Tools

Flat-rate scheme simulator

An estimate of what is left after tax and contributions under the Italian flat-rate regime (regime forfettario), and how that compares with the ordinary regime. It is meant to give you a sense of the figures before we discuss your position: it does not replace a review of your own position.

Expected annual revenue or fees

Under the flat-rate regime, what counts is what you expect to receive during the year, not what you expect to invoice.

Costs you incur in a year

Costs are not deductible under the flat-rate regime, but without this figure the comparison with the ordinary regime is not meaningful.

Business sector

The groups are those set out in Annex 4 to Law No. 190/2014; each carries its own profitability coefficient — the share of revenue treated as taxable income.

Social security scheme

This is the field that governs all the others: the contribution calculation depends on it.

Contributions paid to your professional fund during the year

This calculator does not work the figure out for you: each fund has its own rules, rates and minimum amounts, and an automatic estimate would not be reliable.

Employment income, similar income or pensions received in the previous year

Above 35,000 euro in the previous year the scheme is not available.

This is my first year of activity
Contributions are deducted in the year they are actually paid. Under the Gestione Separata the amount paid in the first year is usually zero; craftsmen and traders, by contrast, pay the fixed instalments from the first year.
I meet the conditions for the reduced 5% substitute tax
This means a genuinely new activity, not the continuation of work you were already doing.
I am applying for the 35% reduction in contributions
The reduction is available to artisans and traders only. You pay less, but you also accrue proportionately less towards your pension.

The difference shown is between the total burden of the two regimes, tax and contributions together. A positive figure means the flat-rate scheme costs less.

What the estimate does not cover

The estimate does not cover grounds for exclusion other than those covered by the questions above: tax residence abroad, special VAT regimes, interests in partnerships or companies, or a predominance of revenue from your current employer or from someone who employed you in the previous two years. It does not take into account stamp duty on invoices, payments on account and their cash-flow effect over the first two years, or the regional and municipal surcharges under the ordinary regime, which vary from one region and municipality to another.

More important still, under the flat-rate regime costs are not deductible. At the same level of revenue, someone with high costs may end up worse off than under the ordinary regime. The choice is not only about tax. Access to credit, personal deductions and allowances that cannot be used under the flat-rate regime because there is no ordinary income tax to set them against, and a lower future pension if the contribution reduction is taken, all bear on the decision.

Talk to the firm The guide to the flat-rate scheme