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Italian Withholding Tax Calculator

Work out the ritenuta d'acconto and the net your client actually transfers, separating the invoice lines that belong in the withholding base from those that do not.

Withholding (ritenuta d'acconto)
€200.00
Net payable
€1,020.00

The withholding is 20% of €1,000.00, which is 20% of the fee. Your client pays you the net and remits the withholding to the Agenzia delle Entrate, Italy's tax agency, by the 16th of the following month.

The invoice line by line

Fee€1,000.00
VAT base€1,000.00
VAT (22%)€220.00
Invoice total€1,220.00
Withholding base€1,000.00
Withholding (20% on 100% of the base)−€200.00
Net payable€1,020.00

This is a withholding on account (a titolo d'acconto): not an extra tax but an advance on the IRPEF you will declare. You recover it in your annual tax return, where it is set against the tax due.

The withholding is not charged on the invoice total: the 4% INPS rivalsa and undocumented allowances are inside the base, while a professional fund's contribution and expenses documented and advanced for the client are not.

The two 4% contributions look alike on an invoice and behave in opposite ways. The INPS rivalsa for the gestione separata counts as fee income for tax, so it enters both the VAT base and the withholding base: on a 1,000 euro fee with the rivalsa the withholding is 208 euro, not 200. A private professional fund's contributo integrativo (Cassa Forense, Inarcassa, ENPAM) is instead collected on the fund's behalf: it enters VAT but stays outside the withholding. Likewise only expenses analytically documented and advanced in the client's name and on their behalf (article 15 of DPR 633/1972) stay outside both bases; a flat allowance with no documents behind it is fee income.

Educational estimate, not tax advice. The rate and the base depend on the type of service and on the invoicing party's tax regime; special cases such as withholding on building works in a condominio, travel agencies and agricultural businesses follow their own rules. Check with the Agenzia delle Entrate or your accountant.

1

The 20% is the easy part: the base is what matters

The ritenuta d'acconto on self-employment fees is 20%, and has been since 1998. What changes the answer is not the rate but which invoice lines it applies to: not the total, not the VAT, and not everything you write above the VAT. The base is the fee, plus the INPS rivalsa if you charge it, plus any expense allowance with no documents behind it. Out of the base: the VAT, a professional fund's contributo integrativo, and expenses you advanced for the client with the receipts in hand.

2

The two 4% contributions that look identical and are not

This is where money is won or lost. The 4% INPS rivalsa for the gestione separata is fee income for tax purposes, yours before you pass it to the INPS, so it enters both the VAT base and the withholding base. On a 1,000 euro fee with the rivalsa the withholding is 208 euro, not 200. A private professional fund's contributo integrativo (Cassa Forense, Inarcassa, ENPAM) is instead collected on the fund's behalf and is not your income: it enters VAT but stays outside the withholding, so on 1,000 euro the withholding remains 200 euro. On the invoice the two lines look alike, often at the same 4%: treating them the same way is the single most common mistake here.

3

Expense reimbursements: the documents decide, not the label

Expenses analytically documented and advanced in the client's name and on their behalf, under article 15 of DPR 633/1972, are not your fee: they stay outside both the VAT and the withholding and are added to the invoice total untouched. A flat allowance, a round figure with no documents behind it, is fee income and enters both bases. The same 200 euro moves the withholding by 40 euro and the VAT by 44 euro depending on whether it is documented.

4

Commissions: the 23% applies to half the base

For agency, brokerage, commercial representation and business-introduction commissions the statute writes no percentage at all: it refers to the first IRPEF bracket rate, which is 23% today. The withholding is then "commisurata al 50 per cento" of the commission, so the effective burden is 11.5%. If you declare to the principal that you continuously use employees or third parties, the base drops to 20% of the commission and the effective rate to 4.6%: on a 1,000 euro commission that is 115 euro against 46. Saying "commissions are withheld at 23%" without naming the base overstates it twofold.

5

When no withholding applies at all

A professional under the regime forfettario is outside the mechanism: article 1, comma 67 of law 190/2014 provides that fees forming forfait income are not subject to withholding. The exemption is not automatic, though: you must give the client a declaration stating that the income bears the substitute tax. A forfettario charges no VAT either (comma 58 of the same article), so a 1,000 euro invoice is worth 1,000 euro. Choosing that regime in the calculator removes both lines, because both follow from the same choice.

6

Advance or final: the distinction that matters more than the rate

For a resident the withholding is "a titolo d'acconto": not an extra tax but an advance on the IRPEF you will declare, recovered in your annual return by setting it against the tax due. For a non-resident the rate is 30% and it is "a titolo d'imposta": it settles the Italian tax liability and is not recovered. The same word covers two different things, and the difference weighs more than the ten points of rate. Your client, acting as sostituto d'imposta, remits the withholding on form F24 by the 16th of the month after payment.

7

The legal citation changes address on 1 January 2027

Almost every page on this subject cites articles 25 and 25-bis of DPR 600/1973. From 1 January 2027 those two articles are repealed by article 241 of legislative decree 33/2025 and their content becomes articles 38 and 39 of the Testo unico on payments and collection. The substance does not change: 20% for self-employment, 30% for non-residents, the first IRPEF bracket on 50% or 20% of commissions. The citation does, so both appear here with the date the handover takes effect.

Worked example

Example: you are a consultant in the INPS gestione separata invoicing a 1,000 euro fee with the 4% rivalsa. The VAT base is 1,040 euro, VAT at 22% is 228.80 euro and the invoice total is 1,268.80 euro. The withholding base is also 1,040 euro, because the rivalsa is fee income: the 20% withholding is 208 euro, which is 20.8% of your fee. The client transfers 1,060.80 euro to you and remits 208 euro to the Agenzia delle Entrate, Italy's tax agency. Had that line been a professional fund's 4% contributo integrativo instead, the invoice total would be identical (1,268.80 euro) but the withholding would fall to 200 euro and you would receive 1,068.80 euro: an 8 euro difference produced purely by how that one line is classified.

Frequently asked questions

How is the ritenuta d'acconto calculated?
Apply 20% to the base, which is the fee plus the INPS rivalsa if you charge it plus any undocumented expense allowance. On a 1,000 euro fee with nothing else the withholding is 200 euro. VAT, a professional fund's contribution and documented expenses advanced for the client are not in the base.
Is the ritenuta d'acconto calculated on the VAT?
No. VAT is not your fee but a tax you collect for the state, so it stays outside the withholding base. On an invoice of 1,000 euro plus 220 euro of VAT the withholding is 20% of 1,000, that is 200 euro, and the client pays you 1,020 euro.
Does the 4% INPS rivalsa enter the withholding base?
Yes. The gestione separata rivalsa is fee income for tax, so it enters both the VAT base and the withholding base: on a 1,000 euro fee plus 40 euro of rivalsa the withholding is 20% of 1,040, that is 208 euro. This is the opposite of a professional fund's contributo integrativo, which stays out.
Does a professional fund's contribution enter the withholding base?
No. The contributo integrativo (for instance Cassa Forense's 4% or Inarcassa's 2%) is collected on the fund's behalf and is not your income: it is charged to the client and enters the VAT base, but stays outside the withholding base.
What is the withholding on a one-off, occasional service?
It is 20%, the same rate as habitual self-employment: article 38 of the Testo unico applies it to fees for self-employment "ancorché non esercitate abitualmente", even when not carried on habitually. On a 500 euro occasional fee the withholding is 100 euro and you receive 400 euro. With no VAT number there is no VAT to charge.
Does a forfettario suffer the withholding?
No: article 1, comma 67 of law 190/2014 excludes fees forming forfait income from the withholding. You must however give the client the declaration stating that the income bears the substitute tax. A forfettario charges no VAT either, so the invoice is collected in full.
What is the withholding on a sales agent's commission?
The rate is the first IRPEF bracket, 23% today, but it applies to only 50% of the commission, so the effective burden is 11.5%. If you declare that you continuously use employees or third parties the base falls to 20%, an effective 4.6%. On a 1,000 euro commission that is 115 euro or 46 euro.
When do you recover the ritenuta d'acconto?
In the tax return for the year you suffered it: it is an advance on IRPEF and is set against the tax due, producing a refund or a credit if you paid more than you owed. For non-residents the 30% is a final withholding and is not recovered.
By when must the client remit the withholding?
The client, acting as sostituto d'imposta, remits it on form F24 by the 16th day of the month following payment of the fee, and certifies the amounts withheld to you in the following year's Certificazione Unica.

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Author: Thorben Rasmus Idel · Reviewed by: Nahar Geva · Last reviewed: