Italy

Tax residency

Under Article 2 of the Italian Income Tax Code, as amended by Legislative Decree 209/2023 with effect from 1 January 2024, an individual is considered tax resident in Italy where, for most of the tax period, 183 days in a standard year or 184 days in a leap year, any one of the applicable criteria is satisfied. The criteria are alternative, so satisfying any one of them is sufficient to establish Italian tax residence.

Italian domestic tax residence may therefore be established if any one of the four alternative criteria is satisfied for 183 days or more in a standard year or 184 days or more in a leap year.

• Residence (residenza): under Italian civil law, residenza is the person’s habitual and voluntary abode in a particular place. It involves both an objective element (actual and sufficiently stable living in that place) and a subjective element (an intention to live there permanently), reflected in the individual’s pattern of life and normal social, family and personal relationships.
• Domicile (domicilio): for Italian income-tax purposes, domicile is the place where the individual’s personal and family relationships principally develop. The 2024 reform replaced the previous civil-law reference with this specific tax definition, giving greater weight to personal and family relationships rather than purely economic connections. Relevant factors may include stable personal and social relationships and conduct showing an intention to maintain a close connection with Italy. The assessment is factual and case specific.
• Physical presence: physical presence in Italy is an autonomous criterion. It is sufficient for tax residence where the individual is physically present in Italy for most of the tax period: 183 days in a standard year or 184 days in a leap year, regardless of the reason for the stay and without needing to satisfy the residence, domicile or Anagrafe criteria. The criterion can therefore apply to holidays, study, visits to family or friends, and work in Italy.
• Anagrafe registration: registration in the resident population register (Anagrafe della popolazione residente) for most of the tax period: 183 days in a standard year or 184 days in a leap year, creates a rebuttable presumption of Italian tax residence. The individual may rebut the presumption by demonstrating, using objectively verifiable evidence, that for most of the tax period they had neither residence nor domicile in Italy and were not physically present there.

Day counting

• Residence (residenza): the criterion is assessed by reference to most of the tax period, but the residence concept itself is factual and is not determined solely by counting physical presence days.
• Domicile (domicilio): the criterion is assessed by reference to most of the tax period, while the underlying question is whether the individual’s personal and family relationships principally develop in Italy.
• Physical presence: physical presence is counted over the tax period, with a threshold of 183 days in a standard year or 184 days in a leap year. The days do not have to be consecutive and are aggregated. Fractions of a day are expressly taken into account. Because fractions of a day are counted, any physical presence in Italy during part of a day is relevant. Therefore, the day of arrival and the day of departure are both counted where the individual is physically present in Italy during any part of those days. At the same time, a very brief presence that is merely temporary or occasional, such as an airside stopover during a connecting flight, may not be treated as relevant physical presence for this purpose.
• Anagrafe registration: registration is assessed by reference to whether it covers most of the tax period. It creates a rebuttable presumption rather than an irrebuttable rule.

Tax consequences

The Italian tax year is a calendar year. Italian tax residents are generally subject to Italian income tax on worldwide income, while non-residents are generally taxed on Italian-source income, subject to applicable treaty provisions. Italy also provides special tax regimes for certain individuals transferring their residence to Italy, subject to their specific statutory conditions.

Migration / EU residence

EU/EEA nationals and Swiss citizens may reside in Italy under the applicable free-movement and residence arrangements. EU citizens staying in Italy for more than three months are generally subject to the applicable registration requirements with the competent municipality. Third-country nationals generally require the applicable visa or residence authorisation for longer stays. Immigration residence status does not, by itself, determine Italian tax residency.

Orientation references

• Italian Income Tax Code (TUIR), Article 2, statutory tax-residency criteria, including residence, domicile, physical presence and Anagrafe registration
• Legislative Decree 209/2023, reform of the individual tax-residency rules effective from 1 January 2024
• Italian Revenue Agency (Agenzia delle Entrate), Circular No. 20/E of 4 November 2024, detailed guidance on the revised tax-residency rules