How to invoice a customer in Italy

Which VAT rule applies when invoicing Italy?

Use the customer status, the movement of goods and the stock location to choose the VAT treatment. Do not start with the invoice template; start with the flow. If your business has stock in Italy or needs Italian VAT registration, working with a fiscal representative in Italy may be required.

Pre-invoice checklist

Run this check before issuing the invoice, especially before applying a zero rate.

1. Identify the customer: business, consumer, public body, marketplace buyer or intermediary.

2. Locate the stock or service: goods shipped to Italy, goods already in Italy, or service supplied to an Italian business.

3. Collect the Italian tax identifiers: Partita IVA, Codice Fiscale and legal name/address.

4. Validate the VAT number in VIES when the customer claims B2B VAT status for an intra-Community transaction.

5. Save proof of the VIES check with the date, customer details and validation result.

6. Select the legal basis: Article 138 for intra-Community goods, Article 44 for B2B services, Article 194 for certain local reverse-charge flows.

7. Confirm the VAT rate if Italian VAT applies: standard 22%, reduced 10% or 5%, or super-reduced 4% depending on the goods or service.

8. Secure transport evidence before relying on the exemption for goods: signed CMR plus a second independent item of evidence.

VIES first: no valid number, no zero-rated B2B invoice

For an intra-Community B2B supply to Italy, VIES validation is a condition to secure the VAT treatment. VIES is not a customer due-diligence system; it checks whether the number is recognised for cross-border VAT operations at the time of the query.

If the Italian VAT number is invalid, missing or not registered for intra-Community transactions, do not issue a zero-rated B2B invoice. Treat the sale under the applicable VAT rule for your situation, which can mean charging VAT from your country of origin or reassessing whether Italian VAT registration is needed.

For Italy, the intra-Community VAT format is generally IT followed by 11 digits. The domestic verification of a Partita IVA is useful, but it does not replace VIES for EU cross-border VAT status.

Partita IVA and Codice Fiscale: ask for both when relevant

Italian invoices often need more identifier discipline than invoices to other EU countries. Partita IVA is the VAT identifier; Codice Fiscale is a broader tax identifier.

For companies, the two numbers may be identical or different depending on the legal situation. For sole traders and individuals carrying out business activities, they are often distinct. The safest invoice practice is to request both and show both in the customer block when the customer uses them.

Your customer block should include:

• legal name;

• full address;

• Partita IVA, preferably in intra-Community format for B2B EU flows;

• Codice Fiscale when available or applicable;

• delivery address for goods, if different from the billing address.

Invoice wording and mandatory mentions

The invoice wording must match the real transaction. Using Article 138 on a local Italian stock sale, or Article 194 on an intra-Community shipment, creates a compliance risk.

For B2B goods shipped from another EU Member State to Italy, use wording such as:

Intra-Community supply of goods. VAT exempt / reverse charge under Article 138(1) of Directive 2006/112/EC. VAT to be accounted for by the customer.

For general B2B services supplied to an Italian taxable customer, use wording such as:

Reverse charge. B2B service taxable where the customer is established under Article 44 of Directive 2006/112/EC. VAT to be accounted for by the customer.

For certain local Italian B2B supplies by a non-established supplier where reverse charge applies, use wording such as:

Reverse charge under Article 194 of Directive 2006/112/EC. VAT to be accounted for by the Italian customer.

If Italian VAT applies, show the taxable amount, the VAT rate, the VAT amount and the VAT-inclusive total. The rate is not chosen by country alone: Italy applies 22%, 10%, 5% and 4% depending on the product or service category.

Goods, services and proof of transport

Goods and services do not fail for the same reason. For goods, the weak point is usually transport proof; for services, it is usually customer status and place of supply.

For intra-Community goods shipped to Italy, keep at least two non-contradictory pieces of evidence from independent parties. The practical baseline is:

• a signed CMR showing the goods were transported to Italy;

• a second item such as transport insurance, a bank document, carrier invoice or authenticated receipt from the customer.

A delivery note created internally is not enough on its own. If the evidence does not support the exemption, the tax authority can challenge the zero-rated treatment.

For services, document the customer's taxable status, VIES validation where relevant, the service description and the place-of-supply reasoning. The invoice should be clear enough for the Italian accounting team to process the reverse charge without asking for a corrected invoice.

SDI and esterometro: what foreign suppliers should know

Italy's SDI system is central to domestic e-invoicing, but a foreign supplier issuing a cross-border invoice from abroad without an Italian establishment is not automatically required to issue that invoice through SDI.

The Italian customer may still have reporting obligations for foreign invoices. In practice, this can involve integration through SDI, esterometro reporting or autofattura-type processing depending on the customer's status and the transaction.

The nuance matters. If you have an Italian establishment, an Italian entity, stock in Italy or local Italian transactions, the position changes and SDI/e-fattura obligations must be reviewed against the exact flow. A simple statement that every foreign supplier must use SDI is wrong; a simple statement that SDI never matters is also wrong.

Final control before sending the invoice

Before sending the invoice, check four items: VIES evidence, customer identifiers, legal wording and transaction proof. Most corrections after invoice issue come from one of these four points.

For a B2B zero-rated invoice, keep the VIES result and transport evidence in the same audit file as the invoice. For B2C, monitor the EUR 10,000 OSS threshold across all EU cross-border distance sales, not only sales to Italy. For stock in Italy, do not rely on OSS alone: local VAT registration in Italy and Italian reporting may be required. See our guide on Quick Fixes. Also see our complete guide on VAT rules in Italy and our VAT in Italy fact sheet.

See also: import goods into Italy