Italian Tax Code (Codice Fiscale)

Question: What is the codice fiscale? When do I need it? How do I get it? What are the requirements? How long does it take to get one?

Answer: The Italian term “codice fiscale” is commonly translated as “tax code”, “fiscal code” or “tax number”. The Italian Codice Fiscale is an Italian identification code. The personal codice fiscale is the result of a formula applied to a person’s name, date and place of birth. The codice fiscale for entities (business, foundations, etc.) is a random number assigned by the Italian Tax Office. The Italian codice fiscale is an alphanumeric identification code of 16 characters.

Italian tax code (codice fiscale) purposes:

It is mandatory to have an Italian tax code for a number of Italian activities such as to open an Italian bank account, to start an Italian court dispute, to buy or inherit an Italian property, to register a preliminary contract for a property purchase, to buy a mobile phone number, to apply for a utility connection, to get an Italian mortgage, to rent a property for more than 30 days, etc.

Italian tax implications:

Having an Italian tax code does not imply any tax duty. You are subject to Italian tax duties if any of the following circumstances applies:

• own or inherit certain qualifying Italian assets in Italy (e.g., real estate);
• if you are an Italian tax resident; or
• if you earn Italian taxable income (e.g., rental income).

How do you obtain an Italian tax code (codice fiscale)?

The codice fiscale is assigned by birth to Italians and upon request to non-Italians.  It can be requested and obtained for children as well as adults.  The only difference with an application for a child is additional documentation is required in the form of a parent’s passport.

Depending on your requirements and whether you are an Italian citizen or not, you might be able to apply for your Italian codice fiscale for free in Italy through any tax office (Agenzia delle Entrate), or through an Italian Immigration office, or online through the FAST-IT government portal, or in your home country through an Italian consular office or Embassy. However, such options might prove to be challenging. For example, Italian tax offices often require certain conditions to apply for you to apply in Italy, they might also require you to make an appointments in advance and, on the date of the appointment, they might still have long waits.

If you wish to go through an Italian Consulate or Embassy, check their policy in advance. Some Italian Consulates might refuse to process your request unless you provide sufficient evidence that you already tried to get it in some other way first. Some Italian Consulates might ask for your birth certificate and/or other documents. Unfortunately, since July 15, 2024 all Italian Consulates started applying much stricter policies which became even more stringent in 2025. For example, read the latest warnings on this topic from the Embassy of Italy in Washington D.C., USA.

Italian Codice Fiscale Delegated Representative:

We are accredited with the Italian Revenue Agency’s Entratel system, which is the secure professional portal used by authorized tax and legal professionals to electronically file, register, and manage matters with the Italian tax authorities. We provide the codice fiscale service as professional delegated representatives who can apply for and obtain a tax code certificate on your behalf, without you needing to personally deal with Italian tax authorities or to provide documents that might be difficult or time consuming to retrieve. Through our service you can get the Italian tax code completely remotely in as quickly as 1 day and without the need to provide your birth certificate.

Our service is for any type of Italian codice fiscale request, for any purpose you might need the tax code. Our service includes codice fiscale applications for adult individuals, minors, deceased or incapacitated people, applications to edit or rectify an existing codice fiscale or to obtain a duplicate of an already assigned codice fiscale, etc.

If you already initiated the Italian tax code application process with the Italian Consulate, for example weeks ago, and you have not received any feedback yet, you can still start the application process through us at any point. Our experts will liaise with the Italian tax authorities on your behalf and will quickly complete the process. Just fill out the codice fiscale application form using the buttons below as if you had not started the process with the Italian Consulate yet and we will sort it out.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (from Google reviews): “I am so thrilled to have discovered Studio Legale Metta! I applied & received my Codice Fiscale within a week which was great! I thought I would have to make an appointment with the Italian consulate an hour and a half away & who knows how long it would take overall. The process through SLM was very smooth. Marco was pleasant and kept me informed and I look forward to using them again for their other services. Grazie mille!“

Timing to issue an Italian tax code (codice fiscale):

If you qualify to apply in Italy, an Italian tax office will issue the tax code on the date of the appointment, on a same-day basis (over the counter).

If you apply through the Italian consulate in your home country, it might take between a few days to several weeks, depending on their policies and workload at the time of your application. Unfortunately there are also some Italian Consulates that might just be completely unresponsive.

Requirements to apply for an Italian tax code (codice fiscale):

If you are applying for a new tax code, whether you are an EU or Schengen citizen or not, you are required to provide a copy of your current passport in addition to a special proxy prepared by, for example, a lawyer or an accountant, with the specifics of why you need the Italian codice fiscale.

If the application is for an Italian citizen registered with the FAST-IT government portal or a person who already has the tax code, there is no need of a proxy.

Tax code applications for dual citizens:

I am a dual citizen, which passport should I use when applying for my Italian tax code?

To calculate the Italian tax code, name, date and place of birth are relevant, not citizenship. Therefore, if your name on the two passports is identical, it doesn’t matter which passport you use. If one of your passports is from the EU, use that one as it usually streamlines the process compared to using a non-EU passport.

There might be a situation in which a person has two passports with different names. This is not uncommon when you are a woman with an Italian passport reflecting your maiden last name and a non-EU passport reflecting your married last name. In this case, the passport you use will affect your tax code and, therefore, it is advisable to talk with a professional for advice about what passport to use based on the circumstances, your needs for an Italian tax code and possible implications with respect to the two options. Proper planning might avoid a significant number of issues to costly formalities to rectify the record at a later date. Schedule a consultation with Nick Metta or Raffaella Cuomo for advice.      

Please note that the plastic tax code card has the same validity as the Italian tax code certificate. Also, it can be only issued if you have an Italian address and if you specifically request it through the Italian Revenue Office.

If you already have the tax code and an Italian home address, you could/can apply for the plastic card through our form by selecting  “apply for a duplicate” + “plastic card”.

Italian tax code (codice fiscale) certificate compliance:

When you receive the Italian tax code certificate, the first thing to do is to check it. Make sure the information on it is fully consistent with the information on your identification document (e.g., passport). Typos and inconsistencies unfortunately are not uncommon, especially when foreign names are involved. If you detect a typo, ask for its correction immediately.

Italian tax code (codice fiscale) expiration:

The Italian tax code (codice fiscale) never expires. Once you get your codice fiscale it is valid forever.

However, if you change your legal name, or acquire a new legal name, you might be requested, or required, to get a new Italian tax code. Sometimes it is just a good idea to get a new codice fiscale proactively to avoid issues later. This situation might happen if, for example, you are married, have taken your spouse’s last name, have obtained an Italian tax code, then acquire Italian citizenship and might be in the process of buying a home. Your Italian passport will reflect your maiden name. Your property title will reflect your codice fiscale. Depending on family circumstances, your tax and estate planning, it might be advisable to have all record consistent across your documents. In particular, if you change your legal name, check if you had an existing Italian tax code (codice fiscale).

If you believe that you were already assigned an Italian tax code before the name change, for example because you were born in Italy or lived in Italy for a certain period or time, you can check it online through two simple steps, as follows:

a) “calculate” your Italian codice fiscale on any of the many online websites that offer an online tax code calculator or generator;

b) once you have what you believe to be your Italian tax code, check if it is valid and current at this web page set up for this purpose by the Italian Revenue Office (Agenzia delle Entrate);

If an Italian codice fiscale was assigned to you but you have misplaced the official certificate, you can apply for a duplicate certificate. The procedure is the same as the one to apply for it the first time. However, for a duplicate certificate application, you do not need to provide a proxy as said above.

Our services:

Our offices offer tax code application service for foreign individuals and foreign companies to obtain an Italian codice fiscale certificate remotely, without involving the Italian consulate, without going to the Italian immigration office, or going to Italy at all, and without providing a birth certificate.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (from Google reviews) “SLM got me my codice fiscale in a matter of days for a very reasonable price. I would not hesitate to work with him again and wish that every interaction with Italian bureaucracy could be as simple as it was with him. Do not hesitate to work with him or his agency, 5/5 stars!“

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• Personal Tax Code – Apply Now
• Corporate Tax Code – Apply Now
• How to open an Italian bank account
• Financing an Italian property
• Italian notary public