Firm Guides · VAT number

Opening a VAT number: a guide for beginners

This guide supports anyone considering becoming self-employed in choosing and opening a VAT number. The goal is to provide a complete and practical overview of the compliance requirements, costs, and decisions to be made from day one. The contents are for informational purposes and do not replace personalized advice.

Note on 2026 data. The figures reported (INPS minimum contributions and rates, chamber of commerce fee, caps) are updated every year through circulars and decrees. The values indicated as “to be confirmed for 2026” derive from the latest available consolidated data and must be verified against official sources (INPS, Agenzia delle Entrate, Camera di Commercio, INAIL) before any final calculation.

1. What is the VAT number and when is it mandatory

The VAT number is an 11-digit number that identifies a person who carries out an economic activity (business, art or profession) on a regular basis. Having it means being able to issue invoices, apply VAT where due, and take on tax, social security and reporting obligations.

The criterion that makes opening it mandatory is not the amount earned, but the habitual nature of the activity, i.e., its non-occasional, continuous and organized nature. This is the most widespread conceptual mistake: many believe that “below a certain threshold” you do not need a VAT number (partita IVA), but the law looks at the nature of the activity, not only at the revenues.

• Occasional performance of services. Occasional activity, without stable organization and not carried out continuously. It is documented with a receipt for occasional performance of services with a 20% withholding tax (when the client is a withholding agent, or sostituto d’imposta). It does not require a VAT number (partita IVA).
• Habitual activity. Anyone who carries out the activity continuously, organizes themselves to receive recurring fees and is stably present on the market must open a VAT number (partita IVA), even if at the beginning they collect little.

Beware of a threshold often confused with the obligation to have a VAT number (partita IVA): the 5,000 euro annual fees from occasional self-employment are the threshold beyond which registration with the INPS Separate Account (Gestione Separata) is triggered, not the obligation to obtain a VAT number (partita IVA). The real dividing line is always whether the activity is habitual.

2. How to open it: ATECO code, form, timing and costs

Opening involves choosing the ATECO code, the classification of the economic activity. The new ATECO 2025 classification has been in force since 1 January 2025 and operational since 1 April 2025: it determines the profitability coefficient under the flat-rate scheme (regime forfettario), the competent social security fund and any obligations (SCIA, professional requirements).

• Professional not registered with the Registro Imprese: you submit the form AA9/12 to the Agenzia delle Entrate (Italian Revenue Agency), free of charge, online or through an intermediary. The VAT number is assigned immediately.
• Business (sole proprietorship, craftsman, trader): the Single Communication (Comunicazione Unica – ComUnica) is used, which, with a single electronic submission, opens the VAT position and handles registration with the Register of Companies (Registro Imprese), INPS registration (craftsmen or traders) and the INAIL position.

Timeframes. For professionals, the VAT number is assigned the same day. For businesses, the ComUnica filing must be submitted within 30 days from the start of the activity and the registration is completed in a few working days.

3. Choose the legal form and the tax regime

These are two separate but related choices: the legal form (how you are legally structured) and the tax regime (how your income is taxed).

• Sole proprietorship / self-employed professional. The simplest and most cost-effective way to start on your own. No minimum capital, streamlined management, but unlimited liability.
• Flat-rate scheme (regime forfettario). It is not a legal form but a tax regime, best suited to those starting small (see paragraph 5).
• Ordinary / simplified tax regime. Those who exceed the flat-rate thresholds or have many costs to deduct apply simplified or ordinary bookkeeping. Income is taxed under IRPEF (Italian personal income tax) on progressive brackets and VAT is applied on invoices.
• SRL (overview). It separates personal assets from the company’s assets, but involves higher costs and compliance requirements. It makes sense when the project grows, partners come in, or asset protection is needed.

4. Mandatory registrations

Businesses (not pure professionals) register with the Registro Imprese via ComUnica; artisans also with the ‘Albo delle Imprese Artigiane’. Registration entails the annual Chamber of Commerce fee.

The social security fund depends on the activity:

• Artisans or Traders management scheme (Gestione artigiani o commercianti): fixed minimum contributions due even with low or zero income, plus percentage-based contributions on the excess.
• INPS Separate Management scheme (Gestione Separata INPS) for professionals without their own fund: only percentage-based contributions on actual income, so if you do not invoice you do not pay.
• Professional funds (Casse professionali) for those registered with professional registers, with their own rules.

Those enrolled in the INPS Craftsmen or Traders scheme (gestione artigiani o commercianti) under the flat-rate scheme (regime forfettario) may request the 35% reduction provided for by art. 1, comma 77, L. 190/2014. Three points that matter. The reduction applies to the total social security contribution, both to the fixed portion and to the portion exceeding the minimum income, and therefore also covers, for traders, the additional rate of 0.48 per cent earmarked for the indemnity for the cessation of commercial activity; the maternity contribution of 7.44 euro a year, by contrast, remains due in full and is paid on the due dates of the fixed-amount contributions. It proportionally reduces the contribution credit for pension purposes, so it is not a neutral choice for anyone still far from retirement. Example. Trader under the flat-rate scheme with income not exceeding the minimum, year 2026. Full fixed contribution: 4,604.20 euro of social security contributions (4,513.92 of IVS plus 90.28 of the additional rate) plus 7.44 euro of maternity contribution, 4,611.64 euro in all. With the reduction: 4,604.20 x 65% = 2,992.73 euro, plus 7.44 euro of maternity contribution, 3,000.17 euro in all, that is 750.04 euro per installment. The application is submitted to INPS by 28 February of the year for which the relief is claimed; those who start the activity during the year submit it as promptly as possible after receiving the registration measure, with effect from the date on which the registration takes effect. The reduced regime then remains applicable for as long as the requirements are met, with no need to renew the application each year.

Enrollment in theINAIL is mandatory for artisans and for those who carry out high-risk activities or employ collaborators. Professionals with no specific risk and no employees generally have no INAIL obligation.

5. The flat-rate scheme (regime forfettario) in brief

• Revenue/fees limit: 85,000 euro in the previous year. If the 100,000 euro threshold is exceeded during the year, you exit the scheme immediately.
• Substitute tax (imposta sostitutiva): 15%, reduced to 5% for the first 5 years for new businesses that meet the requirements. It replaces IRPEF, surtaxes and IRAP.
• Flat-rate taxable income (reddito forfettizzato): a profitability coefficient (coefficiente di redditività) linked to the ATECO code is applied to revenues, without deducting itemized costs.
• Grounds for exclusion: employment income or pension income exceeding 35,000 euro in the previous year, unless the employment relationship ended (threshold valid for 2026: without an extension it goes back to 30,000 euro); interests in partnerships (società di persone) or control of an SRL carrying on a related activity; employee labor costs over 20,000 euro; foreign tax residence (subject to exceptions).
• No VAT and no withholding tax: invoices do not show VAT and are not subject to withholding tax.

Example 1 – Flat-rate startup consultant. Marco opens a VAT number in January 2026 as a consultant (78% coefficient, 5% tax rate) and receives fees of 30,000 euros in the first year. Flat-rate taxable income: 30,000 x 78% = 23,400 euros. The contributions due to the Separate Management scheme (Gestione Separata) amount to 23,400 x 26.07% = 6,100.38 euros, but in 2026 Marco pays none of them: the balance for the first year falls due in June 2027 and no advance is due for 2026, because there is no previous-year base. Since Article 1(64) of Law 190/2014 allows only contributions actually paid to be deducted, the first-year substitute tax (imposta sostitutiva) is calculated on the whole flat-rate income: 23,400 x 5% = 1,170.00 euros. He does not charge VAT and no withholding tax is applied. With the same fees, in 2027 Marco pays the 2026 balance (6,100.38 euros) and the two 2027 advances (80% of 6,100.38, i.e. 4,880.30 euros), 10,980.68 euros in all: taxable income 23,400 – 10,980.68 = 12,419.32 euros, substitute tax 620.97 euros. From 2028 the amount paid each year levels off (remaining balance 1,220.08 + advances 4,880.30 = 6,100.38 euros): taxable income 23,400 – 6,100.38 = 17,299.62 euros, substitute tax 864.98 euros. This is the usual first-year gap: fewer contributions paid, more tax due. The difference should be set aside, because in the second year the balance and the advances are paid together.

Example 2 – Flat-rate artisan. Lucia opens an artisan business in January 2026 (67% coefficient) and collects 24,000 euros. Flat-rate taxable income: 24,000 x 67% = 16,080 euros, below the minimum income threshold, so no income-related contributions are due. The 2026 fixed contribution is 4,521.36 euros (4,513.92 of IVS plus 7.44 of maternity contribution); with the 35% reduction, which applies to IVS only, it becomes 4,513.92 x 65% = 2,934.05 plus 7.44, that is 2,941.49 euros. Only three of the four instalments fall due in 2026, however (18 May, 20 August and 16 November 2026; the fourth falls due on 16 February 2027): 2,206.11 euros paid (three instalments of 735.37 euros), taxable income 16,080 – 2,206.11 = 13,873.89 euros, substitute tax at 5%: 693.69 euros. For new registrants INPS issues the contribution statement after registration and may defer the first instalment: the calculation must be redone on the due dates actually notified. From 2027, each year Lucia pays the fourth instalment of the previous year (735.38 euros, due 16 February) and the first three of the current year (2,206.11 euros): 2,941.49 euros, a full year’s amount. Taxable income 16,080 – 2,941.49 = 13,138.51 euros, substitute tax 656.93 euros. The fixed contribution burden, due even with zero income, is the main difference compared with a professional under Separate Management (Gestione Separata), who pays nothing in the first year but pays the balance and the advances together in the second.

6. Initial operational compliance steps

• Electronic invoicing. Mandatory for everyone, including flat-rate taxpayers, via the Exchange System (Sistema di Interscambio, SdI).
• PEC (digital domicile). Mandatory for businesses registered with the Companies Register (Registro Imprese) and in any case strongly recommended.
• Bank account. For the flat-rate scheme (regime forfettario) a dedicated account is not mandatory, but it is strongly recommended to separate business receipts and payments.
• Accounting regime. The flat-rate scheme (regime forfettario) has minimal obligations; the other regimes require VAT registers, periodic VAT settlements and bookkeeping records.
• Payments. Taxes and social security contributions via the F24 form (balance and advance payments in June and November). The amount due, including contributions, should be set aside in good time.

7. Typical mistakes beginners make

• Confusing habitual and occasional and remaining without a VAT number (partita IVA) when the activity has by now become continuous.
• Choosing the wrong ATECO code, with effects on the coefficient, social security fund and authorisation requirements.
• Not setting aside INPS contributions, especially the fixed ones for artisans and traders.
• Forgetting the advance payments for the following year, ending up with doubled outlays.
• Unknowingly exceeding the limits of the flat-rate scheme (regime forfettario) and losing the regime’s requirements.
• Not keeping electronic invoices in a compliant manner or not activating a PEC (certified email) when mandatory.
• Doing it yourself without an initial review: an incorrect setup at the start costs more than the advice that would have prevented it.

8. Operational checklist

1. Check whether the activity is truly carried out on a habitual basis and whether a VAT number must be opened.
2. Identify the correct 2025 ATECO code.
3. Choose the legal form and tax regime, with a simulation of flat-rate scheme (regime forfettario) versus ordinary regime.
4. Obtain a digital signature and a PEC (certified email).
5. File form AA9/12 (professional) or, alternatively, the ComUnica filing (business).
6. Complete registrations: Companies Register (Registro Imprese) or Register of Crafts (Albo Artigiani), INPS, INAIL if due.
7. For flat-rate scheme (regime forfettario) artisans and traders: assess the application for the 35% social security contribution reduction.
8. Activate e-invoicing and communicate the recipient code.
9. Dedicate a bank account to the activity.
10. Plan set-asides for taxes, social security contributions and advance payments.
11. Check any SCIA or authorizations with the Municipality (SUAP) and professional requirements.
12. Agree with your accountant on first-year deadlines.

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