Nevertheless, Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti informed journalists that Italy is currently opposed to the concept of nations vying to provide 'fiscal privileges' to the affluent. This governmental stance could potentially lend a minor boost to Rome's public finances as Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is crafting a 2025 budget designed to reduce the nation's substantial fiscal deficit. A notable recipient of this initiative was Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo, who relocated his tax domicile to Italy during his tenure at Juventus from 2018 to 2021. Giorgetti disclosed that approximately 1,186 taxpayers exploited the flat tax, whereas Italy's audit court calculated that from 2018 to 2022, taxes collected under this scheme totaled 254 million euros. The EU condemned the policy as unfair and damaging to national budgets. 'The high-net-worth individual regimes in Greece and Italy are... among the most detrimental as they grant substantial exclusions to very wealthy individuals,' the EU's Tax Observatory stated in its Global Tax Evasion Report this year.