ITALY (IVA)

Italy  being an EU member state falls under the EU VAT regime. Member states must adopt EU VAT Directives into their own legislation.

Standard VAT Rate: 22%

Reduced VAT Rate: 4%, 10%

Registration Threshold Distance Selling: 35,000 €

EU VAT number format: IT99999999999

Registration Threshold

Resident - There is no registration threshold 
Non resident - There is no registration threshold  
IC Acquisitions -EUR 10,000 

VAT Registration

Where a non-resident business has a permanent establishment in Italy, it must be VAT registered in Italy.

Moreover, in case of permanent establishment, no other registration for VAT purposes is possible for non-resident entities.

VAT Compliance

Detailed rules regulate reporting requirements of Italian transactions for Value Added Tax purposes. These include: invoice requirements, timeliness for an invoice to be issued, invoice and credit notes corrections rules, foreign currency reporting requirements and exchange rate sources, correction of previously submitted returns and accounting records that must be maintained for VAT purposes. 

VAT Returns

The yearly VAT return and the Annual Communication of VAT Data must be submitted. No monthly – quarterly periodical VAT returns have to be submitted.

The Annual Communication of VAT Data has to be submitted only by electronic means within February.

The yearly VAT return has to be submitted exclusively by electronic means by 31 September and has to be filed jointly with the corporate tax return

Intrastat and EC Sales Lists

Relating to intra-Community supplies / acquisitions, the recapitulative statements and the statements for Intrastat are unified in a single form that shows the information required for both fiscal and statistical purposes.
In principle, intra-Community supplies / acquisitions and services falling in the new general rule supplied to / received from a taxable person established in a Member State other than Italy (for which VAT is due in the country of recipient) have to be reported in the statements. Moreover, also the movements of goods to be, processed or installed have to be reported but only for statistical purposes, if applicable.

The filing period for the Intrastat/EC listings is quarterly in case the taxable persons do not carry out transactions that exceed Euro 50,000 in a quarter and/or during one of the four previous quarters (this amount comprehends goods and services, separating purchases and supplies).
Monthly submission for the other taxable persons.

The term for the submission is the 25th of the month following the period in which the supplies were carried out.