In short
Italy has a regime for inbound workers that exempts 50% of employment or self-employment income earned in Italy, up to €600,000 a year, for 5 tax years, in exchange for a commitment to remain 4 years. We do not advise on tax — accountants we work with do — but the timing of your move interacts with your visa, and that part is ours.
Why an immigration firm writes about tax
Because someone moving to Italy makes one decision, and we were telling them half of it. The person weighing a job offer in Milan, or the company relocating an executive, does not separate the residence permit from the tax treatment: they look at the whole picture.
Let us be clear about the boundary. Tax advice is the accountant's work and we do not give it. We do work with accountants who handle relocation tax, and connecting you with them is part of what we do. This page exists so that you arrive at that conversation knowing which questions to ask.
The inbound workers regime, in outline
Rewritten in 2023 and applying to people who move their tax residence to Italy from 2024 onwards. Anyone who moved earlier falls under the previous, more generous version — which is the first distinction to make, because much of what circulates online still describes the old rules.
- 50% of employment or self-employment income produced in Italy is exempt, rising where there are minor children.
- The ceiling on qualifying income is €600,000 a year; anything above is taxed normally.
- It lasts 5 tax years, from the year residence is transferred.
- You must not have been resident in Italy in the preceding tax years, with a longer look-back for people returning to the same employer or group.
- You commit to keeping Italian residence for 4 years; leaving earlier means repaying the benefit with interest.
- Qualification or specialisation requirements apply, and the work must be performed mainly in Italy.
How tax residence is actually determined
You are tax resident in Italy if, for most of the tax year — 183 days — you have your residence, your domicile or your physical presence here, or you are registered with a municipality.
Two things changed in 2024 and they matter to this audience. Domicile is now defined as the place where your personal and family relationships are principally centred: where your partner and children live, where the home you return to is. And municipal registration became a rebuttable presumption rather than a conclusive one.
For people who keep ties in two countries, this is a more substantive test than the one they may be used to, and it is worth modelling before the move rather than discovering afterwards.
Where tax and immigration collide
In the calendar, and this is the point of the page.
Tax residence turns on most of the tax year. Your date of entry, however, is set by the immigration process: the clearance, the consular appointment, the click day if your route is quota-bound. Arriving in one half of the year rather than the other changes which tax year the regime starts in.
The commitment to remain 4 years has to sit alongside the duration and renewability of your permit. An incentive that requires four years in Italy is only worth taking if the immigration side supports four years.
And the form of your contract matters to both: some entry routes require specific contractual features, and those same features affect access to the regime.
Double taxation
Most people relocating keep a connection to another country: income, property, an open position. Bilateral treaties exist to prevent the same income being taxed twice and, where both states consider you resident, to decide which prevails.
They apply a sequence of tests — permanent home, centre of vital interests, habitual abode, nationality. Working out where you land in that sequence is among the most useful things to do before leaving, and it is a conversation for an accountant.
The figures cited on this page
Every amount, threshold and deadline comes from our public register of legal parameters, each recorded with its legal reference and the date we last checked it. When a value changes, this page changes with it.
| Parameter | Value | Legal reference | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| Share of income exempt under the inbound workers regime | 50% | Art. 5 D.Lgs. 27 dicembre 2023, n. 209 | |
| Income ceiling under the inbound workers regime | €600,000 | Art. 5 D.Lgs. 27 dicembre 2023, n. 209 | |
| Duration of the inbound workers regime | 5 tax years | Art. 5 D.Lgs. 27 dicembre 2023, n. 209 | |
| Residence commitment required by the inbound workers regime | 4 years | Art. 5 D.Lgs. 27 dicembre 2023, n. 209 | |
| Days determining Italian tax residence | 183 days | Art. 2 D.P.R. 917/1986 (TUIR), come modificato dal D.Lgs. 209/2023 |
Frequently asked questions
Do you give tax advice?
Does the regime apply to remote workers?
Why are the figures on this page flagged as requiring confirmation?
Professional scope. Italy Immigration Hub is an administrative consultancy, not a law firm, and does not carry out activities reserved to members of the Italian Bar. Legal advice on disputes, court filings and representation before judicial authorities are handled by qualified lawyers we work with, instructed directly by the client. We are a private, independent operator with no affiliation to Italian public authorities, and the outcome and timing of any procedure depend on the competent authority. Legal notice (Italian).
Related pages in English
Full procedural detail in Italian
The Italian pages carry the complete document lists, cost breakdowns, step-by-step procedures and the mistakes that most often cause refusals.