INPS Gestione Separata
Professionals without their own fund. A rate proportional to income, with no minimum: if you do not invoice, you do not pay. It is the lightest regime for those starting out uphill.
Individuals · Concessionary scheme
The flat-rate scheme in Turin
The rules of the regime forfettario (Italy's flat-rate scheme for the self-employed) are national; the costs you pay are not. A substantial part of the tax on an ordinary partita IVA (Italian VAT number) is set by the Regione Piemonte and the Comune di Torino, and that is precisely the part the flat-rate scheme does not pay. That is why exactly the same turnover produces a different saving in Turin from the one it produces elsewhere.
01 · The local angle
The local surcharges the flat-rate scheme in Turin does not pay
Under the ordinary regime you pay IRPEF (Italian personal income tax) to the State and, on top of that, two surcharges: a regional one, set by Piedmont, and a municipal one, set by the Comune (municipality) where you are resident on 1 January. They are percentages applied to taxable income and they do not depend on how well you manage your costs: you simply pay them.
The flat-rate scheme replaces IRPEF and its surcharges with a single substitute tax. This means that if you are on the flat-rate scheme and resident in Turin, you pay neither the Piedmont regional surcharge nor the Turin municipal surcharge. It is not a minor detail: on average incomes it is an item measured in hundreds of euros a year.
Surcharge rates change over time, and the municipal one can also vary from one town to another in the ring around the city: someone resident in Moncalieri or Rivoli has a different rate from someone resident in Turin itself. That is why the comparison between the flat-rate and the ordinary regime has to be redone with the figures for the current year and the right municipality, not with a generic table found online.
Beware of a common misunderstanding: the surcharges follow your residence, not where the business is based. If you live in Turin and work in Milan, you pay the Turin surcharges, and vice versa.
02 · Who can use it
The conditions for joining and staying in
The limit is €85,000 of revenue or fees collected in the year. What counts is what you collect, not what you invoice: an invoice issued in December and paid in January counts in the year it is collected.
- You must not have spent more than €20,000 gross on employees, collaborators or casual work.
- You must not at the same time hold an interest in partnerships, professional associations or family businesses.
- You must not control, directly or indirectly, an SRL whose activity is related to that of your partita IVA.
- You must not invoice mainly your current employer or one from the last two years, nor parties connected with them.
- You must not have had employment or similar income above €35,000 in the previous year, unless the employment has ended.
- You must be resident in Italy, or produce at least 75% of your total income in Italy.
The case we see most often
The employee who opens a partita IVA for a second job. It works, but there are two limits to check first.
- Employment income for the previous year must not exceed €35,000, otherwise the flat-rate scheme does not apply
- You cannot invoice mainly your own employer: this is the exclusion that knocks out the most positions
- Read your employment contract: many include duties to notify or non-compete clauses
- Contributions follow the activity, not the contract: they are added to those you already pay as an employee
03 · How it is calculated
The coefficient matters more than the tax rate
Under the flat-rate scheme costs are not deducted one by one. A profitability coefficient set by law according to the ATECO code (the Italian classification of business activities) is applied to your revenue, and contributions and tax are calculated on that percentage. The rest is treated as costs, whether you incurred them or not.
This is where the scheme pays off or does not: if your real costs are much lower than the flat allowance you gain, and if they are higher you lose out. A consultant working from home with a laptop has very low real costs and a 78% coefficient: the flat allowance hardly penalises them. A trader with a warehouse, rent and staff has high real costs and a 40% coefficient: there, the numbers really do need working out.
| Type of activity | Coefficient | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Professionals and service activities | 78% | Almost everything you collect is taxed: it suits those with few costs |
| Trade intermediaries | 62% | Commercial agents and sales representatives |
| Wholesale and retail trade | 40% | The flat allowance recognises high costs: be careful if yours are lower |
| Food and drink | 40% | Bars, restaurants, food and drink service |
| Construction and real estate | 86% | The highest coefficient: almost no flat-rate costs recognised |
| Other economic activities | 67% | A residual category, to be checked against the exact code |
The ATECO code is not a bureaucratic formality: it determines the coefficient, the pension fund and in some cases the obligation to register with the Registro Imprese (Companies Register). Choosing it badly is the most expensive mistake, and correcting it later is not retroactive.
04 · The heaviest item
Contributions weigh more than the tax
If you only look at the 15% (or the 5% for the first five years), you forget the biggest piece. On the income calculated with the coefficient you first pay social security contributions, and only then, on income net of contributions, is the substitute tax calculated.
Artisans and traders
Fixed minimum contributions due even on zero income, plus a percentage above the minimum threshold. They need to be budgeted for before you start.
Professional pension funds
Lawyers, doctors, engineers and other regulated professions pay into their own fund under separate rules, which the flat-rate scheme does not change.
35% reduction
Artisans and traders on the flat-rate scheme can apply for the contribution reduction. It must be requested by a precise deadline, and it affects the pension credited.
A practical rule: set aside a share of every payment you receive, not just the tax due at year end. If you only set aside 15%, you will be caught short when the contributions fall due.
The chamber of commerce fee in Turin
If you register with the Registro Imprese you pay the annual fee to the Turin Chamber of Commerce every year. It is not an income tax: you pay it even at a loss.
- It concerns businesses registered with the Registro Imprese, not professionals with no obligation to register
- It is paid with the F24 (the Italian tax payment form) by the income tax deadlines
- Local branches involve an additional amount
- In the first year the amount is due even if the business starts in December
05 · The other side
When the flat-rate scheme is the wrong choice
The flat-rate scheme is almost always presented as the obvious choice. It is not. There are situations where it costs more, and others where it costs the same but takes tools away from you.
- High real costs. If you spend more than the coefficient recognises, you are paying tax on income you do not have.
- Significant start-up investment. Equipment, fitting out, vehicles: under the flat-rate scheme they are not depreciated and the VAT on the purchase is not deductible.
- VAT-registered clients who want VAT on the invoice. Some clients, especially large ones, handle suppliers who do not charge VAT badly.
- Tax-deductible expenses and personal deductions. Without IRPEF you have no tax to set mortgage interest, medical expenses or renovations against: if you have no other income, those deductions are lost.
- A dependent spouse or children. Family tax credits follow IRPEF: under a pure flat-rate scheme there is no tax for them to be set against.
- Expected growth above €85,000. If the jump is close, it makes sense to set up ordinary accounting from the start, rather than changing regime halfway.
The most delicate case is someone whose only income is from their partita IVA and who has a mortgage on their main home: the interest deduction goes unused. It needs to be factored in beforehand, not discovered in June.
06 · The paperwork
Starting in Turin, step by step
Classification
You choose the ATECO code, check the coefficient and establish the pension fund. This is the part that matters most, and it is done before any form.
Opening the partita IVA
For professionals the form filed with the Agenzia delle Entrate (the Italian Revenue Agency) is enough. Businesses need the ComUnica filing (the single online start-up procedure), which opens the partita IVA, the Turin Registro Imprese entry and the INPS (Italian social security) position in one go.
Local formalities
Depending on the activity, you may need a SCIA (certified notice of start of activity) at the Comune di Torino one-stop shop, registration with professional bodies or registers, or specific professional requirements.
Electronic invoicing
Mandatory for flat-rate taxpayers too. The transmission channel is set up and the first invoice is issued, with stamp duty where required.
- Before you startChecking it pays offExpected turnover, real costs, pension fund, residence: the flat-rate and ordinary regimes are compared on your numbers
- Day 1OpeningPartita IVA, and for businesses ComUnica with the Registro Imprese and INPS
- Within 30 daysRelated formalitiesSCIA if required, mandatory registrations, any authorisations
- First yearNo advance paymentsIn the first year you only pay the balance: it is the year to be disciplined about setting money aside
- Second yearBalance plus advancesThe previous year's balance and the advance payments arrive together: this is the deadline that catches people out most
The second year is the critical moment for every partita IVA: you pay the balance for the first year and at the same time the advance for the second. If you have not budgeted for it, you find out in June.
Frequently asked
The questions that keep coming up
How much do I really save compared with the ordinary regime?
It depends on three things: the coefficient for your activity, the costs you actually incur and the personal deductions you would lose. There is no percentage that holds for everyone.
The calculation is done by setting the two scenarios side by side on the same numbers, including the regional and municipal surcharges you do not pay under the flat-rate scheme. It is half an hour's work and it holds for all the following years.
What happens if I go over €85,000?
Once you exceed the threshold, you leave the scheme from the following year. If you exceed €100,000, however, you leave immediately, in the current year, and must charge VAT from the moment you go over.
That is why anyone getting close to the threshold needs to keep an eye on collections month by month, not discover it when the year is closed.
I am resident in Moncalieri but work in Turin: does anything change?
For the flat-rate scheme, no, because you pay no surcharges in either case. It would certainly change under the ordinary regime, where the municipal surcharge follows the municipality of residence on 1 January.
It is one of the factors that make the comparison between the two regimes different from person to person, even on the same turnover.
Is the 5% for the first five years always available?
No. You must not have carried on a business or professional activity in the previous three years, the new activity must not merely continue a previous one, and, if you are taking over someone else's activity, the revenue must not exceed the threshold.
The condition about merely continuing a previous activity is the one that generates the most challenges: if you open a partita IVA to do, as a self-employed person, the same work you did as an employee for the same client, your case needs careful assessment.
Can I deduct my car, phone or computer?
No. Under the flat-rate scheme no cost is deducted item by item: the coefficient already accounts for them on a flat basis, whether you incurred them or not.
The only item subtracted from the calculated income is the mandatory social security contributions actually paid.
Do I have to issue electronic invoices on the flat-rate scheme too?
Yes, the obligation also applies to flat-rate taxpayers. On invoices without VAT above a certain threshold, stamp duty must be applied, and it is paid quarterly.
The transmission channel is set up only once; from then on, it is handled as usual and can be managed by the practice.
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The calculation is done on your numbers, not on general cases
Bring us the turnover you expect, the costs you have and the type of activity: in one appointment you can see whether the flat-rate scheme pays off, and for how many years.