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You run a business or hold a VAT number and sell to customers outside Italy

Selling abroad with Italian VAT

Understand when a sale to the European Union or outside it is non-taxable, compute the tax and the habitual exporter's ceiling, register with VIES, invoice through the SdI, file the Intrastat lists, receive declarations of intent and carry everything into the annual VAT return: 9 steps.

Start here: Italian VAT on cross-border trade: EU and non-EU

Understand: intra-EU supplies, exports, habitual exporter status

  1. Step 1 of 9
    CourseFree44 min

    Italian VAT on cross-border trade: EU and non-EU

    When a sale to a business in another EU country is zero-rated and on which two conditions; how to invoice and record it, how to self-account on an EU supplier's invoice, and what changes for exports and for sales to consumers. Then services: where they are supplied, who pays the tax, which note goes on the invoice, the VIES database and the Intrastat returns. Two modules with case studies, 2026 rules.
  2. Step 2 of 9
    CourseFree40 min

    Regular exporters and the VAT-free purchase ceiling

    Who can buy without VAT on the strength of their exports: the ten per cent test, how intra-EU sales count, the fixed and the rolling ceiling, the purchases that are excluded and what happens when a business is leased. Then the declaration of intent sent to the Revenue Agency, the receipt number on the invoice, the supplier's online check, the penalties and who pays them. Two modules with case studies, 2026 rules.

Compute: taxable amount and VAT, available ceiling

  1. Step 3 of 9
    CalculatorFree result

    Italian VAT calculator — taxable amount, tax and total

    Italian VAT is always charged on the taxable amount, never on the total: to extract it from a VAT-inclusive price, divide by one plus the rate rather than deducting the percentage.
  2. Step 4 of 9
    CalculatorFree result

    Italian habitual exporter VAT ceiling (plafond) — how much you can still buy VAT-free

    An Italian business is a habitual exporter if exports recorded in the previous year exceed 10 % of its turnover. It may then buy without VAT up to a ceiling equal to the previous calendar year's exports, or the previous twelve months' under the rolling method, which is not open to businesses trading for less than twelve months.

File: VIES, e-invoice, Intrastat, declaration of intent, annual VAT return

  1. Step 5 of 9
    FormFree15 min

    Registering in the Italian VIES archive for intra-EU transactions

    Who must be included in VIES to buy and sell within the European Union, how to opt in through box I of the AA9 and AA7 forms or later online, when inclusion is immediate, how to revoke it and when the Agenzia removes you — guide, deadlines and worked example.
  2. Step 6 of 9
    FormFree15 min

    Issuing an Italian e-invoice through the Exchange System (SdI)

    Without the SdI an invoice is not issued: how to fill in the recipient code, what the SdI checks, what to do after a rejection or non-delivery receipt and which fields a flat-rate taxpayer fills in — guide, free tools and worked example.
  3. Step 7 of 9
    FormFree40 min

    Italian Intrastat summary lists: who files them, monthly or quarterly

    Intra-EU supplies and purchases of goods and services, a 50,000-euro threshold per category of transaction, filing with Customs by the 25th of the following month: who must file Intrastat lists in Italy and how often — guide, deadlines and worked example.
  4. Step 8 of 9
    FormFree20 min

    Italian declaration of intent: buying VAT-free as a habitual exporter

    Electronic filing with the Agenzia delle Entrate before VAT-free purchases or imports, a receipt with a 17-digit filing number plus sequence number, a check by the supplier: who files the Italian declaration of intent and how — guide, steps and worked example.
  5. Step 9 of 9
    FormFree60 min

    Italian annual VAT return (Iva and Iva base forms)

    Online from 1 February to 30 April, by the end of February if it carries the fourth quarter: who must file, who is exempt (flat-rate taxpayers for the whole year, exempt transactions), when the simplified Iva base form can be used and where options are notified — guide, deadlines and worked example.

The other paths

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

Read in Italian