Palazzo Chigi says move is not under consideration.

A proposal by five deputies from the right-wing Lega party to offer couples up to €20,000 to get married in church provoked a backlash in Italy on Sunday.

After opposition politicians recalled that Italy is a secular state, the parliamentarians from Lega - a key member of the government coalition - amended the proposed bill to include "all weddings, regardless of whether or not they are celebrated in church."

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The proposal - filed by Domenico Furgiuele along with Simone Billi, Ingrid Bisa, Alberto Gusmeroli and Erik Pretto - would see the bonus offered to couples under the age of 35 with a declared income not exceeding €23,000, reports newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore.

Designed to combat a sharply declining number of weddings in Italy, the scheme would allow couples to deduct 20 per cent of their expenses, including catering, clothes for the bride and groom, flowers, hair and make-up, and the photo shoot.

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However sources in Palazzo Chigi on Sunday evening stressed that the proposal is a parliamentary initiative and is not being studied by the government, news agency ANSA reports.