It makes sense
If the activity is ongoing, with several clients and steady revenue: at that point the partita IVA is not a choice but an obligation.
Individuals · Two activities
A VAT number while employed
You almost always can, but there are three things to check, in this order: your employment contract, the contributions that become due, and the ban on invoicing whoever already pays your salary.
01 · The first check
What your contract says
From a tax point of view there is no ban at all: you can be an employee and hold a partita IVA (Italian VAT number) at the same time. The constraint, where there is one, comes from the employment relationship, not from the tax rules.
- A private-sector employee must respect the duty of loyalty: you cannot carry on activities that compete with your employer or use its confidential information.
- Many individual contracts contain exclusivity clauses or require prior authorisation: read them before, not after.
- A public-sector employee is under a much stricter regime: the principle of exclusivity applies, with narrowly defined exceptions and an authorisation procedure.
- In the public sector, part-time work below a certain percentage of hours opens up more possibilities.
- Some categories (healthcare, police forces, teachers) have their own rules.
- The activity must not interfere with your main job.
For a public-sector employee the rule is the opposite of the private sector: everything is forbidden except what is expressly allowed or authorised. Opening a partita IVA without authorisation exposes you to disciplinary action and to the obligation to pay back the fees you received. This is the case where checking first is not advice but a necessity.
02 · Social security
Which contributions you pay
This is the chapter with the most expensive surprises, and it depends on the kind of activity you open.
- If you open a professional activity you pay into the Gestione Separata at the reduced rate for people who are already insured: this is the lightest situation.
- If you open a commercial or craft activity you join the corresponding INPS (Italian National Social Security Institute) fund, with fixed contributions due regardless of income.
- Exemption from the fixed contributions applies only in limited cases, which need checking.
- Your employment income does not reduce the contribution obligation on the self-employed activity.
- The contributions paid as an employee remain: the two positions add up for pension purposes.
| Type of activity | Contributions due |
|---|---|
| Professional activity without its own fund | Gestione Separata (the INPS separate fund) at the reduced rate, because you are already insured elsewhere |
| Commercial or craft activity | The traders or artisans fund, with fixed contributions due even on zero income |
| Profession with its own pension fund | Contributions to that fund, under its own rules |
| Occasional work | No contributions below the annual threshold |
The difference between a professional and a commercial activity is decisive: in the first case contributions are paid only on the income you actually earn, in the second you pay fixed quarterly contributions even with no takings. The ATECO code you choose decides which of the two you fall into.
03 · The tax scheme
Can you use the flat-rate scheme?
Yes, but the regime forfettario (the Italian flat-rate tax scheme) has two specific limits designed precisely for people who are also employees.
The employment income limit
If your income from employment or similar income exceeded a set threshold in the previous year, you cannot join the flat-rate scheme.
The ban on invoicing your employer
You cannot join the scheme if you invoice mainly your current employer or an employer from the previous two years, or parties connected to them.
The other ordinary conditions
All the general requirements of the scheme still apply: the revenue threshold and the limits on staff costs and business assets.
If you cannot join
The ordinary regime applies, with VAT, bookkeeping and income calculated on actual revenue and costs.
The ban that surprises people most
It is designed to stop a convenient change of label.
- It prevents an employment relationship from turning into a sham VAT number
- It also looks at your employer from the previous two years
- It covers parties connected to the employer, not just the employer itself
- If it comes to light later, you leave the scheme with retroactive effect
04 · The taxes
How to declare a VAT number while employed
The two incomes sit in the same tax return, but with different mechanisms depending on the scheme you choose.
- Under the ordinary regime, the two incomes are added together in your total income and tax is worked out on the total, at the progressive rates.
- Under the flat-rate scheme, the income from the activity is subject to a substitute tax and stays outside your total income.
- Flat-rate income still counts when working out some detrazioni (deductions from tax, i.e. tax credits) and benefits, and for the ISEE (the Italian family means-test indicator).
- You can no longer file a simple 730 (the Italian tax return for employees and pensioners): you need the Redditi return, except in particular cases.
- The employment tax credits remain, but under the ordinary regime they are recalculated on your total income.
- You must also pay advance payments on the self-employed activity, under the ordinary rules.
The first year's settlement almost always shows an amount due, because your employer worked out the withholding as if your salary were your only income. It is worth setting aside part of what you take in through the partita IVA right from the start.
05 · The assessment
When it makes sense to open one
You do not always need one. Before opening, it is worth looking at the alternatives.
Not needed yet
If it is just a few occasional jobs a year: occasional work is enough, with no contributions below the threshold.
Needs weighing up
If the activity is commercial: the fixed contributions make it costly while revenue is low.
Be careful
If your main client would be your employer or a connected company: the flat-rate scheme is ruled out and the position is delicate even outside the scheme.
Check first
If you are a public-sector employee: you need authorisation, and without it you cannot go ahead.
Plan the timing
When you open affects the fixed contributions for the first year, which are scaled to the days of activity.
06 · What not to do
Situations to avoid
There are only a few, but they are serious, and they all concern the substance of the relationship more than its form.
- Invoicing your own employer for work similar to what you do as an employee: this is the situation the law wants to prevent, and it gets reclassified.
- Carrying on activities that compete with your employer: this breaches the duty of loyalty and can be just cause for dismissal.
- Using the company's tools, contacts or information for your own activity.
- Working on your activity during working hours, including when you work remotely under smart working.
- Opening one as a public-sector employee without authorisation: this leads to disciplinary action and the obligation to pay back the fees.
- Ignoring the fixed contributions of the artisans and traders funds, which build up even with no takings.
Smart working has blurred the line, but it has not moved it: the hours contractually owed to your employer are still your employer's. A self-employed activity carried out during those hours is a disciplinary problem wherever you happen to be physically.
Frequently asked
The questions that keep coming up
I work in the public sector. Can I open a partita IVA?
Only with your administration's authorisation, and for compatible activities. In public employment the principle of exclusivity applies: the rule is the ban, apart from the exceptions provided and authorised cases.
Some activities can be carried on freely even without authorisation, and part-time work below a certain percentage widens the options. The check must be done before any formal step.
Can I invoice my company for an extra project?
This is the most delicate situation. It rules out the flat-rate scheme if invoicing to your current employer, or to an employer from the previous two years, makes up most of your turnover.
But the problem goes beyond the scheme: an activity carried out for the same employer, in ways similar to the employment relationship, is exposed to reclassification. It needs careful assessment before you go ahead.
Do I have to pay contributions even if I earn little?
It depends on the type of activity. In the Gestione Separata contributions are calculated on actual income, so with low revenue they are low.
In the artisans and traders funds, on the other hand, there are fixed quarterly contributions due regardless of income, even when it is zero. This is what makes opening a commercial activity costly while revenue is still modest.
Do I lose my employment tax credits?
No, but under the ordinary regime they are recalculated on your total income, which now includes the self-employed activity too: since they shrink as income grows, the amount you are entitled to goes down.
Under the flat-rate scheme the income from the activity stays outside your total income, so the employment tax credits are not directly affected.
Let's talk
The real constraint is not tax. It is your contract
Before you open, let us look at your contract together, along with the ATECO code (the Italian business activity code) you need. Half an hour that avoids serious problems.