Italian Vocabulary for Freelancing and VAT: Partita IVA Explained

Freelancing in Italy is administratively heavier than in most other European countries — but perfectly manageable once you understand the vocabulary. The key decision is your regime fiscale (tax regime), and the key document is your fattura (invoice). Everything else flows from these two things.

This article covers the vocabulary for Italian self-employment: what you open, what you pay, what you invoice, and what the system actually calls all of it.

Opening a Partita IVA

Partita IVA — your Italian VAT number, and the identifier for your self-employment activity. Without a Partita IVA, you cannot legally operate as a freelancer or sole trader in Italy. Opening one is free and done via the Agenzia delle Entrate (the Italian tax authority), online or at their offices.

Agenzia delle Entrate — Italy's tax authority. The central body for all tax matters, including VAT registration, income tax returns, and tax disputes.

Codice ATECO — the activity classification code. When you open your Partita IVA, you must select one or more ATECO codes that describe your professional activity. This code affects which expenses you can deduct and, in some regimes, the profitability coefficient used to calculate taxable income.

Categoria catastale — only relevant for rental property income; for freelancers, the codice ATECO is the equivalent.

Iscrizione alla Camera di Commercio — registration with the Chamber of Commerce. Required for commercial activities and artisans; often not required for purely professional freelancers (liberi professionisti).

Albo professionale — a professional register. Certain regulated professions (lawyers, architects, accountants, engineers) require registration with a specific albo as well as a Partita IVA.

Tax Regimes

Regime forfetario — the flat-rate regime. Italy's simplified tax regime for small freelancers with annual revenue below €85,000. Key features: a flat income tax rate of 15% (5% in the first five years of activity for new businesses, under certain conditions), no VAT collected or remitted, simplified accounting, and fixed deductible expense rates by category (determined by the ATECO code). Highly attractive for small freelancers.

Regime ordinario — the standard tax regime. Applies when revenue exceeds the forfetario threshold, or when voluntarily chosen. Full VAT obligations, progressive IRPEF income tax, and complete bookkeeping requirements.

Coefficiente di redditività — the profitability coefficient applied in the forfetario regime to estimate taxable income as a percentage of gross revenue (varies by activity: e.g., 78% for professional services, 40% for commerce). Your tax is calculated on this estimated income, not on actual expenses.

Contributi INPS — social security contributions paid to INPS (the national social security body). For freelancers, contributions go into the Gestione Separata scheme, at roughly 26% of net income (after applicable deductions). These accumulate towards future pension entitlements.

Gestione Separata — the INPS scheme for freelancers and self-employed workers, separate from the schemes for employees and artisans.

Ritenuta d'acconto — withholding tax. When you invoice certain Italian clients (companies, other VAT holders), they are legally required to withhold 20% of your invoice amount as prepaid income tax (acconto IRPEF), paying it to the tax authority on your behalf. This appears on your invoice as ritenuta d'acconto del 20% and is deducted from what the client pays you. You recover this credit in your annual tax return.

Invoicing

Fattura — invoice.

Fattura elettronica — electronic invoice. Mandatory in Italy for most B2B and B2G (government) transactions, and extended to B2C in many cases. Must be issued via the Sistema di Interscambio (SdI), the government's electronic invoice exchange platform. In practice, most freelancers use accounting software (software di fatturazione) to generate and transmit fatture elettroniche automatically.

Codice destinatario / codice SDI — a 7-character code identifying the recipient's electronic invoicing system. Must appear on the invoice.

PEC — Posta Elettronica Certificata. Certified electronic email; an alternative to the codice destinatario for receiving electronic invoices. Some clients provide this instead of an SDI code.

Data fattura — invoice date.

Numero fattura — invoice number (must be sequential within a calendar year).

Imponibile — taxable amount (revenue before VAT).

IVA — Imposta sul Valore Aggiunto (Italian VAT). Standard rate: 22%. Under the regime forfetario, you do not charge or remit IVA. Under the regime ordinario, you add it to your invoices and file quarterly or annual returns.

Esenzione IVA — VAT exemption. Freelancers under regime forfetario must include a note on their invoices: "Operazione effettuata ai sensi dell'art. 1, commi 54–89, Legge n. 190/2014 – regime forfetario. Non soggetta a IVA."

Totale fattura — total invoice amount.

Marca da bollo — a stamp duty (€2) applied to invoices over €77.47 that are exempt from IVA. In the regime forfetario, this is paid electronically and noted on the invoice as "assolvimento dell'imposta di bollo ai sensi del DM 17/06/2014."

Annual Tax Return

Dichiarazione dei redditi — income tax return, filed annually.

Modello Redditi PF — the tax return form for natural persons (freelancers and self-employed use this, unlike employees who may use the Modello 730).

Acconto IRPEF — advance income tax payments. Due in May/June (40%) and November (60%) of each year, based on the prior year's tax liability. A cash-flow reality to plan for.

Saldo IRPEF — the balance of income tax due after accounting for advance payments and withheld amounts.

F24 — the standard payment form used for all Italian tax and social security payments.

Freelancing in Italy rewards those who understand the system. The regime forfetario in particular is one of Europe's more attractive self-employment regimes — the vocabulary above is what you need to access it properly. Italy's administrative language is specific and consequential; learn it before you need it.

Italian freelance vocabulary is its own domain. Vokabulo helps you build the exact terms for your professional situation in Italy. Available on iPhone and iPad.