in early 2025 than in early 2021, which is the steepest drop among major OECD economies.