Tremonti was born in Sondrio, Northern Lombardy, in a family of Venetian and Campanian ancestry (his father was from Lorenzago di Cadore, in the Province of Belluno, and his mother from Benevento). He is a full professor of law at the University of Pavia, Italy, and has been a visiting professor at the Institute of Comparative Law, Oxford. His particular fields of interest are fiscal and tributary law, as well as fiscal policies.