Dear Sarah,
you should get your facts right and don't take everything you hear from BRK/FR as what the law and regs say.
The BRK setup in Italy is illegal and there is no double tax treaty that can over rule labor LAW.
If you were well informed you would also know that one of the trusted BRK accountant has been in Italy seven times in rider to setup an Italian branch.
And you know very well that FR/BRK wouldn't do anything like that unless absolutely needed.