Fine
Private lessons, an occasional babysitter, gardening, small maintenance jobs, occasional care for a family member.
CAF services · Casual work
Libretto Famiglia: paying for casual work
Someone who helps in the garden, someone who tutors your teenager, someone who looks after an elderly relative a few hours a week: the Libretto Famiglia exists because not everything needs an employment contract. There are two tools made for exactly this, with precise limits and a simple procedure.
01 · The distinction
The Libretto Famiglia and the occasional work contract
They are two separate tools within the same scheme: the first is reserved for private individuals for household needs, the second for other users, with more detailed rules.
| Libretto Famiglia | Occasional work contract | |
|---|---|---|
| Who uses it | Private individuals, outside any business activity | Businesses, professionals, organisations, within size limits |
| What for | Housework, gardening, private tutoring, care, babysitting and minding | Work of an occasional nature |
| The value | Vouchers of a fixed amount, each covering one hour of work | An agreed fee, with an hourly and daily minimum |
| Notification | By the deadline set in the following month | Before the work starts |
| Size limits | None | A maximum number of employees for the user |
The Libretto Famiglia (the INPS family voucher booklet) is the tool that matters to almost every household: it covers exactly those situations (a few hours of gardening, private lessons, an occasional babysitter) that would otherwise stay off the books, with all the risks that brings.
02 · The thresholds
The financial limits
The tool is designed for work that really is occasional, and the thresholds are there to stop it being used as a substitute for an employment relationship.
- There is an annual limit on the total fees each worker can receive.
- There is an annual limit on the total fees each user can pay out.
- There is a limit on the fees paid by a single user to a single worker.
- Some categories of worker have more favourable rules when the limits are counted.
- Going over the limits turns the relationship into full-time, permanent employment.
- The limits are monitored through the INPS platform (INPS is the Italian National Social Security Institute).
Who cannot use these tools
The exclusions are strictly defined.
- Businesses above the set number of employees
- The construction sector and some activities excluded by law
- Anyone who had an employment relationship with the same person or business in the previous months
- Public administrations, except in the cases expressly allowed
03 · The procedure
How the Libretto Famiglia works in practice
Everything is handled online, through the INPS platform.
Registration
The user and the worker register on the INPS platform with SPID or CIE (the Italian digital identity and electronic ID card), or through an authorised intermediary.
Funding
The user pays the money in advance, with the F24 Elide form or through the dedicated portal. Without funds in place the work cannot be notified.
Notification
This follows the rules of each tool: for the Libretto Famiglia by the deadline in the following month, for the contract before the work starts.
Payment
INPS pays the fee to the worker, as a rule within the following month, into the IBAN provided.
Paying in the funds in advance is the step that blocks people who leave things to the last minute: without the money already paid in, the work cannot be notified. Top it up beforehand, not on the day.
04 · The sums
What the amount you pay covers
Not all the money the user pays goes to the worker: it includes contributions and running costs.
- One part is the worker's net fee.
- One part is the pension contribution to the Gestione Separata (the INPS separate fund).
- One part is the INAIL (the Italian workplace accident insurance body) insurance premium.
- One part covers the running costs of the system.
- The fee is exempt from tax for the worker.
- It does not affect unemployment status and is compatible with NASpI (the Italian unemployment benefit) within the limits.
Why it works for the worker
It is not just about being above board.
- The fee is not taxed and does not count towards total income
- Real pension contributions build up
- There is insurance cover against accidents
- It is compatible with NASpI and with unemployment status, within the limits
05 · The cases
When it is the right tool
It works well for work that is genuinely occasional. When the activity becomes regular, you need something else.
Fine
Help around the house for a few hours a week, on an irregular basis.
No longer enough
If the person comes every day at fixed hours: that is domestic work, with a contract. See domestic workers and carers.
No longer enough
If the work is continuous care for a person who is not self-sufficient. See live-in carer.
Not the right tool
For regular professional activities: you need occasional self-employed work with a receipt, or a partita IVA (Italian VAT number).
Not allowed
To disguise an employment relationship that already exists or has only just ended.
06 · What to avoid
What you risk if you use it wrongly
The penalties are designed to hit misuse, and they are severe.
- Going over the limits turns the relationship into full-time, permanent employment.
- Failing to notify in advance, where this is required, carries its own penalty.
- Using it for excluded activities, or by users who are not allowed, triggers the penalties for irregular work.
- Cancelling a notification when the work did in fact take place can be challenged.
- Undeclared work, the alternative, exposes you to much heavier penalties, including for the household that uses it.
- A worker injured without cover creates direct liability for the user.
For a household, the most concrete risk is not a tax penalty: it is an accident suffered by someone working in your home without insurance cover. The Libretto Famiglia costs little more than the fee and includes INAIL insurance: that is the main reason to use it.
Frequently asked
The questions that keep coming up
Can I pay the girl who looks after the children this way?
Yes, if the work really is occasional: the Libretto Famiglia was created for exactly this, along with private lessons, gardening and small household jobs.
If instead she comes every day at fixed hours, the relationship is domestic employment and you need a proper contract, with its own contributions and formalities.
Is the fee taxed for the person who receives it?
No. The fee received through the Libretto Famiglia or the occasional work contract is exempt from tax and does not count towards total income.
It does, however, build up real pension contributions in the Gestione Separata and INAIL insurance cover: it is net money that still builds a pension record.
I am on NASpI. Can I accept this kind of work?
Yes, within the set limits: fees from occasional work are compatible with NASpI and do not make you lose unemployment status, as long as you stay below the thresholds.
You must still check that the overall annual limits are respected and notify what is required. See NASpI.
Do I notify before or after the work?
It depends on the tool. For the occasional work contract, notification must be made before the work starts; for the Libretto Famiglia, by the deadline set in the following month.
In both cases the funds must be paid in advance: without money available on the platform the work cannot be notified, and anyone who tries on the day itself is stuck.
Let's talk
The payment must be notified before the work, not after
This is the constraint that brings penalties for people who remember once the job is done. We set up the procedure for you once and for all.