Italy combines one of the EU's higher standard VAT rates with one of its strictest reporting systems. If you sell into Italy — whether as an Italian company, a foreign seller with Italian stock, or an e-commerce merchant — you need to understand both the rates and the electronic invoicing (fattura elettronica) requirement.
Italian VAT rates in 2026
- 22% standard rate — most goods and services.
- 10% reduced rate — hotels and restaurants, some food products, certain pharmaceuticals, utility connections.
- 5% reduced rate — selected basic necessities, some health products, approved social services.
- 4% super-reduced rate — basic foodstuffs, books, newspapers, certain medical devices for the disabled.
- 0% / exempt — exports, intra-EU supplies to valid VAT-registered buyers, financial and insurance services, medical care, education.
Who must register for Italian VAT
- Italian businesses with taxable turnover (foreign businesses: any turnover — there is no registration threshold for non-established companies).
- Foreign sellers storing goods in Italian warehouses (Amazon FBA in Milan, for example) — registration is required before the first sale.
- EU sellers who exceed the €10,000 EU-wide B2C distance-selling threshold and are not using OSS.
- Non-EU sellers making B2C sales of goods located in Italy, regardless of value.
Registration process for foreign businesses
- Obtain an Italian tax code (codice fiscale) for the company and its legal representative from the Agenzia delle Entrate.
- Appoint a fiscal representative — mandatory for non-EU businesses without a mutual assistance treaty with Italy; strongly recommended for everyone else because correspondence is Italian-only.
- File the VAT registration declaration (modello AA9/12 for entities) with the competent provincial office.
- Receive your Partita IVA (11 digits, starting with IT on VIES). Timelines range from 2 weeks to 3 months depending on the office.
- Register for e-invoicing (SdI) — every invoice, domestic and cross-border, must be transmitted through the Sistema di Interscambio.
E-invoicing: the part that surprises most foreign sellers
Since 2019, all B2B invoices between Italian-established parties must be issued in the XML FatturaPA format and cleared through the government's SdI platform before reaching the customer. Since 2022 this extends to cross-border B2B and B2C transactions of non-established sellers who are VAT-registered in Italy. In practice:
- Your invoicing software must generate FatturaPA XML and send it via the SdI — plain PDF invoices are not compliant.
- The SdI assigns a unique invoice number and timestamps delivery; the customer has 8 days to accept or refuse.
- Cross-border invoices are exempt from XML format but must still be recorded in the periodic settlement (esterometro obligations have been folded into the declarations).
Filing obligations and deadlines
- Periodic VAT returns — monthly or quarterly depending on turnover, filed via F24 payment by the 16th of the following month.
- Annual VAT return — filed together with the income tax return, generally by 30 November of the following year.
- LIPE (periodic VAT communication) — quarterly or annual summary of VAT data, filed electronically.
- Esterometro / SdI cross-border data — report purchases and sales with foreign counterparties.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Sending stock to an Italian fulfilment centre without a Partita IVA — Amazon blocks listings until the number is verified.
- Applying the standard 22% rate to hotel or book sales that belong in the reduced bands.
- Issuing PDF invoices to Italian B2B customers — they will refuse them because the SdI number is missing.
- Forgetting that reverse-charge intra-EU B2B supplies still need reporting in the periodic settlement.
Check current rates on our Italy VAT calculator and compare the EU on VAT rates by country.