Business
Italy — Business: Sole Proprietorship
Italy's flat-rate (forfettario) regime for individual traders and professionals: 15% substitute tax, EUR 85,000 revenue limit, 5% for new businesses. The page does not cover registering a partita IVA, VAT bookkeeping or invoicing.
VerifiedGovernment / official sourceAgenzia delle Entrate – Flat-rate scheme (page updated 19 January 2026)Last reviewed: 2026-10-27
Key facts
- Open to natural persons in business, arts or professions with revenues or fees of up to EUR 85,000 a year (raised from EUR 65,000 by the 2023 Budget Law).
- Gross expenses for ancillary work, employees and staff fees must not exceed EUR 20,000.
- Taxable income is revenue times an activity-specific profitability coefficient (Annex 2, Law 145/2018), less mandatory social security contributions.
- A single 15% substitute tax replaces IRPEF and regional and municipal surcharges.
- New businesses pay 5% for the first five years if they had no business or professional activity in the previous three years and the activity does not continue prior employment or self-employment.
- If revenues exceed EUR 100,000 the scheme ends in the year the threshold is exceeded and VAT is due on transactions above the ceiling.
- Excluded: non-residents (except certain EU/EEA residents earning at least 75% of their income in Italy), and those with employment income over EUR 30,000 in the previous year (EUR 35,000 for 2025 and 2026).
- Starters opt in by declaring in their VAT return that they expect to meet the requirements; the page gives no registration steps, VAT or bookkeeping rules.