Moving to Italy to work? The impatriati regime taxes only 50% of your Italian work income, or 40% with a minor child, for five years. We check eligibility, apply it correctly and keep it valid.
If you are moving to Italy to work, as an employee, a professional or a remote worker for a foreign company, the regime impatriati can cut the tax on your Italian income by half, or more, for five years. It is one of the most widely used relocation incentives in Europe, but it was rewritten in 2024 and the rules are now stricter and easy to get wrong.
This page explains how the current regime works, who qualifies, how much you can really save, and how we help you claim it correctly.
The impatriati regime is a tax break for workers who move their tax residence to Italy. Under Article 5 of Legislative Decree 209/2023, in force from 2024, qualifying employment and professional income produced in Italy is taxed on only 50% of its amount, up to €600,000 a year, for five years. Against ordinary IRPEF rates, which reach 43% plus local surtaxes, the effect can be substantial.
This is the first thing to get right, because it decides which rules apply to you. The new rules apply to those who transferred their tax residence to Italy from 1 January 2024; those who moved by 31 December 2023 remain under the previous, more generous framework (Article 16 of Legislative Decree 147/2015). The trigger is the date your residence transfer was completed, not the date you started looking for a home.
To access the current regime you must satisfy all of the following at once: missing even one is disqualifying. The regime is open to workers of any nationality.
One helpful clarification: the Revenue Agency has confirmed that a functional link between the move and the start of the work is no longer required (Rulings No. 66/2025 and No. 12/2026). The conditions can even mature after you arrive: you do not need a signed contract on the day you move.
One of the most delicate cases is working in Italy for the same employer, or group, you worked for abroad. To stop artificial postings designed only to return with the benefit, the law requires a much longer period abroad.
The Revenue Agency has explained how to test employer identity and count the period abroad in a series of 2025 rulings, confirming that the longer period applies to employees and self-employed alike. These are exactly the cases where a wrong reading loses the benefit.
Many people who relocate keep working remotely for a foreign employer. The regime can still apply, provided the work is carried out predominantly from Italy (in practice, more than 183 days a year), as confirmed for continuing remote relationships by Ruling No. 2/2026. The Revenue Agency has increased its scrutiny of this scenario, so documenting where the work is actually performed is essential.
The new regime requires evidence of high qualification or specialisation. Acceptable proof includes a university degree of at least three years, membership of a regulated profession, a higher professional qualification backed by at least five years of relevant experience, or three years in the last seven for IT managers and specialists.
A degree is not the only route: the Revenue Agency has confirmed the regime can apply to workers without a degree who hold equivalent professional qualifications (Rulings No. 71/2025 and No. 74/2025, a project manager and an IT specialist), and Law 132/2025 extended access to those who have carried out applied research in artificial intelligence.
The relief covers employment income, income assimilated to employment, and self-employment income from arts and professions. Business income is no longer covered. The exemption applies to income up to €600,000 a year; anything above is taxed in full. The cap is annual and is not reduced pro rata if you become resident partway through the year (Ruling No. 70/2025). Severance pay (TFR) relating to work performed abroad is not covered, while the portion relating to work in Italy after your move is.
Only part of your Italian income is taxed, which is where the saving comes from. Two illustrations on gross national IRPEF for 2026, before surtaxes, tax credits and contributions. A precise figure needs a personalised computation.
The relief reduces your income tax, not your social security. For employees, INPS contributions are calculated on the full salary, not on the reduced taxable base. On typical salaries the net gain is still substantial, but the correct figure should always be built including full contributions, which is exactly what our computation does.
Italy has no formal split year: for any calendar year you are either resident for the whole year or not at all. You are resident if, for the greater part of the year, you are registered with the Anagrafe, or have your domicile, habitual abode or physical presence in Italy. We explain the four residence tests in a dedicated guide. When you move therefore has real consequences, and getting it right is one of the highest-value parts of our Entry Strategy service.
The exempt share rises from 50% to 60%, so only 40% of your income is taxed, if you relocate with a minor child, or if a child is born or adopted while you are in the regime, provided the child is resident in Italy. The Revenue Agency has confirmed (Ruling No. 53/2025) that the child need not move at the same time as the parent, that the relief continues even if the child comes of age during the regime, and that the 60% can apply to both parents where the conditions are met.
For employees, the relief is activated by a written request to the employer, who applies it directly in payroll. For the self-employed, it is claimed in the annual tax return. If an employer fails to apply it, or you did not claim it in a past year, the Court of Cassation has confirmed (Order No. 34655/2024) that you can still recover it through your return. We handle the whole process, including the return that keeps it running year after year.
Breaking the four-year residence commitment triggers clawback of every benefit already used, plus interest. The regime is also lost if the requirements were never genuinely met or if the work is carried out mainly outside Italy. Because the Revenue Agency has intensified checks (remote work, same-group returns and weak evidence of prior residence are the highest-risk profiles), keeping a complete file from the day you move is essential.
The three years abroad are counted as full tax years under Article 2 TUIR. Registration with AIRE helps but is not mandatory: an Italian citizen who was never registered can still prove foreign residence through the double tax treaty with the country concerned. Where residence is contested, the treaty tie-breaker rules apply in order: permanent home, centre of vital interests, habitual abode, nationality and, finally, agreement between the two tax authorities.
The Revenue Agency does not confirm the benefit in advance: a check can arrive years later, when reconstructing your movements is hard, and the penalties on top of the tax and interest are significant.
If you work through a partita IVA, check whether the regime forfettario is better for your income level: the two cannot be combined on the same income. Academics should start from the regime for professors and researchers, which exempts 90% of teaching and research income with no cap, and can be combined with impatriati on different income (Ruling No. 16/2025).
Until now, a household could also pair impatriati with the lump sum tax for high-net-worth individuals: one spouse sheltering foreign income under the flat tax, the other claiming impatriati on Italian income. For transfers of residence from 2027, that combination will no longer be available, so the timing of the move becomes decisive.
Avv. Marco Mesina, a member of the Milan Bar (Ordine degli Avvocati di Milano) and formerly of Deloitte and Withers, specialises in international taxation and the relocation of professionals and entrepreneurs to Italy. The impatriati regime rewards precision: the years abroad, the qualification, the relationship with your employer and the timing of the move all have to line up. We verify your position, apply the relief correctly from day one and handle dealings with the Revenue Agency, including advance rulings where they add certainty.
Yes. It is open to workers of any nationality who transfer their tax residence to Italy and meet the requirements.
It can be, but the benefit must be assessed carefully. Because Italian tax is progressive and social security is unaffected, the advantage is smaller on lower incomes. A simulation on your figures is the only reliable guide.
Changing employer does not by itself end the benefit, as long as the core conditions still hold: Italian residence, work mainly in Italy and the original eligibility.
Yes. No functional link between the move and the start of work is required (Rulings No. 66/2025 and 12/2026), but the work must begin and meet the conditions.
Yes, provided the work is performed predominantly from Italy. The Revenue Agency confirmed this in Ruling No. 2/2026: document where the activity actually takes place.
Generally yes: bonuses and variable pay are part of employment income and benefit from the same relief, within the €600,000 cap.
Yes. The full amount is counted for ISEE, Italy's means-testing indicator, which can affect family allowances and other benefits.
Yes, for the remaining years of the five-year window, provided you met all requirements from the start.
Avv. Marco Mesina
Founder, Move to Dolce Vita · Avvocato, Milan Bar (Ordine degli Avvocati di Milano)
Marco is an Italian tax lawyer who advises individuals and families relocating to Italy on tax regimes, residency, citizenship, real estate and succession planning. Before founding Move to Dolce Vita he worked at Watson Farley & Williams, Withers and Deloitte in Milan.