Opening a partita IVA: a guide for those starting out
This guide accompanies anyone thinking of going self-employed through the choice and the opening of a partita IVA (the Italian VAT registration number for self-employed people and businesses). The aim is to give a complete, concrete picture of the obligations, the costs and the decisions to be taken from day one. The contents are for information only and do not replace tailored advice.
Note on the 2026 figures. The amounts shown (INPS minimum income levels and rates, the chamber of commerce fee, the ceilings) are updated every year by circulars and decrees. Figures marked “to be confirmed for 2026” come from the latest settled data available and must be checked against the official sources (INPS, Agenzia delle Entrate, Camera di Commercio, INAIL) before any final calculation.
1. What a partita IVA is and when it is compulsory
The partita IVA is an 11-digit number identifying a person who habitually carries on an economic activity (a business, an art or a profession). Having one means being able to issue invoices, charge VAT where due and take on tax, social security and filing obligations.
What makes registration compulsory is not the amount earned but the habitual nature of the activity, that is, its non-occasional, continuous and organised character. This is the most widespread conceptual mistake: many believe that “below a certain threshold” no partita IVA is needed, but the law looks at the nature of the activity, not only at the revenue.
Occasional work. Sporadic activity, without a stable organisation and not repeated continuously. It is documented with a receipt for occasional work bearing 20% withholding tax (where the client is a withholding agent). No partita IVA is required.
Habitual activity. Anyone carrying on the activity continuously, organising themselves to receive recurring fees and offering their services on the market on a stable basis must open a partita IVA, even if the early takings are small.
Watch out for a threshold often confused with the obligation to register: the 5.000 euro a year of occasional self-employment income is the level above which registration with the Gestione Separata INPS is triggered, not the obligation to hold a partita IVA. The real dividing line is always habitual activity.
2. How to open one: ATECO code, form, timing and costs
Registration starts with the choice of the ATECO code, the classification of the economic activity. The new ATECO 2025 classification came into force on 1 January 2025 and became operational on 1 April 2025: it determines the profitability coefficient under the regime forfettario, the competent social security scheme and any additional requirements (the SCIA notification, professional qualifications).
A professional not registered with the Registro Imprese (the Italian business register): files form AA9/12 with the Agenzia delle Entrate, free of charge, online or through an intermediary. The partita IVA is issued immediately.
A business (sole trader, craft worker, trader): uses the Comunicazione Unica (ComUnica), a single electronic filing that opens the partita IVA and handles registration with the Registro Imprese, INPS registration (craft workers or traders) and the INAIL position.
Timing. For a professional the partita IVA is issued the same day. For a business the ComUnica filing must be submitted within 30 days of starting the activity and registration is completed within a few working days.
Item
Indicative amount
Notes
Form AA9/12 (professional)
Free of charge
No stamp duty
Stamp duty on the ComUnica filing
17,50 euro
Sole trader
Registro Imprese registry fees
18,00 euro; the 9,00 euro is an additional fee for regulated activities requiring a SCIA notification
To be confirmed for 2026
Annual chamber of commerce fee
about 53,00 euro/year in the special section, 120,00 euro in the ordinary section
To be confirmed for 2026
PEC (certified email, the digital domicile)
about 5-25 euro/year
Compulsory for businesses
Digital signature
about 30-50 euro
Required for the electronic filing
3. Choosing the legal form and the tax regime
These are two distinct but connected choices: the legal form (how you are organised in law) and the tax regime (how your income is taxed).
Sole trader / self-employed professional. The simplest and cheapest form for starting on your own. No minimum capital, light administration, but unlimited liability.
Regime forfettario (Italian flat-rate scheme). It is not a legal form but a tax regime, the best suited to those starting small (see section 5).
Ordinary / simplified regime. Anyone exceeding the limits of the regime forfettario, or with many costs to deduct, uses simplified or ordinary bookkeeping. Income is taxed at progressive IRPEF rates and VAT is charged on invoices.
SRL (in brief). It separates personal assets from those of the business, but entails higher costs and obligations. It makes sense when the project grows, when members join or when asset protection is needed.
Aspect
Sole trader on the regime forfettario
Sole trader on the ordinary regime
SRL
Start-up costs
Low
Low
High (notary)
Liability
Unlimited
Unlimited
Limited to the capital
Tassazione
Substitute tax of 15% or 5%
Progressive IRPEF
IRES 24% + IRAP
VAT on invoices
No
Sì
Sì
Bookkeeping
Reduced to a minimum
Simplified/ordinary
Ordinary + financial statements
4. The compulsory registrations
Businesses (not pure professionals) register with the Registro Imprese through ComUnica; craft businesses also register with the Albo delle Imprese Artigiane (the register of craft businesses). Registration triggers the annual chamber of commerce fee.
The social security scheme depends on the activity:
Craft workers’ or traders’ scheme: minimum fixed contributions due even where income is low or nil, plus percentage contributions on the excess.
Gestione Separata INPS for professionals with no scheme of their own: contributions only as a percentage of actual income, so if you do not invoice, you do not pay.
Professional pension funds for members of professional bodies, with their own rules.
Item (to be confirmed for 2026)
Craft workers
Traders
Gestione Separata
Minimum annual income
about 18.808 euro
about 18.808 euro
No fixed contribution
Rate
24%
24,48%
26,07% (with no other cover). Above 56.224 euro: 25% and 25,48%. IVS ceilings for 2026: 93.707 and 122.295 euro
Minimum fixed annual contribution
about 4.521 euro
about 4.612 euro
None
Reduction for taxpayers on the regime forfettario
up to 35%
up to 35%
Not applicable
Members of the craft workers’ or traders’ schemes on the regime forfettario can apply for the 35% reduction of their contributions, by filing with INPS normally by 28 February for those already trading; for new registrations the application is filed at the same time as the registration.
Registration with INAIL (workplace injury insurance) is compulsory for craft workers and for anyone carrying on a risky activity or employing collaborators. Professionals with no specific risk and no employees generally have no INAIL obligation.
5. The regime forfettario in brief
Revenue/fee limit: 85.000 euro in the previous year. Once the 100.000 euro threshold is crossed during the year, you leave the regime immediately.
Substitute tax: 15%, reduced to 5% for the first 5 years for new activities meeting the requirements. It replaces IRPEF, the surtaxes and IRAP.
Flat-rate income: a profitability coefficient tied to the ATECO code is applied to revenue, with no deduction of actual costs.
Disqualifying conditions: employment or pension income above 35.000 euro in the previous year, unless the employment has ended (threshold valid for 2026: without an extension it reverts to 30.000 euro); interests in partnerships or control of an SRL carrying on a connected activity; employment costs above 20.000 euro; tax residence abroad (subject to exceptions).
No VAT and no withholding: invoices show no VAT and bear no withholding tax.
Type of activity (examples)
Profitability coefficient
Professionals and services (professional, scientific and technical activities)
78%
Wholesale and retail trade
40%
Construction and real estate
86%
Commercial intermediaries
62%
Food and drink (catering)
40%
Other economic activities
67%
Example 1 – A consultant on the start-up flat rate. Marco opens a partita IVA as a consultant (coefficient 78%, rate 5%) and invoices 30.000 euro in his first year. Taxable income: 30.000 x 78% = 23.400 euro. Gestione Separata contributions: 23.400 x 26,07% = about 6.100 euro (deductible). Substitute tax, on income net of the deductible contributions: (23.400 – 6.100) x 5% = about 865 euro. He charges no VAT and bears no withholding.
Example 2 – A craft business on the regime forfettario. Lucia sets up a craft business (coefficient 67%) and invoices 24.000 euro. Taxable income: 24.000 x 67% = 16.080 euro. She still pays the fixed contributions on the minimum income (about 4.521 euro, reducible by 35% on application: about 2.939 euro). Substitute tax at 5%, on income net of the deductible contributions: about 657 euro. The fixed contribution burden, independent of income, is the main difference compared with a professional in the Gestione Separata.
6. The first practical obligations
Electronic invoicing. Compulsory for everyone, including taxpayers on the regime forfettario, through the Sistema di Interscambio (SdI).
PEC (digital domicile). Compulsory for businesses registered with the Registro Imprese and strongly recommended in any event.
Bank account. A dedicated account is not compulsory on the regime forfettario, but separating business receipts and payments is strongly advised.
Accounting regime. The regime forfettario carries minimal obligations; the other regimes require VAT registers, periodic settlements and accounting records.
Payments. Taxes and contributions on the F24 form (balancing payment and payments on account in June and November). The amount due, contributions included, must be set aside in good time.
7. Typical mistakes when starting out
Confusing habitual and occasional work and staying without a partita IVA when the activity has by then become continuous.
Choosing the wrong ATECO code, which affects the coefficient, the social security scheme and any licensing requirements.
Not setting aside the INPS contributions, above all the fixed ones for craft workers and traders.
Forgetting the following year’s payments on account, and finding the outlay doubled.
Unwittingly exceeding the limits of the regime forfettario and losing eligibility.
Not archiving electronic invoices in compliant form, or not activating the PEC where it is compulsory.
Going it alone without an initial check: a wrong set-up at the outset costs more than the advice that would have prevented it.
8. Practical checklist
Check whether the activity really is habitual and a partita IVA is required.
Identify the correct ATECO 2025 code.
Choose the legal form and tax regime, with a simulation of the regime forfettario against the ordinary regime.
Obtain a digital signature and a PEC address.
File form AA9/12 (professional) or the ComUnica filing (business).
Complete the registrations: Registro Imprese or Albo Artigiani, INPS, and INAIL where due.
For craft workers and traders on the regime forfettario: consider applying for the 35% contribution reduction.
Activate electronic invoicing and communicate your recipient code.
Set aside a bank account for the business.
Plan the provisions for taxes, contributions and payments on account.
Check whether a SCIA notification or municipal authorisation (SUAP) and professional qualifications are required.
Set out the first year’s deadlines with your commercialista.
Opening a partita IVA: a guide for those starting out
This guide accompanies anyone thinking of going self-employed through the choice and the opening of a partita IVA (the Italian VAT registration number for self-employed people and businesses). The aim is to give a complete, concrete picture of the obligations, the costs and the decisions to be taken from day one. The contents are for information only and do not replace tailored advice.
Note on the 2026 figures. The amounts shown (INPS minimum income levels and rates, the chamber of commerce fee, the ceilings) are updated every year by circulars and decrees. Figures marked “to be confirmed for 2026” come from the latest settled data available and must be checked against the official sources (INPS, Agenzia delle Entrate, Camera di Commercio, INAIL) before any final calculation.
1. What a partita IVA is and when it is compulsory
The partita IVA is an 11-digit number identifying a person who habitually carries on an economic activity (a business, an art or a profession). Having one means being able to issue invoices, charge VAT where due and take on tax, social security and filing obligations.
What makes registration compulsory is not the amount earned but the habitual nature of the activity, that is, its non-occasional, continuous and organised character. This is the most widespread conceptual mistake: many believe that “below a certain threshold” no partita IVA is needed, but the law looks at the nature of the activity, not only at the revenue.
Occasional work. Sporadic activity, without a stable organisation and not repeated continuously. It is documented with a receipt for occasional work bearing 20% withholding tax (where the client is a withholding agent). No partita IVA is required.
Habitual activity. Anyone carrying on the activity continuously, organising themselves to receive recurring fees and offering their services on the market on a stable basis must open a partita IVA, even if the early takings are small.
Watch out for a threshold often confused with the obligation to register: the 5.000 euro a year of occasional self-employment income is the level above which registration with the Gestione Separata INPS is triggered, not the obligation to hold a partita IVA. The real dividing line is always habitual activity.
2. How to open one: ATECO code, form, timing and costs
Registration starts with the choice of the ATECO code, the classification of the economic activity. The new ATECO 2025 classification came into force on 1 January 2025 and became operational on 1 April 2025: it determines the profitability coefficient under the regime forfettario, the competent social security scheme and any additional requirements (the SCIA notification, professional qualifications).
A professional not registered with the Registro Imprese (the Italian business register): files form AA9/12 with the Agenzia delle Entrate, free of charge, online or through an intermediary. The partita IVA is issued immediately.
A business (sole trader, craft worker, trader): uses the Comunicazione Unica (ComUnica), a single electronic filing that opens the partita IVA and handles registration with the Registro Imprese, INPS registration (craft workers or traders) and the INAIL position.
Timing. For a professional the partita IVA is issued the same day. For a business the ComUnica filing must be submitted within 30 days of starting the activity and registration is completed within a few working days.
Item
Indicative amount
Notes
Form AA9/12 (professional)
Free of charge
No stamp duty
Stamp duty on the ComUnica filing
17,50 euro
Sole trader
Registro Imprese registry fees
18,00 euro; the 9,00 euro is an additional fee for regulated activities requiring a SCIA notification
To be confirmed for 2026
Annual chamber of commerce fee
about 53,00 euro/year in the special section, 120,00 euro in the ordinary section
To be confirmed for 2026
PEC (certified email, the digital domicile)
about 5-25 euro/year
Compulsory for businesses
Digital signature
about 30-50 euro
Required for the electronic filing
3. Choosing the legal form and the tax regime
These are two distinct but connected choices: the legal form (how you are organised in law) and the tax regime (how your income is taxed).
Sole trader / self-employed professional. The simplest and cheapest form for starting on your own. No minimum capital, light administration, but unlimited liability.
Regime forfettario (Italian flat-rate scheme). It is not a legal form but a tax regime, the best suited to those starting small (see section 5).
Ordinary / simplified regime. Anyone exceeding the limits of the regime forfettario, or with many costs to deduct, uses simplified or ordinary bookkeeping. Income is taxed at progressive IRPEF rates and VAT is charged on invoices.
SRL (in brief). It separates personal assets from those of the business, but entails higher costs and obligations. It makes sense when the project grows, when members join or when asset protection is needed.
Aspect
Sole trader on the regime forfettario
Sole trader on the ordinary regime
SRL
Start-up costs
Low
Low
High (notary)
Liability
Unlimited
Unlimited
Limited to the capital
Tassazione
Substitute tax of 15% or 5%
Progressive IRPEF
IRES 24% + IRAP
VAT on invoices
No
Sì
Sì
Bookkeeping
Reduced to a minimum
Simplified/ordinary
Ordinary + financial statements
4. The compulsory registrations
Businesses (not pure professionals) register with the Registro Imprese through ComUnica; craft businesses also register with the Albo delle Imprese Artigiane (the register of craft businesses). Registration triggers the annual chamber of commerce fee.
The social security scheme depends on the activity:
Craft workers’ or traders’ scheme: minimum fixed contributions due even where income is low or nil, plus percentage contributions on the excess.
Gestione Separata INPS for professionals with no scheme of their own: contributions only as a percentage of actual income, so if you do not invoice, you do not pay.
Professional pension funds for members of professional bodies, with their own rules.
Item (to be confirmed for 2026)
Craft workers
Traders
Gestione Separata
Minimum annual income
about 18.808 euro
about 18.808 euro
No fixed contribution
Rate
24%
24,48%
26,07% (with no other cover). Above 56.224 euro: 25% and 25,48%. IVS ceilings for 2026: 93.707 and 122.295 euro
Minimum fixed annual contribution
about 4.521 euro
about 4.612 euro
None
Reduction for taxpayers on the regime forfettario
up to 35%
up to 35%
Not applicable
Members of the craft workers’ or traders’ schemes on the regime forfettario can apply for the 35% reduction of their contributions, by filing with INPS normally by 28 February for those already trading; for new registrations the application is filed at the same time as the registration.
Registration with INAIL (workplace injury insurance) is compulsory for craft workers and for anyone carrying on a risky activity or employing collaborators. Professionals with no specific risk and no employees generally have no INAIL obligation.
5. The regime forfettario in brief
Revenue/fee limit: 85.000 euro in the previous year. Once the 100.000 euro threshold is crossed during the year, you leave the regime immediately.
Substitute tax: 15%, reduced to 5% for the first 5 years for new activities meeting the requirements. It replaces IRPEF, the surtaxes and IRAP.
Flat-rate income: a profitability coefficient tied to the ATECO code is applied to revenue, with no deduction of actual costs.
Disqualifying conditions: employment or pension income above 35.000 euro in the previous year, unless the employment has ended (threshold valid for 2026: without an extension it reverts to 30.000 euro); interests in partnerships or control of an SRL carrying on a connected activity; employment costs above 20.000 euro; tax residence abroad (subject to exceptions).
No VAT and no withholding: invoices show no VAT and bear no withholding tax.
Type of activity (examples)
Profitability coefficient
Professionals and services (professional, scientific and technical activities)
78%
Wholesale and retail trade
40%
Construction and real estate
86%
Commercial intermediaries
62%
Food and drink (catering)
40%
Other economic activities
67%
Example 1 – A consultant on the start-up flat rate. Marco opens a partita IVA as a consultant (coefficient 78%, rate 5%) and invoices 30.000 euro in his first year. Taxable income: 30.000 x 78% = 23.400 euro. Gestione Separata contributions: 23.400 x 26,07% = about 6.100 euro (deductible). Substitute tax, on income net of the deductible contributions: (23.400 – 6.100) x 5% = about 865 euro. He charges no VAT and bears no withholding.
Example 2 – A craft business on the regime forfettario. Lucia sets up a craft business (coefficient 67%) and invoices 24.000 euro. Taxable income: 24.000 x 67% = 16.080 euro. She still pays the fixed contributions on the minimum income (about 4.521 euro, reducible by 35% on application: about 2.939 euro). Substitute tax at 5%, on income net of the deductible contributions: about 657 euro. The fixed contribution burden, independent of income, is the main difference compared with a professional in the Gestione Separata.
6. The first practical obligations
Electronic invoicing. Compulsory for everyone, including taxpayers on the regime forfettario, through the Sistema di Interscambio (SdI).
PEC (digital domicile). Compulsory for businesses registered with the Registro Imprese and strongly recommended in any event.
Bank account. A dedicated account is not compulsory on the regime forfettario, but separating business receipts and payments is strongly advised.
Accounting regime. The regime forfettario carries minimal obligations; the other regimes require VAT registers, periodic settlements and accounting records.
Payments. Taxes and contributions on the F24 form (balancing payment and payments on account in June and November). The amount due, contributions included, must be set aside in good time.
7. Typical mistakes when starting out
Confusing habitual and occasional work and staying without a partita IVA when the activity has by then become continuous.
Choosing the wrong ATECO code, which affects the coefficient, the social security scheme and any licensing requirements.
Not setting aside the INPS contributions, above all the fixed ones for craft workers and traders.
Forgetting the following year’s payments on account, and finding the outlay doubled.
Unwittingly exceeding the limits of the regime forfettario and losing eligibility.
Not archiving electronic invoices in compliant form, or not activating the PEC where it is compulsory.
Going it alone without an initial check: a wrong set-up at the outset costs more than the advice that would have prevented it.
8. Practical checklist
Check whether the activity really is habitual and a partita IVA is required.
Identify the correct ATECO 2025 code.
Choose the legal form and tax regime, with a simulation of the regime forfettario against the ordinary regime.
Obtain a digital signature and a PEC address.
File form AA9/12 (professional) or the ComUnica filing (business).
Complete the registrations: Registro Imprese or Albo Artigiani, INPS, and INAIL where due.
For craft workers and traders on the regime forfettario: consider applying for the 35% contribution reduction.
Activate electronic invoicing and communicate your recipient code.
Set aside a bank account for the business.
Plan the provisions for taxes, contributions and payments on account.
Check whether a SCIA notification or municipal authorisation (SUAP) and professional qualifications are required.
Set out the first year’s deadlines with your commercialista.
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