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You are an employer hiring for the first time

Hiring your first employee

Understand the payslip, the withholding agent's duties and severance pay (TFR), compute net pay, the tax-wedge exempt amount, the TFR accrual and the extra deduction for new hires, then issue the Certificazione Unica, file the withholding agents' return and pay the withholdings and the TFR substitute tax: 11 steps.

Start here: Reading an Italian payslip and the tax wedge cut

Understand: payslip and tax wedge, withholding agent, severance pay

  1. Step 1 of 11
    CourseFree40 min

    Reading an Italian payslip and the tax wedge cut

    From gross to net, line by line: INPS contributions and the employer's right to recover the employee share, taxable pay, IRPEF withholding by bracket and the employment credit, local surcharges, fringe benefits and meal vouchers, year-end adjustment and the Certificazione Unica. Then the tax wedge cut: the tax-free sum below 20,000 euros, the extra credit up to 40,000 euros and the supplementary payment. Two modules with case studies, 2026 rules.
  2. Step 2 of 11
    CourseFree40 min

    Italian withholding agent duties in a small business

    When an Italian limited company or sole trader becomes a withholding agent (sostituto d'imposta), and why a flat-rate taxpayer mostly stays outside the role. Then the 2026 single certificate (CU): what it attests, the short and full versions, the 16 March, 30 April and 2 November deadlines, and its link with form 770. Finally the payment calendar: withholdings by the 16th of the following month, and the advance and balance of the 17 % substitute tax on severance pay (TFR). Two modules with case studies.
  3. Step 3 of 11
    CourseFree43 min

    Managing Italian severance pay (TFR) as an employer

    TFR from the point of view of a small employer: the yearly accrual, equal to qualifying pay divided by 13.5, and the revaluation of the fund on 31 December at a fixed 1.5 % plus 75 % of the rise in the ISTAT index, which the course explains without putting a figure on it. Then the 17 % substitute tax on the revaluation alone, the historical or forecast advance, the balance, tax codes 1712 and 1713, and the advance an employee may request. Two modules with case studies.

Compute: net pay, exempt amount, severance pay, extra deduction for new hires

  1. Step 4 of 11
    CalculatorFree result

    Italian take-home pay — from gross to net salary

    From gross to net: take the employee's social security contributions off gross salary; charge IRPEF on the rest by bracket (23, 33 and 43 %) and subtract the employment tax credit; then take off the regional and municipal surcharges and add any tax-free tax-wedge payment.
  2. Step 5 of 11
    CalculatorFree result

    Italian tax-wedge cut: the tax-free payroll sum

    If your total income is EUR 20,000 or less, your employer adds a tax-free sum to your pay: 7.1% of employment income up to EUR 8,500, 5.3% up to EUR 15,000 and 4.8% above. The rate is picked on your income scaled up to a full year, then applied to what you actually earned.
  3. Step 6 of 11
    CalculatorFree result

    Italian severance pay (TFR): yearly accrual and revaluation

    Each year the TFR grows by the annual pay divided by 13.5; the fund already set aside, excluding this year's accrual, is revalued at a fixed 1.5% plus 75% of the rise in the ISTAT price index, and the revaluation bears a 17% substitute tax.
  4. Step 7 of 11
    CalculatorFree result

    Italian super-deduction for new hires: the 20 % uplift on staff costs

    Businesses and professionals that take on more permanent employees deduct the cost of the new hires plus 20 %. The uplift is worked out on the lower of the new hires' cost and the rise in total staff costs, and applies only if both permanent staff and total headcount grow compared with the previous period. It runs for 2025, 2026 and 2027.

File: Certificazione Unica, withholding agents' return

  1. Step 8 of 11
    FormFree30 min

    Italian withholding certificate (Certificazione unica, CU)

    Paid a professional and withheld tax? Deliver the sintetico form by 16 March and send the ordinario form by 16 March, or by 30 April for habitual self-employment income only: what to certify and which deadline applies — guide, deadlines and worked example.
  2. Step 9 of 11
    FormFree90 min

    Italian 770/2026 form: the withholding agents' return

    Who files the 770 (tax withheld on salaries, fees, dividends, short-term rentals), the 2 November 2026 deadline, the link with the Certificazioni uniche and the simplified system for employers with up to five employees — guide, deadlines and worked example.

Pay: employee withholdings, substitute tax on severance pay

  1. Step 10 of 11
    FormFree15 min

    Paying over Italian withholding tax on salaries with the F24

    Irpef withheld from pay at the time of payment, paid over by the 16th of the following month, a year-end adjustment by 28 February and the Certificazione unica: what the withholding is calculated on and how it is paid — guide, deadlines and worked example.
  2. Step 11 of 11
    FormFree20 min

    Paying the Italian substitute tax on TFR revaluation with the F24

    Advance by 16 December (code 1712), balance by 16 February (code 1713): who owes it, which fund it is computed on, how to choose between the historical and forecast methods and which portions are excluded — guide, deadlines and worked example.

The other paths

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

Read in Italian