Forgotten password
You recover it from the provider with the usual procedure, normally by email and text message to the registered number.
CAF services · First steps
SPID, CIE and digital identity in Italy
Nobody thinks of it as a formality, yet it holds up more paperwork than anything else. Without a digital identity you cannot download the Certificazione Unica (the annual income statement), you cannot see your cassetto fiscale (your online tax records) and you cannot submit an application to the INPS (the Italian social security institute).
01 · The three routes
SPID, CIE or CNS: which digital identity suits you
They are three different tools that open the same doors. The choice depends on what you already have and how much you are willing to manage.
| SPID | CIE | CNS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | Login credentials issued by an accredited private provider | The Italian electronic identity card | The health insurance card activated as a digital certificate |
| Card reader needed | No, a smartphone is enough | Yes, or a smartphone with NFC | Yes, a smart card reader |
| Cost | Free with some methods, paid with others | Included in the identity card | Free, but it has to be activated |
| Expiry | None, as long as the provider is active | Same as the card | Same as the health card |
| Identity check | In person, by webcam or with another digital identity | Already done at the Comune (town hall) | At authorised counters |
| Everyday use | The handiest | Handy with an NFC smartphone | The most cumbersome |
If you already have the electronic identity card and a recent smartphone, the CIE (Carta d'Identità Elettronica) is the quickest route: there is nothing to activate, you just need the PIN the Comune gave you and the dedicated app. If your identity card is still the paper one, SPID (Sistema Pubblico di Identità Digitale, the public digital identity system) is the simplest way.
02 · The procedure
How to get SPID
The procedure is the same with every provider. Only the way they verify your identity changes.
Choose a provider
There are several, all accredited in the same way. What differs is the cost of the identity check and the app you use to approve logins.
Enter your details
You need a valid identity document, the tessera sanitaria (health insurance card), an email address and a mobile number registered in your name.
Have your identity verified
In person at a counter, by webcam with an operator, with the CIE or the CNS, or with a digital signature if you already have one.
Activate the app
From then on you approve every login from your smartphone. This is the step that makes SPID genuinely convenient.
The mobile number must be registered to the same person applying for SPID: this is the check that stops more applications than any other, especially when the phone contract is in a relative's name.
03 · The doors it opens
What you can do once you have it
Almost everything to do with the work of this practice starts there. That is why it is worth having it before your appointment, not after.
- Cassetto fiscale of the Agenzia delle Entrate (the Italian Revenue Agency): returns filed, payments made, notices received.
- Pre-filled tax return: view it, accept it or change it.
- INPS portal: Certificazione Unica for pensions and benefits, contribution statement, benefit applications, RED form.
- Tessera Sanitaria system: the summary of medical expenses sent in by pharmacies and healthcare providers.
- Electronic invoicing: viewing the invoices you have received and issued.
- Registering your IBAN for refunds, an essential step for the 730 without a withholding agent.
- Municipal and regional portals: public calls, school service enrolments, grants.
What you still cannot do alone
A digital identity opens the doors, but it does not fill in the paperwork.
- The visto di conformità (compliance check) on the 730 is issued by the CAF (authorised tax assistance centre): you cannot certify it yourself
- The Dichiarazione Sostitutiva Unica (the self-declaration behind the ISEE) needs data the portals do not hold
- Tax choices (scheme, options, allocations) remain technical decisions
- The portal shows the data, it does not tell you whether it is correct
04 · On behalf of others
Using the portals on behalf of a relative
This is the question we hear most often from people looking after an elderly parent. The correct answer is not "use their login".
- There is a formal delegation with the Agenzia delle Entrate that lets you access another person's cassetto fiscale: that is the correct route.
- The INPS provides a digital identity delegation for people assisting someone who cannot manage it themselves.
- For guardians and support administrators (amministratori di sostegno) there are dedicated procedures, using the court order of appointment.
- The CAF can act on your behalf within the mandate you give it: for the work entrusted to the practice you do not need to hand over your login details.
- Sharing your credentials is expressly forbidden by the terms of use, and responsibility stays with the person who obtained them.
05 · The cases
Lost credentials, provider closing down, new phone
These are the three situations that actually come up, and none of them is beyond repair.
New phone
Update the number in the provider's personal area before you lose access to the old one. Doing it afterwards is far more complicated.
Provider closing down
Identities are transferred to another accredited provider, or you activate a new one elsewhere. Your identity is not lost.
Lost CIE PIN
You request it from the Comune using the second half of the code handed to you when the card was issued.
06 · Foreign citizens
Getting SPID or CIE if you are not an Italian citizen
A digital identity is available to people without Italian citizenship too, with a few extra steps.
- You need a valid identity document and, for non-EU citizens, the permesso di soggiorno (residence permit).
- You need the tessera sanitaria or at least an Italian codice fiscale (tax code).
- European Union citizens apply in the same way as Italian citizens.
- People living abroad have dedicated identity check options, including at consular offices.
- The mobile number must be registered to the applicant: this is where the procedure gets stuck most often.
The pages of this site in English and in Romanian cover tax obligations from the point of view of people who have moved to Italy, where digital identity is the first practical hurdle.
Frequently asked
The questions that keep coming up
Can I come to the practice without SPID?
Yes, we can still work: many documents can be obtained another way, and the CAF acts within the mandate you give us.
But several documents (the INPS Certificazione Unica, the medical expenses summary, the contribution statement) can be downloaded in a few minutes with SPID and otherwise mean requests and waiting. Having it shortens everything.
I have the tessera sanitaria. Is that enough?
The tessera sanitaria contains a certificate that can work as a CNS (Carta Nazionale dei Servizi), but it has to be activated at an authorised counter and you need a smart card reader connected to your computer.
It is the most cumbersome of the three routes. If you can choose, SPID or CIE are far more practical.
My mother can't manage it. Can I do it for her?
Not with her login details: the terms of use forbid it. There are, however, tools designed for exactly this: the delegation with the Agenzia delle Entrate and the INPS digital identity delegation.
And if the practice handles the paperwork, no delegation of credentials is needed at all: the professional mandate already covers what has to be done.
How long does it take?
With identity checked through the CIE or a digital signature, minutes. By webcam, the time it takes to book a slot with an operator. In person, the time it takes to get to a counter.
The practical advice is not to leave it until the week you need it: tax deadlines do not move because your digital identity is not active yet.
Let's talk
If you do not have one yet, sort that out first
You need it every year and for every application. Activating it once saves you queues at the counter from then on.