Professionals without a fund
People carrying on a self-employed activity for which there is no professional register with its own fund: consultants, trainers, translators, many digital roles.
VAT numbers · Contributions
The INPS Gestione Separata
It is the pension scheme run by INPS (the national social security institute) for people who have no professional pension fund: professionals without a registered body, contractors, company directors. The contribution is high, the way it is paid depends on who you are, and the first year almost always holds a surprise.
01 · Who is required
Who must register with the Gestione Separata
The Gestione Separata (separate pension scheme) was created as a catch-all: it covers people who earn income from self-employment or similar work and have no pension fund for their profession, nor fall within the schemes for artisans and traders.
Contractors
People with an ongoing coordinated collaboration contract. Here the contribution is split between the client and the contractor.
Company directors
People who receive director's pay without belonging to a fund that covers it.
Professionals whose fund does not cover everything
People registered with a professional body that has a fund, but who also carry on an activity the fund does not cover, for the part not covered.
Door-to-door sellers
Above a certain annual income threshold, with an obligation to register.
Research fellows and PhD students
People receiving research grants or scholarships for which contributions are required.
People registered with a professional pension fund (accountants, lawyers, engineers and the other regulated professions) pay into their own fund, not here. The double obligation only arises when you carry on an activity your fund does not cover.
02 · How much you pay
How the contribution is worked out
The contribution is a percentage of income, with no fixed minimum: if your income is zero, you pay nothing. This is the key difference from the schemes for artisans and traders, where the minimum contribution is due regardless.
There is more than one rate. It depends on whether you are registered only with the Gestione Separata or already have other compulsory pension cover, typically employment or a pension.
| Situation | Rate | Who actually pays |
|---|---|---|
| Professional registered only here | Full rate, including the additional benefits | The professional, through the tax return |
| Professional with other cover, or a pensioner | Reduced rate | The professional, through the tax return |
| Contractor registered only here | Full rate | The client, with the cost split between the parties |
| Director with other cover | Reduced rate | The company, with the cost split between the parties |
The rates are updated every year by INPS together with the maximum and the minimum income needed for full credit. You will not find the percentages on this page precisely because they change: the check is done on the year that concerns you.
03 · Professional or client
The difference that matters: who pays the contribution
This is the point that causes the most confusion, because the mechanism works the opposite way in the two cases.
Professional with a partita IVA
You pay, when you file your tax return, with the balance and advance payments. On the invoice you charge the client a 4% surcharge (rivalsa), but that is only a partial recovery of the cost: the obligation remains yours.
Contractor
The client pays the whole amount, deducting one third from your fee. You do nothing: the contribution comes straight out of your payslip.
Director
As for contractors: the company pays, with two thirds borne by the company and one third by you.
Both positions
If you have both a partita IVA (Italian VAT number) and collaboration contracts, both mechanisms apply side by side, and the tax return takes into account what the clients have already paid.
The 4% surcharge
You can charge it on the invoice, but you need to understand what it is.
- It is a partial recovery: it covers only a fraction of the actual contribution
- It forms part of the taxable fee, so it counts as income
- The client can refuse it only if the contract says so: for the client it is not a legal obligation
- Under the flat-rate scheme it counts as revenue and is taxed as such
04 · When you pay
When and how you pay
If you have a partita IVA, the contribution follows the same deadlines as income taxes: it is paid with the F24 form (the Italian tax payment form), together with the balance for the year just closed and the advance payments for the current year.
- The balance for the previous year, calculated on the actual income shown in the tax return.
- The first advance payment for the current year, on the same deadline as the balance.
- The second advance payment in the autumn.
- Payment in instalments is possible for the balance and the first advance payment, with interest.
- For contractors and directors, payment is monthly and made by the client, with nothing required from you.
The first year is the heaviest: at the first deadline you pay both the balance for your first year of activity and the advance for the second. If you have not budgeted for it, you face an outlay almost double what you expected.
05 · The benefits
What you get in return
The Gestione Separata contribution is not only about a pension. It gives access to a set of benefits that, for people registered only with this scheme, has grown steadily over the years.
- A pension, with credit in proportion to what you have paid and to the annual minimum.
- Maternity and paternity benefit for the period provided.
- Sickness and hospital stays, within the set limits.
- Parental leave, on the terms provided for members.
- Unemployment benefit for contractors, in the form provided for this category.
- The assegno unico (universal child benefit) and family benefits, under the general rules.
Full contribution credit requires your annual income to exceed a minimum. Below that threshold the months credited are reduced in proportion: if your income is irregular, this is something to keep an eye on year by year.
06 · To avoid
The mistakes that cost you dearly
They are not calculation mistakes. They are set-up mistakes, and they come to light years later.
- Not registering in the belief that opening a partita IVA is enough: registering with the pension scheme is a separate step.
- Forgetting the advance payments and finding the amount doubled at the next deadline.
- Applying the reduced rate without being entitled to it: the other cover must be real and provable.
- Not checking your contribution statement: payments by clients do not always arrive, and years later they are hard to reconstruct.
- Confusing income for contribution purposes with income for tax purposes: under the flat-rate scheme the base is the income worked out with the coefficient, not turnover.
Frequently asked
The questions that keep coming up
I am an employee and do some consulting work. How much do I pay?
The reduced rate applies, because you already have compulsory pension cover through your employment.
The contribution is still calculated on the income from your self-employed activity and paid through the tax return. The reduction concerns the percentage, not the obligation.
If I invoice nothing in a year, do I still have to pay?
No. The Gestione Separata has no fixed minimum contributions: no income, no contribution.
This is the main difference from the scheme for artisans and traders, where the minimum is due even with zero turnover.
Under the flat-rate scheme, is the contribution calculated on turnover?
No, it is calculated on the income worked out by applying the profitability coefficient set for your ATECO code (the business activity classification code).
The contribution paid is then deductible from the following year's income, and it is one of the few deductions allowed under that scheme.
Can I deduct the contributions I have paid?
Yes, compulsory social security contributions are deductible from your total income in the year in which they were actually paid.
The cash basis applies: what counts is the date of payment, not the period the contribution refers to.
Let's talk
Let's do the sums beforehand, not in June
The contribution burden can be planned during the year. People who discover it at the deadline find themselves paying the balance and the advance together.