Simplified accounting
The default regime below the set revenue thresholds. Integrated VAT registers, with no journal and no balance sheet.
VAT numbers · Business
Sole proprietorship and family business
Opening a sole proprietorship in Turin is the most common choice for artisans, shopkeepers, e-commerce and service businesses. Simple to start and inexpensive to run, but with one feature you need to understand fully: the owner is liable for the business's debts with everything they own.
01 · Classification
Sole proprietorship or self-employment?
It is the first distinction to make, and it is not a formality: it determines registration with the Registro Imprese (the Companies Register), your social security category and a large part of the annual obligations.
You are a sole trader when you professionally carry on an economic activity organised to produce or exchange goods or services: trade, crafts, catering, e-commerce, manufacturing. The distinguishing feature is the organisation of resources and, often, of people.
You are self-employed when the work is mainly personal and intellectual, with no business organisation: consultants, trainers, professionals without a professional body. In this case there is no registration with the Registro Imprese and no Chamber of Commerce fee.
You do not choose the distinction: it follows from the actual nature of the activity, and the ATECO code (the Italian classification of business activities) reflects it. Claiming a classification different from the real one causes problems with both social security and the Chamber of Commerce.
| Aspect | Self-employment | Sole proprietorship |
|---|---|---|
| Registro Imprese | Not required | Mandatory |
| Chamber of Commerce fee | Not due | Due every year |
| Social security | Gestione Separata (the INPS scheme for freelancers) or a professional fund | Artisans or traders scheme |
| Minimum contributions | None: paid on income | Due even with no revenue |
| INAIL (workplace accident insurance) | Usually not due | Due if the conditions apply |
| SCIA (certified notice of start of activity) | Rarely required | Common for retail and food and drink |
The biggest difference is in contributions. A self-employed person in the Gestione Separata who invoices nothing in a year pays nothing; an artisan or trader pays the fixed contributions regardless, even with zero turnover.
02 · The filing
How to open a sole proprietorship, step by step
A sole proprietorship is opened through the Comunicazione Unica, the online filing that meets the obligations towards the Agenzia delle Entrate (the Italian Revenue Agency), the Registro Imprese, INPS (the Italian social security institute) and INAIL in a single submission.
Preliminary analysis
The actual activity, ATECO code, tax regime, expected revenue and costs, any professional qualifications required.
Requirements and permits
Checks on the SCIA, good-character and professional requirements, sector permits, suitability of the premises.
ComUnica
Online submission with a digital signature: partita IVA (Italian VAT number), registration with the Registro Imprese, INPS and INAIL positions.
Up and running
PEC (certified email), electronic invoicing, accounting records, a dedicated bank account and the first obligations.
Registration with the Registro Imprese must be requested within thirty days of starting the activity. The partita IVA, on the other hand, is assigned in real time at the moment of submission.
What the filing needs
- The owner's identity document and codice fiscale (Italian tax code)
- An active PEC address and a digital signature in the owner's name
- The business address and, for commercial premises, proof of the right to use them
- Professional qualifications, where the sector requires them
- The actual start date of the activity
- A precise description of the activity carried on
03 · Social security
Artisans and traders: the fixed contributions
This is the item that surprises first-timers. The artisans scheme and the traders scheme require a fixed annual contribution calculated on a minimum income, payable in four quarterly instalments regardless of actual revenue.
On the part of income above the minimum, a percentage rate applies instead, paid together with income taxes in June and November.
Anyone under the regime forfettario (the Italian flat-rate scheme) can ask for the 35% contribution reduction. It lowers the outlay but also lowers the pension credit in proportion: it is a choice to make deliberately, not out of habit.
- 16 MayFirst fixed instalmentContributions on the minimum income, first quarter
- 20 AugustSecond fixed instalmentSecond quarter
- 16 NovemberThird fixed instalmentThird quarter
- 16 FebruaryFourth fixed instalmentFourth quarter of the previous year
- 30 JuneBalance and first advancePercentage share on income above the minimum
- 30 NovemberSecond advanceOn the share above the minimum
A spouse or relatives who regularly work in the business must also be registered with the relevant social security scheme, with their own contributions. It is a cost to plan for before involving them, not afterwards.
04 · With the family
When a family business makes sense
The impresa familiare (family business) allows the owner to allocate a share of the income produced to relatives who work in the business on a continuous basis, up to an overall limit of 49%.
The advantage is spreading income across several people: with progressive IRPEF (personal income tax) rates, dividing an income between two or three people lowers the overall tax burden compared with concentrating it on one.
Setting it up requires a notarial deed or an authenticated private agreement, drawn up before the tax year in which the allocation takes effect. It is not retroactive: a deed signed in December does not cover the current year.
- Those who can take part are the spouse, relatives up to the third degree and in-laws up to the second degree.
- The work must be continuous and predominant: occasional help is not enough.
- Family collaborators must be registered with the relevant social security scheme and pay their own contributions.
- The share allocated must be in proportion to the work done: disproportionate allocations can be challenged.
- It is not compatible with the regime forfettario of the owner: taking part in a family business is a ground for exclusion for the collaborator.
The sums to do first
The IRPEF saving must be weighed against the collaborators' contribution costs, which come on top of the owner's. On modest incomes the second can exceed the first.
- A simulation of the tax burden with and without the split
- The cost of the collaborators' social security contributions
- The effects on the household's ISEE (the Italian family means-test indicator)
- The impact on each person's pension position
05 · The rest of the year
Accounting and recurring obligations
Ordinary accounting
Mandatory above the thresholds, or by choice. Journal, inventory book, statement of assets and liabilities.
VAT
Monthly or quarterly VAT settlements, LIPE (periodic VAT reports), annual return. Not due under the regime forfettario.
Income tax return
The Redditi PF return (the general income tax return) with the business sections, plus IRAP (the regional business tax) where the conditions apply.
Business assets
Register of depreciable assets and depreciation schedule, for anyone not under the regime forfettario.
Stock
Year-end valuation for businesses that hold stock, with a direct effect on income.
Closure must be notified within thirty days to both the Agenzia delle Entrate and the Registro Imprese. Leaving the position open and inactive means you keep accruing the Chamber of Commerce fee and fixed contributions.
Frequently asked
The questions that keep coming up
How much does it cost to open a sole proprietorship?
Opening the partita IVA is free. The actual costs are stamp duty and administrative fees for registration with the Registro Imprese, the PEC, the digital signature and the professional fee for the filing.
The cost that really matters, though, is the annual one: the Chamber of Commerce fee, fixed INPS contributions and bookkeeping. It should be estimated before you start.
Could I lose my home if the business goes badly?
In a sole proprietorship there is no separation between the business's assets and your personal assets: you are liable for obligations with all your present and future assets.
This is the main reason why, as business risk grows, people consider moving to a limited company. Below a certain size the cost of an SRL (Italian limited liability company) is not justified; above it, the risk is not justified.
Can I have a sole proprietorship and a job as an employee?
Yes, unless there are incompatibilities under your employment contract or the rules for public sector employment, which you should check with your employer.
On the social security side, registration with the artisans or traders scheme is due if the activity is carried on habitually and predominantly. If your employment is full time, the predominance requirement may not be met: it has to be checked case by case.
Do I need a dedicated bank account?
The law does not require it for sole proprietorships, but it is strongly advised: keeping business transactions separate from personal ones simplifies the accounts and makes your position defensible in an inspection.
A dedicated account does not have to be a business account: it can be a second personal account used only for the business.
How do I close it?
By notifying closure to the Agenzia delle Entrate and deregistering from the Registro Imprese, both within thirty days of the actual date the activity ends.
The final obligations still have to be handled: the last VAT and income tax returns, closing the INPS position, and the private use or sale of any remaining business assets, which can generate taxable capital gains.
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