The ‘Tax on the Cloud’: the tax authorities move into the cloud

With the decree signed by the Minister of Culture on 23 February 2026, Italy has opened up a new frontier in taxation: the taxation of digital memory. The extension of the private copying levy to online storage services, such as iCloud, Google Drive and Dropbox, transforms a scheme originally designed for physical media into a recurring levy on virtual space, regardless of the content actually stored.

The legislation, originally conceived under copyright law to compensate for the private duplication of works, now appears out of step with the consumption of streaming content, making physical copying a residual activity. Despite this, the decree not only extends the levy to the cloud but also increases the rates for almost all devices equipped with memory.

There are significant increases, ranging from 16.9% to 40%, for smartphones and tablets, and rises of around 17% for computers, TVs with recording functions and wearable devices. A notable change is the explicit inclusion of refurbished devices, effectively introducing a double levy throughout the product’s lifecycle

For cloud services, the fee is calculated monthly per gigabyte and per user, with a maximum cap of €2.40.

This imposes new and complex administrative burdens on providers, such as the quarterly reporting of user and capacity data to the SIAE, opening the door to additional costs and potential disputes

In this scenario, users find themselves paying for increasingly expensive storage freedom. One wonders what is still worth saving in one’s digital space. Perhaps just the shopping list and holiday photos.

But be warned: if that photo of your cat on the beach were to go viral, don’t be surprised if the SIAE comes knocking on your door to claim its share of digital treats.

Last update March 2026