Tax Observatory › Direct taxes and returns › Filing the Italian tax return late: until 1 February 2027 it costs 25 euro; after that the return counts as not filed

Filing the Italian tax return late: until 1 February 2027 it costs 25 euro; after that the return counts as not filed

The Redditi income tax return and the IRAP return for 2025 must be filed by Monday 2 November 2026. Taxpayers who miss the deadline can still file a valid return within the following ninety days, that is, until 1 February 2027, with the penalty reduced to 25 euro for each return. From the next day the return is treated as not filed: the penalty rises to 75 per cent of the tax due if the return is filed spontaneously and to 120 per cent if the failure is established by the tax office in an assessment, voluntary correction (ravvedimento operoso) is no longer available and, above certain thresholds, criminal liability may arise.

This year the Redditi return and the IRAP return (the return for the regional tax on productive activities) for 2025 must be filed electronically by Monday 2 November 2026, because 31 October falls on a Saturday. Missing the deadline does not mean that the return is lost: the law treats as valid a return filed within ninety days, that is, by 1 February 2027, and with voluntary correction (ravvedimento operoso) the penalty is reduced to 25 euro. After that date the return is treated as not filed, and the consequences are of a different order: the penalty is calculated on the tax due, voluntary correction is excluded and, if the evaded tax exceeds 50,000 euro for any single tax, the taxpayer may face criminal liability for failure to file a tax return.

The deadline of 2 November 2026

Article 2 of Presidential Decree No 322 of 22 July 1998 sets 31 October of the following year as the deadline for electronic filing of the returns of individuals and partnerships. For companies and entities subject to IRES, the corporate income tax, the deadline is the last day of the tenth month after the end of the tax period, and the IRAP return follows the same deadlines. Paragraph 9 of the same article moves deadlines that fall on a Saturday to the next working day, and Article 7(1)(h) of Decree-Law No 70 of 13 May 2011 does the same for obligations falling due on a Saturday or a public holiday.

In 2026, 31 October is a Saturday and 1 November a Sunday: the deadline is therefore Monday 2 November, as stated in the instructions to the Redditi PF 2026 return. For companies whose financial year does not coincide with the calendar year, the deadline remains the last day of the tenth month after the year end: for a financial year ending on 30 June 2026, it is 30 April 2027. At the date of publication, no extension of the filing deadline appears to have been granted for this year.

Within ninety days: the late return is valid

Article 2(7) of Presidential Decree No 322 of 1998 treats as valid returns filed within ninety days of the deadline, without prejudice to the penalties for late filing. The ninetieth day after 2 November 2026 is Sunday 31 January 2027: the last day is therefore Monday 1 February 2027, as confirmed by the Italian Revenue Agency (Agenzia delle entrate) on its pages on late returns. A return is deemed filed on the day it is transmitted, and the proof is the Agency’s receipt.

A late return is subject to the penalty of 250 euro laid down in Article 1(1) of Legislative Decree No 471 of 18 December 1997 for failure to file a return where no tax is due. In Circular No 42/E of 12 October 2016, the Agency clarified that this is the penalty applicable to a return filed no more than ninety days late. With voluntary correction the penalty is reduced to one tenth, that is, to 25 euro, under Article 13(1)(c) of Legislative Decree No 472 of 18 December 1997. The penalty is due for each return filed late: a company that files both the Redditi return and the IRAP return late pays it twice. It is paid with the F24 payment form; for the income tax return the payment code is 8911.

Unpaid taxes are regularised separately

The 25 euro covers only the late filing. If the return shows taxes that were not paid when due, for example the balance due on 30 June, the penalty for non-payment under Article 13(1) of Legislative Decree No 471 of 1997 also applies: 25 per cent of the unpaid amount, halved if the delay does not exceed ninety days, in the version in force for violations committed on or after 1 September 2024.

This penalty, too, is reduced through voluntary correction, by a fraction that depends on when payment is made: to one tenth within thirty days, to one ninth within ninety days, and to one eighth by the filing deadline of the return for the year in which the violation was committed. Tax, reduced penalty and interest at the statutory rate, set at 1.60 per cent a year for 2026, must be paid together; for the days falling in 2027, the rate set for that year will apply.

An example

An individual not subject to the synthetic tax reliability indices (ISA) had to pay a personal income tax (IRPEF) balance of 3,000 euro by 30 June 2026 and paid nothing; for simplicity, it is assumed that no payments on account are due for 2026, which would otherwise have to be regularised in the same way. The taxpayer files the return on Friday 18 December 2026 and regularises everything on the same day.

• Tax: 3,000.00 euro.
• Penalty for late payment (171 days): 25 per cent reduced to one eighth, that is, 3.125 per cent, or 93.75 euro.
• Statutory interest at 1.60 per cent for 171 days: 22.49 euro.
• Penalty for the late return: 25.00 euro.

The total is 3,141.24 euro. Had the balance been paid on time on 30 June, only the 25 euro would have been due. If, on the other hand, the same return were filed on 1 March 2027, more than ninety days late and before any audit, the penalty for failure to file alone would be 2,250 euro, or 75 per cent of 3,000, with no reduction and in addition to the tax and interest; if the failure were established by the tax office in an assessment, it would rise to 3,600 euro.

After 1 February 2027: the return is treated as not filed

A return filed more than ninety days late is treated as not filed, but still serves as a basis for collecting the taxes shown in it. The penalty reform introduced by Legislative Decree No 87 of 14 June 2024, applicable to violations committed on or after 1 September 2024, distinguishes two situations.

• If the violation is established by the tax office in an assessment, the penalty is 120 per cent of the tax due, with a minimum of 250 euro; if no tax is due, it ranges from 250 to 1,000 euro and may be increased up to twofold for taxpayers required to keep accounting records (Article 1(1) of Legislative Decree No 471 of 1997).
• If the taxpayer files the return spontaneously, within the time limit for assessment and before being formally notified of on-site visits, inspections, audits or other assessment activities, the penalty is 75 per cent of the tax due, that is, 25 per cent tripled (paragraph 1-bis of the same article); if no tax is due, the penalty of 250 to 1,000 euro still applies.

In neither case is voluntary correction available: Article 13(2-ter) of Legislative Decree No 472 of 1997 excludes the reduction of the penalty “in any case” where the return is filed more than ninety days late. Filing the return is still worthwhile, because the penalty falls from 120 to 75 per cent, but the advantage is lost as soon as an audit is formally notified.

Time limits for assessment and criminal liability

Where no return has been filed, the Italian Revenue Agency issues an ex officio assessment under Article 41 of Presidential Decree No 600 of 29 September 1973, and may reconstruct income even on the basis of presumptions that do not meet the requirements of being serious, precise and consistent. The time limit for serving the notice of assessment is extended: for a return that should have been filed in 2026 and was not, it expires on 31 December 2033, the seventh year after, instead of 31 December of the fifth year after the year of filing (Article 43 of the same decree). On a literal reading of the provision, for a late return transmitted by 31 December 2026 the ordinary time limit is 31 December 2031, and for one transmitted in January 2027 it is 31 December 2032.

Under criminal law, Article 5 of Legislative Decree No 74 of 10 March 2000 punishes with imprisonment of two to five years anyone who, in order to evade income taxes or VAT, fails to file one of the returns relating to those taxes although required to do so, where the evaded tax exceeds 50,000 euro for any single tax. The amounts of different taxes are not added together, and IRAP, which is not an income tax, falls outside the scope of the offence. For a return not filed, the evaded tax is the entire tax due, net only of payments on account, withholdings and other payments made by the deadline (Article 1(f)): a later payment does not reduce the evaded tax. Intent to evade is also required. The same Article 5 specifies that a return filed within ninety days is not treated as not filed.

Once the ninety days have passed, the offence is not punishable if the return is filed and the tax debts, including penalties and interest, are settled by payment in full by the filing deadline of the return for the following tax period. Both steps must be completed before the taxpayer is formally notified of on-site visits, inspections, audits, the start of any administrative assessment activity or criminal proceedings (Article 13(2)). For 2025 returns of taxpayers whose tax period coincides with the calendar year, it is prudent to treat Friday 29 October 2027 as the limit, without relying on the deadline of Sunday 31 October being carried forward to the next working day.

Payment by instalments does not secure exemption from punishment, but it is not irrelevant. Where the offence remains punishable, settlement of the debt before the close of the first-instance trial reduces the criminal sentence by up to one half and excludes ancillary penalties; if at that date the debt is being paid in instalments, the trial may be suspended (Article 13-bis). Above the threshold, a preventive seizure, including seizure of equivalent value, with a view to confiscation is possible; as a rule, however, it is not ordered if the debt is being settled in instalments and the payments are up to date, unless there is a concrete risk that the assets securing the claim will be dispersed (Article 12-bis). In these cases, consultation with defence counsel is essential.

The two-year preventive agreement: no late opt-in

Taxpayers who intend to join the two-year preventive agreement (concordato preventivo biennale) for 2026-2027 must do so by 31 October 2026, the deadline set by Article 7-bis(3) of Decree-Law No 38 of 27 March 2026, converted into law by Law No 88 of 22 May 2026. Since that day is a Saturday, the deadline moves to 2 November under the general rule in Article 7(1)(h) of Decree-Law No 70 of 2011, as the Agency confirmed in Circular No 8/E of 6 October 2026. For the 2024-2025 period, in Circular No 18/E of 17 September 2024, the Agency described that deadline as peremptory and ruled out joining through a late return: it is reasonable to assume that the same reading applies to 2026-2027, for which the legislature has again set the deadline expressly.

Failure to file a return also bars access to the agreement in subsequent two-year periods for as long as the unfiled return falls within the three preceding tax periods (Article 11(1)(a) of Legislative Decree No 13 of 12 February 2024). Taxpayers who have already joined the agreement for 2025-2026 must also consider the risk of forfeiting the agreement for both years of the period if the 2025 return is not filed (Article 22 of the same decree).

From 1 January 2027

From 1 January 2027, the Consolidated Act on administrative and criminal tax penalties, approved by Legislative Decree No 173 of 5 November 2024, applies. It restates without substantive change the penalty provisions discussed here: the penalty for failure to file moves to Article 27, the penalty for non-payment to Article 38, voluntary correction to Article 14, the offence of failure to file a tax return to Article 77 and the exemption from punishment to Article 89. For taxpayers who regularise a late return in January 2027 the amounts do not change, and any offence of failure to file for 2025, which would be committed when the ninety days expire and therefore in 2027, already falls under the Consolidated Act.

From the same date, the Consolidated Act on tax compliance and assessment, approved by Legislative Decree No 141 of 5 August 2026, applies: the time limits for assessment move without substantive change to Article 293, while Presidential Decree No 322 of 1998, including the ninety-day period, continues to apply (Article 75).

In practice

• By Monday 2 November 2026, file the Redditi return and the IRAP return; taxpayers joining the two-year preventive agreement do so in the same return, by the same date.
• From 3 November 2026 to 1 February 2027, file the late return and pay 25 euro for each return with the F24 form (payment code 8911 for the income tax return); it is prudent not to wait until the last day, and taxpayers who may exceed the criminal threshold should file by Friday 29 January 2027, because the ninetieth day falls on Sunday 31 January.
• At the same time, regularise any unpaid balances and payments on account through voluntary correction, with the reduced penalty and interest.
• Keep the filing receipt, the F24 payment receipts and the calculation schedule.
• After 1 February 2027, file the return anyway before any audit, to reduce the penalty from 120 to 75 per cent; if the evaded tax exceeds 50,000 euro for any single tax, consult defence counsel without delay on possible criminal liability: exemption from punishment requires filing the return and paying in full the tax, penalties and interest by the filing deadline of the return for 2026 and before any formally notified audit.

Frequently asked questions

My return shows an overpayment (a credit balance): do I have to pay anything if I file it late?

Yes. Even where no tax is payable, a return filed by 1 February 2027 is subject to the penalty of 250 euro, which can be reduced to 25 euro through voluntary correction. If the return is filed by that date, the credit is validly claimed.

My tax intermediary transmitted the return late: who pays?

The penalty for the late return is borne by the taxpayer. The intermediary who undertook to transmit the return is in turn liable for the late transmission, with the penalty of 516.46 to 5,164.57 euro laid down in Article 7-bis of Legislative Decree No 241 of 9 July 1997, which still expresses it in lire; from 1 January 2027 the penalty, of 516 to 5,165 euro, is set out in Article 68 of the Consolidated Act on tax penalties. Returns handed over after the deadline must be transmitted by the intermediary within one month of the date of the undertaking.

I have missed 1 February 2027: can I still make a voluntary correction?

No. Beyond ninety days, voluntary correction is excluded by law. It is still worthwhile to file the return before any audit, because the penalty falls from 120 to 75 per cent of the tax due; the tax and interest must be paid in any case.

Sources

Article 2(1), (2), (3), (7) and (9) and Article 3(6), (7-ter), (8) and (10) of Presidential Decree No 322 of 22 July 1998.

Article 7(1)(h) of Decree-Law No 70 of 13 May 2011, converted into law by Law No 106 of 12 July 2011.

Article 1(1) and (1-bis) and Article 13(1) of Legislative Decree No 471 of 18 December 1997, and Article 13(1) and (2-ter) of Legislative Decree No 472 of 18 December 1997, as amended by Legislative Decree No 87 of 14 June 2024 (Article 5).

Decree of the Minister of Economy and Finance of 10 December 2025 on the statutory interest rate.

Articles 41 and 43 of Presidential Decree No 600 of 29 September 1973.

Articles 1, 5, 12-bis, 13 and 13-bis of Legislative Decree No 74 of 10 March 2000.

Article 7-bis of Legislative Decree No 241 of 9 July 1997.

Articles 9, 11 and 22 of Legislative Decree No 13 of 12 February 2024; Article 7-bis(3) of Decree-Law No 38 of 27 March 2026, converted into law by Law No 88 of 22 May 2026.

Articles 14, 27, 38, 68, 73, 77, 87, 89, 90, 101 and 102 of the Consolidated Act on administrative and criminal tax penalties, approved by Legislative Decree No 173 of 5 November 2024; Articles 75, 293 and 368 of the Consolidated Act on tax compliance and assessment, approved by Legislative Decree No 141 of 5 August 2026.

Agenzia delle entrate, Circular No 42/E of 12 October 2016 and Circular No 18/E of 17 September 2024; instructions to the Redditi PF 2026 return.