Moving to Italy is the easy part. Working out what you owe — and when — is where most foreigners get lost. This guide covers the essentials for 2026: whether you are tax resident, how IRPEF works, the regimes designed for newcomers, what you must declare from abroad, and the payment calendar.
1. Are you an Italian tax resident?
Residency is the switch that decides everything else. Since the 2024 reform (art. 2 TUIR, as amended by D.Lgs. 209/2023), you are tax resident for a year if, for most of that year — 183 days, or 184 in a leap year — any one of these applies:
- Physical presence: you are in Italy, counting part days, so the days you arrive and leave count as days in Italy.
- Domicile: your main personal and family relationships are in Italy.
- Residence: your habitual home is in Italy.
- Registration: you are registered at a comune (the anagrafe) — a presumption you can rebut with evidence.
Residency applies to the whole tax year: Italy has no general "split year". If you meet a test for most of the year you are resident for all of it; if not, you are not resident that year, unless a tax treaty says otherwise.
Once resident, Italy taxes your income from everywhere — a flat you rent out in London, dividends from a US broker, interest on a Swiss account. Non-residents pay Italian tax only on Italian-source income. Double tax treaties usually prevent you paying twice, often through a credit for foreign tax.
Count your days with the residency planner: it applies the presence test year by year from your trips abroad.
2. IRPEF, Italy's income tax, in 2026
IRPEF (imposta sul reddito delle persone fisiche) is progressive. The 2026 Budget Law (L. 199/2025) cut the middle rate from 35% to 33%.
| Taxable income | Rate | 2026 change |
|---|---|---|
| Up to €28,000 | 23% | Unchanged |
| €28,000 – €50,000 | 33% | Down from 35% |
| Over €50,000 | 43% | Unchanged |
Taxable income is your income after deductible items — including your own mandatory INPS contributions. Tax credits (detrazioni) then reduce the tax: employees get up to €1,955 a year, tapering to zero at €50,000.
Regional and municipal surcharges
On top of IRPEF you pay two addizionali: a regional surcharge of 1.23% to 3.33% and a municipal one, usually up to 0.8–0.9%, both on taxable income. They're why many first-year bills are higher than expected. Estimate yours with the tax calculator.
3. The impatriati regime: 50% off your work income
For people moving their tax residence to Italy from 2024, the regime (art. 5 D.Lgs. 209/2023) exempts 50% of employment and self-employment income produced in Italy, up to €600,000 a year, for 5 years. The exemption rises to 60% if you have a minor child (or one is born or adopted while you use the regime).
Who qualifies
- You were tax resident abroad for at least 3 years before moving — 6 or 7 if you work for the same employer or group you worked for before.
- You commit to staying tax resident in Italy for at least 4 years (or repay the benefit).
- You work mainly in Italy and have a high qualification or specialisation.
Unlike the pre-2024 regime, there is no extra relief for moving to southern Italy, and business income is excluded. People who moved before 2024 may still be on the old rules.
4. Freelancers: the regime forfettario
Most freelancers with a partita IVA choose the flat-rate regime (L. 190/2014):
- Revenue up to €85,000 a year.
- 15% tax on a fixed share of revenue set by your activity code (the coefficiente di redditività, e.g. 78% for many professionals) — 5% for the first 5 years of a qualifying new activity.
- No VAT charged on invoices and no expense bookkeeping for tax purposes.
- Exclusions apply: for 2026, employment or pension income above €35,000 rules you out.
INPS contributions are separate: around 26% in the Gestione Separata for most professionals. They are deductible, but often a bigger bill than the tax itself.
5. The flat tax for wealthy new residents
High-net-worth individuals can replace Italian tax on their foreign income with a fixed annual payment (art. 24-bis TUIR). For people transferring residence from 2026 it is €300,000 a year (up from €200,000), plus €50,000 for each family member included. You must not have been Italian tax resident in at least 9 of the previous 10 years. Italian-source income is still taxed normally.
6. Foreign assets: IVIE, IVAFE and the RW section
Residents must report assets held abroad in the Quadro RW of their tax return, and pay two wealth taxes on them:
- IVIE — 1.06% a year on property abroad, generally on its value or purchase price.
- IVAFE — 0.2% a year on foreign investments; foreign current and savings accounts pay a fixed €34.20 when the average balance exceeds €5,000.
Missing RW reporting is expensive: penalties run from 3% to 15% of the undeclared amount (higher for blacklisted countries).
7. Paying: the F24 calendar
If tax isn't fully withheld through an Italian payroll, you pay it yourself with the F24 form:
- 30 June — the balance (saldo) for last year plus the first advance (acconto) for this year. ISA taxpayers and forfettari have had until 20 July in recent years.
- 30 November — the second advance.
The advance is normally 100% of last year's tax, split 40/60 (or 50/50 for ISA taxpayers and forfettari). The June payment can be spread over up to 7 monthly instalments, ending by 16 December. The F24 planner builds every line, with codes 4001, 4033 and 4034 for IRPEF.
8. Practical tips
- Get your codice fiscale first. You need it for a lease, a bank account, a phone contract and every tax form — see our first-month guide.
- Plan before you move. Gains on investments sold after you become resident are generally taxed at 26% in Italy, so review timing with an adviser before the move.
- Keep evidence of your days. Boarding passes and bookings settle residency questions later.
- Use a commercialista for your first return if you have foreign income or a partita IVA.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change and offices apply them differently: confirm your situation with a commercialista, a patronato or an immigration lawyer before acting.