Occasional employment contract (PrestO)
The occasional work contract using the libretto famiglia (family voucher booklet) or the INPS platform: it is ancillary employment, not self-employment. It has limits on amounts and on who can use it.
Individuals · First steps
Occasional self-employed work
It is the route for people who work now and then without registering anything. It has no cap on the amount, but it has a much tighter limit: the work must not be habitual. Once it is, the partita IVA (Italian VAT number) is no longer a choice.
01 · The classification
What occasional work is
The prestazione occasionale (occasional work) is self-employed work carried out without being habitual, professional or organised. Whoever does it has no partita IVA and documents the fee with a receipt, not an invoice.
The difference from professional self-employment lies not in the amount but in how the work is done: now and then rather than continuously, with no means set up permanently for the purpose.
- It is not habitual: the work is one-off, not repeated regularly.
- It is not organised: there is no dedicated set-up of equipment and people.
- It is not professional: it is not the activity you present yourself on the market with.
- There is no VAT, because the subjective condition for the tax is missing.
- No prior registration is needed, unless you exceed the contribution threshold.
- The income is declared as miscellaneous income, net of expenses specifically related to it and documented.
There is no amount above which occasional work turns into a professional activity. A single high-value consultancy job can remain occasional; twenty small jobs repeated every month for the same client cannot. What counts is continuity, not the figure.
02 · The document
How to issue the receipt
The receipt is a simple document, but with some compulsory details. It is not an invoice and is not sent through the Sistema di Interscambio (the Italian e-invoicing exchange system).
The details
Details of the issuer and the client, date, description of the work, gross fee, any withholding tax, net amount payable.
The revenue stamp
The marca da bollo (revenue stamp) is compulsory above a certain amount, payable by the person receiving the money unless agreed otherwise. It goes on the original and must be cancelled.
Withholding tax
If the client is a sostituto d'imposta (withholding agent), they apply the ritenuta d'acconto (withholding tax) to the fee and pay it over on your behalf.
Keeping records
Keep a copy of the receipt and proof of payment: you need them for the tax return and in case of an audit.
If the client is a private individual
Only one thing changes, but it matters.
- A private individual is not a withholding agent: no tax is withheld
- You receive the gross amount, but you will pay all the tax through your return
- You will not receive a Certificazione Unica (annual income statement)
- Proof of payment becomes more important: use traceable methods
03 · The threshold
When social security contributions start
There is an annual threshold of earnings from occasional self-employed work above which you must register with the INPS Gestione Separata (the separate social security scheme run by INPS, the Italian social security institute).
- The threshold is calculated on your total income from occasional work in the year, adding up all your clients.
- Contributions are due only on the part above the threshold, not on the whole amount.
- The obligation to register falls on the worker, who must tell the clients.
- The contribution is split between client and worker in the set proportions, and payment is made by the client.
- Exceeding the threshold must be reported promptly: doing it at the end of the year complicates everyone's position.
- Earnings from a coordinated and continuous collaboration follow their own rules and are not added up in the same way.
Someone who realises in December that they have passed the threshold puts the client in an awkward position, because the client pays the contributions and the deadlines have already passed. The notice must be given at the moment the threshold is exceeded.
04 · The boundary
When occasional work is no longer enough
This is the point that causes the most misunderstandings, because people look for a numerical threshold that does not exist. The test is qualitative.
- Repetition over time is the main sign that the work is habitual.
- Presence on the market (website, professional profiles, price list) points to professional activity.
- Organising means permanently devoted to the work points to a business or profession.
- An ongoing relationship with a single client may also amount to a collaboration, not self-employment.
- Reclassification means paying back VAT, taxes, contributions and penalties.
| Situation | Correct classification |
|---|---|
| A single consultancy job in the year, even for a large amount | Occasional work |
| Work repeated every month for the same client | Professional activity: you need a partita IVA |
| Work promoted with a website, price list, advertising | Professional activity |
| Work with dedicated premises, equipment, collaborators | Professional activity |
| Two or three jobs a year for different clients | Occasional work |
| Work that is your main source of income | Professional activity |
05 · Taxation
How to declare occasional work
An occasional fee is miscellaneous income and is declared in the year it is received, on a cash basis.
- It goes in the miscellaneous income section, showing the gross fee and the related expenses separately.
- Only expenses specifically related to the work and documented are deductible.
- Tax withheld is deducted from the tax due.
- The income is added to your other income and forms part of your total income.
- It counts towards the limit for remaining a dependent family member.
- If your only income is occasional and below a certain threshold, you may not have to file a return, but the calculation needs checking.
A university student who does some occasional work must keep an eye on the dependant income limit: exceeding it means the parents lose not only the tax credit for dependants but also the right to claim the student's medical and university expenses for the whole year.
06 · Not to be confused
Other forms that look similar
These are separate arrangements, with their own rules and limits, that are often confused with occasional work.
Coordinated and continuous collaboration
An ongoing relationship coordinated by the client: contributions go to the Gestione Separata from the first euro, under its own rules.
Amateur sports work
It has its own set of rules, with exemption thresholds and separate contribution rules.
Assignment of copyright
Fees for the economic use of creative works have a separate, more favourable tax treatment.
Occasional sale of goods
This is not a supply of services: it follows different rules, and repetition turns it into a commercial activity.
Flat-rate partita IVA
For those who go beyond occasional work, the regime forfettario (flat-rate scheme) is often the natural next step.
Frequently asked
The questions that keep coming up
Is there a €5,000 limit?
It is not a limit on occasional work as such: it is the threshold above which contributions to the INPS Gestione Separata become due, on the part above it.
Below that threshold there are no contributions, but you still have to declare the income. And above it, the work can remain occasional if it is not habitual: they are two separate matters.
How many receipts can I issue in a year?
There is no maximum number set by law. What counts is whether the work has become habitual, and that is assessed by looking at continuity, organisation and the way you present yourself on the market.
Twenty receipts to the same client every month are a professional activity, even if each one is for a modest amount. Two receipts a year to different clients are not.
Do I need to add a revenue stamp?
Yes, above a certain amount of the fee. It goes on the original receipt and is cancelled with your signature or the date.
The cost is borne by the person issuing the receipt, unless agreed otherwise with the client. Many clients ask for it expressly before paying.
If I open a partita IVA, can I keep issuing receipts?
No, for work that falls within the scope of your professional activity you must issue invoices, not receipts for occasional work.
Occasional work is still possible for activities completely unrelated to the one you carry out with your partita IVA, but it has to be assessed case by case, because the line is a fine one.
Let's talk
The question is not how much you earned, but how regularly
If the work has become regular, the correct classification is a different one. Better to realise it before a tax audit.