Forfettario · Ferrara
Who qualifies for the flat-rate scheme, what you pay in substitute tax and contributions, when you exit and how to open a VAT registration properly.
Access is open to individuals carrying on a business, art or profession who, in the previous year, earned revenues or fees of no more than 85,000 euros and incurred expenses for employed and assimilated work of no more than 20,000 euros gross, in the absence of the statutory disqualifying conditions of the regime forfettario (flat-rate scheme).
The scheme is governed by art. 1, commi 54-89, della legge 23 dicembre 2014, n. 190. Comma 54, lett. a), sets the limit on the previous year’s revenues and fees at 85,000 euros, a threshold introduced by art. 1, comma 54, della legge 29 dicembre 2022, n. 197; lett. b) sets a limit of 20,000 euros gross for expenses on employed work, casual work, collaborations and profits from participation arrangements with a contribution of labour only. Comma 57 lists the disqualifying conditions: special VAT regimes or flat-rate income determination regimes; foreign residence, save for residents of States of the European Economic Area who produce at least 75 per cent of their total income in Italy; the sale of buildings, building land or new means of transport on an exclusive or prevailing basis; participation in partnerships, professional associations or family businesses; direct or indirect control of limited liability companies or participation arrangements carrying on activities traceable to the one performed; and carrying on the activity mainly for current employers or those of the two preceding years, or for parties traceable to them.
Comma 57, lett. d-ter), further bars access to anyone who in the previous year received employment and assimilated income above a set threshold: the ordinary limit of 30,000 euros was raised to 35,000 euros for 2025 by legge 30 dicembre 2024, n. 207 and kept at 35,000 euros for 2026 as well by the 2026 budget law (legge 30 dicembre 2025, n. 199); absent further intervention, the limit reverts to 30,000 euros from 2027. The disqualification does not apply if the employment relationship ended in the previous year and no other employment or assimilated income was received.
Legal references: art. 1, commi 54, 56, 57, L. 190/2014; art. 1, comma 54, L. 197/2022; L. 207/2024; art. 1, comma 27, L. 199/2025
the guide to the flat-rate scheme · opening a VAT registration
Income is determined by applying to revenues the profitability coefficient set for the ATECO code; social security contributions paid are deducted, and the result bears a substitute tax of 15 per cent, reduced to 5 per cent for the first five tax periods of a new activity. Contributions are calculated separately.
The mechanism is in commi 64 e 65 dell’art. 1 della legge 190/2014. Taxable income equals the revenues or fees received in the tax period multiplied by the profitability coefficient set out in allegato 4 alla legge 190/2014, differentiated by groups of ATECO codes: 40 per cent for food and beverage industries, 40 per cent for wholesale and retail trade, 40 per cent for itinerant trade in food and beverages and 54 per cent for itinerant trade in other products, 86 per cent for construction and real estate activities, 62 per cent for trade intermediaries, 40 per cent for accommodation and food services, 78 per cent for professional, scientific, technical, health and education activities and for financial and insurance services, 67 per cent for other economic activities.
From the income so determined, the compulsory social security contributions actually paid in the period are deducted, including those paid for family-business collaborators who are fiscally dependent. The substitute tax replacing IRPEF (personal income tax), surcharges and IRAP is 15 per cent; comma 65 reduces it to 5 per cent for the tax period in which the activity begins and the four following ones, provided the taxpayer did not carry on an artistic, professional or business activity in the three preceding years, that the activity is not a mere continuation of one previously carried on as employed or self-employed work save for the compulsory training period, and that, where another person’s activity is continued, the revenues of the preceding period do not exceed the limit of comma 54.
Legal references: art. 1, commi 64, 65, e allegato 4, L. 190/2014
fee calculation · losses and new activities
Above 85,000 euros but not 100,000, the scheme still applies for the current year and ceases from the following 1 January. Above 100,000 euros, the scheme ceases immediately in that same year: income is determined under the ordinary rules and VAT is due on transactions carried out after the threshold is crossed.
The rule is in comma 71 dell’art. 1 della legge 190/2014, in the wording resulting from art. 1, comma 54, lett. b), della legge 197/2022. Ordinary cessation operates from the year following that in which a requirement of comma 54 lapses or a disqualifying condition of comma 57 arises. Immediate cessation concerns crossing the threshold of 100,000 euros of revenues or fees received: in that case the income of the entire tax period is determined under the ordinary rules and VAT is due from the transactions carried out after the excess, with the obligation to set up the registers, settle the tax and file the annual VAT return for the whole year.
Exit also entails renewed liability to withholding tax on account and the resumption of the role of withholding agent, which under the flat-rate scheme is excluded by comma 69 save for the duty to state the payees’ tax codes in the return. The adjustments to VAT deduction under art. 19-bis2 del d.P.R. 26 ottobre 1972, n. 633 must also be managed, being due on entering as well as on leaving the scheme. Revenue monitoring must be done during the year, not after the event.
Legal references: art. 1, commi 69, 71, L. 190/2014; art. 1, comma 54, lett. b), L. 197/2022; art. 19-bis2 d.P.R. 633/1972
VAT in practice · the flat-rate scheme: the guide
It depends on the activity, not on the tax regime. Artisans and traders pay fixed contributions on the minimum base plus a percentage on income above it, with the option of requesting a 35 per cent reduction. Professionals without a pension fund pay a percentage of income to the INPS gestione separata; those with a fund follow its rules.
Comma 77 dell’art. 1 della legge 190/2014 grants business operators enrolled in the artisans’ and traders’ schemes a 35 per cent reduction of ordinary contributions, both on the portion calculated on the minimum base and on the portion above it; the reduction is not automatic and must be requested from INPS by 28 February of the year for which it is claimed, or upon enrolment for those starting an activity, following the procedures set out in the Institute’s guidance. The reduction affects the contribution credit, which is scaled down proportionally under art. 2, comma 29, della legge 8 agosto 1995, n. 335. Professionals without a category pension fund enrol in the gestione separata (the INPS separate contribution scheme) of art. 2, comma 26, della legge 335/1995 and pay a percentage of income, with no minimum base, and may charge a 4 per cent surcharge on their invoices.
Those enrolled with a professional pension fund follow their fund’s regulations, with the subjective contribution and the supplementary contribution charged on invoices. Rates, minimum and maximum bases for the artisans’ and traders’ schemes and for the gestione separata are redetermined every year and announced in INPS circulars: they must be read in the circular for the relevant year before quantifying the burden, because in comparing regimes they often weigh more than the substitute tax. For first-time enrolments in the artisans’ and traders’ schemes, temporary contribution relief measures have also been introduced: conditions, duration, amount and whether they can be combined with the comma 77 reduction must be checked against the legislation in force and INPS guidance at the time of enrolment, because the perimeter changes from year to year.
Legal references: art. 1, comma 77, L. 190/2014; art. 2, commi 26 e 29, L. 335/1995; circolari INPS annuali su aliquote e minimali
labour costs and contributions
The declaration of commencement of activity is filed within thirty days: with form AA9/12 for individuals, or through the Comunicazione Unica to the Companies Register if the activity is commercial. The number is issued immediately. The linked formalities — INPS and INAIL enrolment, SCIA, certified email — follow the same submission.
Art. 35 del d.P.R. 633/1972 requires anyone commencing a business, art or profession to declare it within thirty days to the Agenzia delle Entrate. Self-employed workers use form AA9/12, filed electronically; for businesses the formality is absorbed into the Comunicazione Unica provided for by art. 9 del d.l. 31 gennaio 2007, n. 7, converted by legge 2 aprile 2007, n. 40, which with a single submission to the Companies Register discharges the obligations towards the Agenzia delle Entrate, the chamber of commerce, INPS and INAIL.
The declaration must state the ATECO code of the prevailing activity and of any secondary ones, the estimated turnover, the place where the records are kept and, where applicable, the option for the flat-rate scheme and the data for intra-Community transactions with inclusion in the VIES database. Electronic invoicing through the Sistema di Interscambio (the national e-invoicing exchange system) is compulsory for all taxable persons, flat-rate taxpayers included, from 1 January 2024; flat-rate invoices bear stamp duty of 2 euros where the amount exceeds 77.47 euros. Finally, the SCIA to the SUAP for the activities concerned and the digital domicile obligation must be assessed.
Legal references: art. 35 d.P.R. 633/1972; art. 9 d.l. 7/2007 conv. L. 40/2007; art. 1 d.lgs. 127/2015; d.P.R. 642/1972, tariffa parte I, art. 13
opening a VAT registration · electronic invoicing · fee calculation · request a quotation · guide to the flat-rate scheme · guide to opening a VAT registration · guide to electronic invoicing · deadlines and voluntary correction · carrying losses forward into the new activity
Before choosing a regime, it pays to compare two calculations already worked through: flat-rate and ordinary regime, on the same volume of revenues and with the same contributions. The fee calculator and the online quotation indicate the cost of assistance.
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