What changed in Italy

Foreign retirees moving to a small southern town can pay 7% flat tax on all foreign income for 10 years

Personal income tax

The impatriati regime exempts half your employment income, but comes with a 4-year residence commitment and clawback

Personal income tax

The flat-tax new-residents regime can replace worldwide progressive tax with one fixed annual sum, but the sum keeps rising

Personal income tax

Crypto carries an annual 0.2% wealth charge and mandatory Quadro RW reporting, even with no gain realised

Crypto tax and legal status

Mining tax treatment genuinely depends on facts and circumstances, and was the weakest-sourced finding in this section

Crypto tax and legal status

Staking, lending and airdrops are taxed as income when received, a separate question from disposal gains

Crypto tax and legal status

An optional 18% step-up can reset your cost basis before the higher 2026 rate applies

Crypto tax and legal status

Habitual, organised trading risks reclassification from private gains to taxed business income

Crypto tax and legal status

Disposal gains are taxed at 26% for 2025, rising to 33% from 2026, and the old EUR 2,000 shelter is gone

Crypto tax and legal status

Crypto is fully legal to hold and trade in Italy, regulated under MiCA since December 2024

Crypto tax and legal status

Importing household goods and a vehicle qualifies for duty relief, but only inside specific windows

Local registrations

Get your codice fiscale first, everything else depends on it

Local registrations

Working residents build INPS pension entitlement, and prior foreign contributions can count toward it

Pension

Working residents get compulsory SSN coverage, non-working residents need private cover or a voluntary contribution

Healthcare coverage

Whether to redomicile your existing company or simply incorporate fresh in Italy is genuinely case-specific

Moving your company

CFC rules can attribute a foreign company's income to you personally, unless the flat-tax regime shields it

Moving your company

Keep running your foreign company from Italy and you risk dragging its tax residency here with you

Moving your company

Italian inheritance and gift tax is among the lowest in Western Europe

Leaving home: exit tax and ties

No general wealth tax, but foreign assets attract IVIE and IVAFE, and there is no charge for becoming resident

Leaving home: exit tax and ties

Italy allows dual citizenship without requiring you to give up your original nationality

Permanent residency and citizenship

Naturalisation timelines vary sharply by pathway, and there is no citizenship-by-investment shortcut

Permanent residency and citizenship

EU long-term resident status needs 5 years, stable income, housing and an A2 language test

Permanent residency and citizenship

Outside investment, third-country movers choose between passive-income, remote-work, self-employment or skilled-employee routes

Residency routes

The Investor Visa is Italy's clearest capital-based residency route, but there is no property-only version

Residency routes

EU and EEA citizens relocate to Italy with no permit process at all

Residency routes

Signing contracts or making management decisions from Italy creates real PE risk

Permanent establishment risk

One remote employee without contract authority carries low PE risk

Permanent establishment risk

A foreign employer with no Italian entity has no obvious Italian payroll trigger

Employer payroll obligations

Non-EU stays need travel or health insurance with real minimum cover

Healthcare coverage

EHIC or GHIC covers EU and EEA visitors for medically necessary care

Healthcare coverage

No social security agreement exists for this employer country, so double contributions are possible

Social security

Italy's cross-border telework framework agreement can keep you on your employer's social security system

Social security

Your employer's country has a coordination mechanism that keeps you on your home system

Social security

Physically working from Italy can create Italian-source income even for a foreign employer

Personal income tax

Non-residents are taxed only on Italian-source income

Personal income tax

Past 183 days, or with family ties in Italy, you become an Italian tax resident even under 183 days

Tax residency

Under 183 days with no local ties keeps you an Italian non-resident

Tax residency

The Digital Nomad Visa does not cover work for an Italian employer or Italian clients

Right to work

Remote work on a plain visitor status is tolerated, not affirmatively legal

Right to work

Past 90 days on a short-stay status, you are overstaying Schengen

Immigration and visa

The Digital Nomad Visa is Italy's purpose-built route for longer remote stays

Immigration and visa

Your nationality needs a Schengen visa arranged before travel

Immigration and visa

Visa-free Schengen entry covers stays up to 90 days

Immigration and visa

EU and EEA citizens have full free movement into Italy

Immigration and visa