News brief · Taxation

Italy: flat tax for new residents, the date you move sets the amount

The Italian lump-sum tax on foreign income has doubled for recent arrivals. Residents already admitted to the regime keep the amount that applied when they entered it: the date of the transfer of residence determines what you pay, and nothing else.

By Editorial team · on September 6, 2026

View of Milan — Photo: Steffen Schmitz — Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA)

Read the full story: Italy raises its flat tax for new residents to €300,000 a year

What the new residents regime provides

The Italian new residents regime allows a person who transfers their tax residency to Italy to replace the taxation of all their foreign-source income with an annual lump-sum tax. Italian-source income, for its part, remains taxed at the ordinary rates.

The option is reserved for people who have not been Italian tax residents for at least from 9 years¹ of the ten preceding the transfer. It then applies for a maximum of 15 years².

The lump sum covers foreign income whatever its amount: dividends, interest, rents, capital gains, pensions. It is this flat-rate nature, rather than a reduced rate, that makes the scheme attractive for large estates.

A family member can be included in the option for an additional lump sum of €50,000³ per person.

What has changed, and for whom

The amount of the lump sum has been raised twice. It stood at €100,000⁴ for transfers of residence made up to 10 August 2024, then at €200,000⁵ for those made from 11 August 2024.

The amount applicable to the most recent transfers is €300,000⁶ per year. This is what a person moving there today will pay.

The decisive point is the absence of retroactive effect. Each increase applies only to taxpayers whose transfer of residence takes place after its entry into force; those already admitted to the regime keep the amount in force when they arrived, for the entire duration of the option.

In practice, three Italian residents may today fall under the same scheme while paying three different amounts, depending on whether they moved before August 2024, between August 2024 and the following increase, or afterwards. The date of the transfer is therefore the only parameter that counts.

This structure has an obvious practical consequence: for a plan under way, the year of the transfer of residence weighs more than any other choice, and a delay of a few weeks can change the cost of the regime for fifteen years.

What to check before deciding

Check the non-residence condition: from 9 years¹ of Italian tax non-residence over the ten years preceding the transfer.
Establish the exact date of the transfer of residence: it is this date that sets the amount of the lump sum for the entire duration of the option.
Cost the family lump sum of €50,000³ per person included: it is added to the main lump sum.
Ring-fence Italian-source income, which remains taxed at the standard rates, with a top marginal rate of 43%⁷.
Handle the departure from France according to its own criteria: presence in Italy beyond 183 days⁸ results in Italian tax residency, but France applies article 4 B of its General Tax Code (code général des impôts).

The last point is the one on which applications fail. An Italian lump sum protects against nothing as long as the household and the centre of economic interests remain in France: it is the France–Italy tax treaty that decides, and it reasons on facts, not on a tax election.

What remains uncertain

The Italian revenue agency dates these tiers precisely: up to 10 August 2024, from 11 August 2024 to 31 December 2025, then from 1 January 2026. The amount applicable to a given transfer is therefore read off a calendar, and it is locked in for the entire duration of the option.

The trend, on the other hand, is not open to debate: the lump sum has tripled in a few years. A plan built over fifteen years must factor in that the entry amount is locked in, but that the access conditions themselves may still be tightened for future arrivals.

Italy also offers two other regimes that are often confused with this one: the regime for foreign retirees, at 7%⁹ for 9 years¹⁰ in municipalities of fewer than less than 30,000 inhabitants¹¹ in the south of the country, and the regime for inbound workers, which exempts 50%¹² of employment income for 5 years¹³.

These three schemes cannot be combined and are not aimed at the same profiles. The choice between them depends on the nature of the income — investment, pension or employment — and not on the headline amount.

Please note

General information, as of the date shown. A draft reform is not a rule in force: check the conditions with the authorities or a professional before deciding. Terms of use and disclaimers

Sources and verification dates

1.
Italy, new residents: tax periods of non-residence required out of the previous ten : 9 years
« L'opzione è esercitabile dalle persone fisiche che trasferiscono la residenza fiscale in Italia e che non siano state residenti in Italia per un tempo almeno pari a nove periodi di imposta nel corso dei dieci precedenti l'inizio del periodo di validità dell'opzione. — Agenzia delle Entrate, « Opzione per i neo-residenti ». »
agenziaentrate.gov.itVerified on Nov 2, 2026Verified source
2.
Italy, new residents: maximum duration of the option, from the first tax period : 15 years
« L'opzione è valida per un massimo di 15 anni dal primo periodo d'imposta di validità dell'opzione »
agenziaentrate.gov.itVerified on Nov 2, 2026Verified source
3.
Italy, new residents: annual flat amount per family member included, from 1 January 2026 : €50,000
« e a 50.000 euro l'importo dell'imposta dovuta da ciascuno dei familiari cui sono stati estesi gli effetti dell'opzione »
agenziaentrate.gov.itVerified on Nov 2, 2026Verified source
4.
Italy, new residents: annual flat tax, moves up to 10 August 2024 : €100,000
« per i trasferimenti di residenza avvenuti fino al 10 agosto 2024 l'imposta è stabilita nella misura di 100.000 euro per ciascun periodo d'imposta »
agenziaentrate.gov.itHistorical value, applicable until August 10, 2024
5.
Italy, new residents: annual flat tax, moves from 11 August 2024 to 31 December 2025 : €200,000
« l'imposta sostitutiva è pari a 200.000 euro per ciascun periodo d'imposta in cui opera l'opzione »
agenziaentrate.gov.itHistorical value, applicable until December 31, 2025
6.
Italy, new residents: annual flat tax, moves from 1 January 2026 : €300,000
« la legge di bilancio 2026 ha elevato a 300.000 euro l'importo dell'imposta sostitutiva sui redditi prodotti all'estero da chi si trasferisce in Italia »
agenziaentrate.gov.itVerified on Nov 2, 2026Verified source
7.
Italy: top marginal IRPEF rate : 43%
« fino a euro 28.000 : 23% ; da 28.001 fino a euro 50.000 : 35% [33 % depuis la loi de finances 2026] ; oltre a euro 50.000 : 43% — 14.140 euro + 43% sul reddito che supera i 50.000 euro. — Agenzia delle Entrate, « Aliquote e calcolo dell'Irpef ». »
agenziaentrate.gov.itVerified on Nov 2, 2026Verified source
8.
Italy: annual presence that establishes tax residency : 183 days
« A person is considered resident in Italy for income tax purposes if they meet at least one of the following conditions for most of the year (at least 183 days per year, or 184 for leap years) »
agenziaentrate.gov.itVerified on Nov 2, 2026Verified source
9.
Italy, foreign retirees: substitute tax rate on foreign-source income : 7%
« prevede l'applicazione di un'imposta sostitutiva dell'Irpef con aliquota del 7% a qualsiasi categoria di reddito prodotto all'estero, per ciascuno dei nove periodi d'imposta di validità dell'opzione (articolo 24-ter del Tuir). »
agenziaentrate.gov.itVerified on Nov 2, 2026Verified source
10.
Italy, foreign retirees: number of tax periods covered by the option : 9 years
« l'applicazione di un'imposta sostitutiva dell'Irpef con aliquota del 7% a qualsiasi categoria di reddito prodotto all'estero, per ciascuno dei nove periodi d'imposta di validità dell'opzione (articolo 24-ter del Tuir). — Agenzia delle Entrate, « Regime opzionale per i pensionati esteri » (mise à jour du 8 mai 2026). »
agenziaentrate.gov.itVerified on Nov 2, 2026Verified source
11.
Italy, foreign retirees: maximum population of the municipality of settlement, since 7 April 2026 : 30,000 inhabitants
« Il regime di favore è applicabile se la residenza viene trasferita in uno dei comuni appartenenti al territorio delle regioni Sicilia, Calabria, Sardegna, Campania, Basilicata, Abruzzo, Molise e Puglia, con popolazione non superiore a 30mila abitanti (tale limite è in vigore dal 7 aprile 2026, in precedenza era 20mila abitanti). Possono beneficiarne anche i pensionati esteri che trasferiscono la residenza in uno dei comuni, sempre con non più di 30mila abitanti, interessati dagli eventi sismici del 6 aprile 2009 (“terremoto dell'Aquila”) o dagli eventi sismici del 2016 (“terremoto del Centro Italia”). — Agenzia delle Entrate, « Regime opzionale per i pensionati esteri ». »
agenziaentrate.gov.itVerified on Nov 2, 2026Verified source
12.
Italy, inbound workers: share of employment income exempt : 50%
« Il regime prevede che i redditi assimilati a quelli di lavoro dipendente, i redditi di lavoro autonomo derivanti dall'esercizio di arti e professioni prodotti in Italia entro il limite annuo di 600.000 euro concorrono alla formazione del reddito complessivo limitatamente al 50% del loro ammontare. »
agenziaentrate.gov.itVerified on Nov 2, 2026Verified source
13.
Italy, inbound workers: duration of the regime : 5 years
« Il regime per i lavoratori impatriati si applica a partire dal periodo di imposta in cui è avvenuto il trasferimento della residenza fiscale in Italia e nei quattro periodi d'imposta successivi. Se la residenza fiscale in Italia non è mantenuta per almeno quattro anni, il lavoratore decade dai benefici e si provvede al recupero di quelli già fruiti, con applicazione dei relativi interessi. — Agenzia delle Entrate, « Lavoratori impatriati – nuovo regime » (D.Lgs. 209/2023, art. 5). »
agenziaentrate.gov.itVerified on Nov 2, 2026Verified source