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You are starting a business as a sole trader and aim for the flat-rate regime

Starting a business under the flat-rate regime

Understand the flat-rate regime and the VAT number choice, check the entry requirements, compare the flat-rate and ordinary regimes, estimate the substitute tax and the chamber of commerce fee, then open the VAT number, register the business through the single filing, submit the SCIA, declare your income and pay the annual fee: 12 steps.

Start here: The Italian flat-rate scheme for a VAT number

Understand: flat-rate regime, opening a VAT number, Companies Register

  1. Step 1 of 12
    CourseFree40 min

    The Italian flat-rate scheme for a VAT number

    Who can enter the regime forfettario — 85,000 euros of revenue and 20,000 euros of staff spending in the previous year, with no exclusion ground — and when you leave it, the following year or at once above 100,000 euros. Then the substitute tax at 15 % or at 5 % for new businesses, what the scheme spares you (VAT, withholding) and what is still owed. Two modules with case studies, 2026 rules.
  2. Step 2 of 12
    CourseFree41 min

    Opening an Italian VAT number as an individual

    Form AA9/12, to be filed within 30 days of starting work — by certified email, in person, by registered post or online — and when the single business notice is needed instead; what you declare, and how to update or close the VAT number. Then how the flat-rate scheme is notified, monthly or quarterly VAT settlements, the December advance, the quarterly settlement report and electronic invoicing. Two modules with case studies, 2026 rules.
  3. Step 3 of 12
    CourseFree38 min

    The Italian business register, ComUnica and the annual chamber fee

    Who must join the Registro delle imprese and how a Comunicazione Unica is filed: the tools, digital signatures now that the paper proxy is gone, protocol numbers, suspensions, changes and deregistration. Then the yearly duties: the PEC digital address of the business and its directors, the penalties, the diritto annuale owed to the chamber of commerce, its deadline and form F24. Two modules with case studies, 2026 rules.

Compute: requirements, comparison with the ordinary regime, substitute tax, chamber fee

  1. Step 4 of 12
    CalculatorFree result

    Italian flat-rate scheme (regime forfettario) — check the entry and exit conditions

    You qualify for the regime forfettario if, in the previous year, your annualised revenue stayed within the entry threshold, your staff costs within the cap and your employment income within the limit. Go past the upper threshold during the year and the scheme ends at once, with VAT due from the transaction that crosses it.
  2. Step 5 of 12
    CalculatorFree result

    Italian flat-rate regime or standard regime? Compare what you keep

    Under the regime forfettario your real costs are not deducted: income is revenue times the profitability coefficient, and a single substitute tax replaces IRPEF and the regional and municipal surcharges. Under the standard regime you deduct actual costs but pay IRPEF by bands plus the surcharges. The flat-rate regime usually wins when costs are low; with high costs the standard regime can leave you more.
  3. Step 6 of 12
    CalculatorFree result

    Italian flat-rate substitute tax (imposta sostitutiva) — what you pay under the regime forfettario

    Under the regime forfettario, income is your revenue multiplied by the profitability coefficient of your ATECO code. Compulsory social security contributions paid are deducted, and a single tax replacing IRPEF and the regional and municipal surcharges applies to what is left — at a reduced rate in the first years for qualifying new businesses.
  4. Step 7 of 12
    CalculatorFree result

    Italian Chamber of Commerce annual fee (diritto annuale) — what you have to pay

    Sole traders and bodies registered only in the REA pay a fixed amount for their registered office and for each local unit. Companies already on the register apply banded rates to the previous year's turnover, add 20 % for each local unit, halve the total and then add any surcharge set by their Chamber. The amount paid is rounded to the nearest euro.

File: VAT number application, single company filing, SCIA, income tax return

  1. Step 8 of 12
    FormFree30 min

    Opening an Italian VAT number as an individual (form AA9/12)

    Within 30 days of starting, by PEC, at an office, by registered post or online: who uses form AA9/12 and who goes through the Comunicazione Unica, how to sign and file it, how to change or close the VAT number — guide, deadlines and worked example.
  2. Step 9 of 12
    FormFree60 min

    Registering or updating an Italian business with the Single Communication (ComUnica)

    One filing with the Companies Register for registration, VAT number, INPS, INAIL and SCIA: what you need (digital signature, PEC, Telemaco), how to fill it in, when you may start trading and how to fix a suspended file — guide and worked example.
  3. Step 10 of 12
    FormFree60 min

    Starting a business activity in Italy with a SCIA filed with the SUAP (Impresa in un giorno)

    What the certified notice of start of activity is, how to complete and sign it on the impresainungiorno.gov.it portal, when the SUAP receipt is enough to start trading and how it fits with the ComUnica — guide and worked example.
  4. Step 11 of 12
    FormFree90 min

    Italian income tax return: Redditi Persone fisiche form

    Online from 15 April to 2 November 2026 for tax year 2025: who must use the Redditi PF form (business, self-employment, non-residents, heirs), when the 730 is enough, which tools to complete it with and how the taxes are paid — guide, deadlines and worked example.

Pay: annual chamber of commerce fee

  1. Step 12 of 12
    FormFree15 min

    Italian Chamber of Commerce annual fee: who pays, when and how to fill in the F24

    Who owes the annual fee, the 2026 deadlines with the ISA extension and the balancing payment of the 20% increase, how to fill in the F24 with tax code 3850 or pay with pagoPA, and when the obligation ends — guide and worked example.

The other paths

A different procedure, the same principle: the three pillars in order.

Read in Italian