In transposing the provisions of Directive 2006/65/EC, the Italian legal system allows foreign operators to choose between two alternatives:
- Direct VAT identification in Italy, available to all entities resident in EU countries or in non-EU countries with which a reciprocity agreement is in force and that do not have a permanent establishment in Italy;
- Appointment of a VAT fiscal representative, as an alternative to direct identification or in cases where such identification is not possible.
Pursuant to Article 44, paragraph 3, of Decree-Law No. 331/1993 (as amended by Legislative Decree No. 18/2010), non-resident entities without a permanent establishment in Italy that carry out taxable transactions within the Italian territory are considered VAT taxable persons.
Consequently, the obligations and rights deriving from the application of the Italian VAT Law (Presidential Decree No. 633 of 26 October 1972) must be fulfilled or exercised, in the ordinary manner, either through direct identification pursuant to Article 35-ter, or through a resident fiscal representative appointed pursuant to and for the purposes of Article 17(3) of the same Decree.
Fiscal Representative in Italy: When Is It Mandatory?
For non-resident subjects that carry out supplies of goods or services deemed to be territorially relevant in Italy, without having a permanent establishment and not falling within the cases where direct VAT identification is allowed, the appointment of a fiscal representative for VAT purposes becomes mandatory.
This obligation applies to any non-resident persons performing transactions in Italy that are territorially relevant and carried out with private individuals.
The rationale behind this obligation lies in the need for the Italian Tax Administration to ensure the presence of a domestic interlocutor responsible for VAT obligations in cases where the taxable person is established abroad (see Court of Justice, 19 February 2009, Case C-1/08).
Subjective Requirements
The provisions of Article 17(3) of Presidential Decree No. 633/1972 have been recently amended by Article 4 of Legislative Decree No. 13/2024 (the so-called “Decreto Accertamento”), introducing, among other things, express references to the subjective requirements that must be met by the appointed fiscal representative (Article 8, paragraph 1, letters a), b), c) and d) of Ministerial Decree No. 164/1999).
Specifically, the person appointed as fiscal representative must:
a) not have been convicted, even without a final judgment, or sentenced under Article 444 of the Italian Code of Criminal Procedure (plea bargaining) for financial crimes;
b) not have any pending criminal proceedings at the trial stage for financial crimes;
c) not have committed serious and repeated violations, by nature and extent, of tax or social security legislation;
d) not be in any of the situations set out in Article 15(1) of Law No. 55 of 19 March 1990, as replaced by Article 1 of Law No. 16 of 18 January 1992—that is, not be subject to disqualification or incapacity to hold certain offices;
d-bis) not have been part of companies for which a revocation order under Article 39(4) of Legislative Decree No. 241 of 9 July 1997 has been issued in the previous five years.
In cases where the fiscal representative is a legal entity, the same subjective requirements must also be met by its legal representative.
Declaration and guarantee
The identification of the criteria under which the fiscal representative may assume such role only after providing an adequate guarantee, proportionate also to the number of represented parties, has been delegated to a specific decree of the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF).
The reference regulation is Ministerial Decree of 9 December 2024.
On this matter, the Italian Revenue Agency issued Measure No. 186368/2025 on 17 April 2025, which sets out the operational procedures for certifying the subjective requirements and for providing the guarantee required to assume the role of fiscal representative.
In particular, the measure provides that the obligated parties are those who intend to assume or already act as fiscal representatives, and who must:
- submit a declaration certifying that they meet the requirements set out in Article 8(1), letters a), b), c) and d) of Ministerial Decree No. 164/1999; and
- provide an adequate guarantee pursuant to Article 17(3) of Presidential Decree No. 633/1972 (as amended by Legislative Decree No. 13/2024), based on the number of represented parties.
Declaration
The declaration must be made pursuant to Articles 46 and 47 of Legislative Decree No. 445/2000 (that is, through a sworn statement), certifying that the declarant:
a) has not been convicted, even without a final judgment, or sentenced under Article 444 of the Code of Criminal Procedure for financial crimes;
b) has no pending criminal proceedings at the trial stage for financial crimes;
c) has not committed serious and repeated violations, by their nature and extent, of social security or tax provisions;
d) is not in any of the situations set out in Article 15(1) of Law No. 55 of 19 March 1990, as replaced by Article 1 of Law No. 16 of 18 January 1992.
The declaration must be submitted together with the VAT registration or data variation form, through which the identifying details of the fiscal representative are communicated — the appointment must therefore precede the VAT number registration (one for each represented party).
If the fiscal representative is a legal entity, the declaration must be made by all legal representatives indicated in the declaration form.
In case of replacement or new appointment of one or more legal representatives, the declaration must again be submitted together with the relevant VAT registration or data variation form.
Failure to submit the declaration will result in the automatic cancellation of the VAT number of the representative (see point 2.5, Revenue Agency Measure No. 186368 of 17 April 2025).
Guarantee
The guarantee may be provided in the form of:
- a security deposit consisting of government securities or securities guaranteed by the State (as detailed in the annexed templates to the Measure), or
- an insurance bond or bank guarantee, issued pursuant to Law No. 348/1982 and subsequent amendments.
Depending on the number of represented parties, the minimum coverage amount of the guarantee is set as follows:
- €30,000 for fiscal representatives representing 2 to 9 entities;
- €100,000 for 10 to 50 entities;
- €300,000 for 51 to 100 entities;
- €1,000,000 for 101 to 1,000 entities;
- €2,000,000 for more than 1,000 entities.
This guarantee must be provided in favour of the acting Director of the competent Provincial Directorate of the Italian Revenue Agency, determined based on the fiscal domicile of the person intending to assume the role of fiscal representative.
It must be valid for a period of no less than 48 months from the date of delivery (which must take place in person) to the competent Provincial Directorate, and must be submitted together with the VAT registration or data variation form.
The Provincial Directorate will verify the compliance of the guarantee with the prescribed requirements and notify the provider of the outcome.
From the date of such notification, the individual is authorised to act as a fiscal representative for a number of entities corresponding to the guarantee bracket.
If the number of represented entities increases such that it moves into a higher bracket, a new guarantee must be provided with the correspondingly higher minimum coverage amount.
Cases of Exemption from the Obligation
Supplies of goods and services that, although territorially relevant in Italy, are carried out directly by the non-resident entity (even if represented for other transactions), are not subject to the obligation to appoint a fiscal representative.
This category includes all transactions carried out directly by the non-resident entity with Italian taxable persons (VAT-registered entities established or resident in Italy) to which the reverse charge mechanism applies (Article 17(2) of Presidential Decree No. 633/1972), as well as intra-EU acquisitions and supplies of goods.
In such cases, the fiscal representative is not involved in the transaction.
However, an exception to this rule has been recognised: the fiscal representative may issue to the purchaser or recipient a non-VAT-relevant document, indicating that the tax related to the transaction will be accounted for by the latter.
This document, which may also be issued electronically (despite the absence of an obligation to use the SdI e-invoicing system), is permitted “for accounting purposes, organisational needs, or simply to ensure clearer and more transparent management of the relationship between the parties” (Ruling No. 58/2024).
In all other cases — i.e. transactions carried out with non-established entities or with private consumers — VAT obligations and related rights must be fulfilled and exercised by the non-resident entity through the fiscal representative.
Invoices relating to such transactions must include the name, residence or domicile of both the non-resident entity and the fiscal representative, as well as the corresponding VAT identification number
Registration in the VIES System
Pursuant to Article 35(7-quater) of Presidential Decree No. 633/1972, introduced by Legislative Decree No. 13/2024, non-EU entities (i.e. entities not resident in an EU Member State nor in an EEA State) identified in Italy through a fiscal representative may now register in the VIES system, provided that an adequate guarantee has been issued.
The guarantee, as established by Revenue Agency Measure No. 178713/2025, must be provided in the form of a security deposit in government securities or securities guaranteed by the State, or in the form of an insurance or bank guarantee issued pursuant to Article 1 of Law No. 348 of 10 June 1982, as subsequently amended, for a minimum coverage amount of €50,000.
Furthermore, the guarantee must be valid for a period of no less than 36 months from the date of delivery (to be carried out in person or through the fiscal representative) to the acting Director of the competent Provincial Directorate of the Italian Revenue Agency, based on the fiscal domicile of the fiscal representative.
The guarantee does not need to be renewed upon expiry of this term. However, the timing of submission varies depending on the taxpayer’s VAT status:
- if the entity already holds a VAT number, the guarantee must be submitted before the request for VIES registration;
- if the entity does not yet hold a VAT number, the guarantee must be submitted at the same time as the VAT registration form.
The fiscal representative responsible for submitting to the Revenue Agency the VAT registration or variation form expressing the intention to be registered in VIES must verify the completeness of the documentation provided by the non-resident entity and the accuracy of the information in their possession (Article 35(7-quater) of Presidential Decree No. 633/1972).
Failure to fulfil these verification obligations entails an administrative penalty ranging from €3,000 to €50,000, pursuant to Article 11(7-quinquies) of Legislative Decree No. 471/1997, as introduced by Article 4 of Legislative Decree No. 13/2024.
The light VAT representative
Under Article 44(3), second sentence, of Decree-Law No. 331/1993, where a non-resident taxable person without a permanent establishment in Italy carries out only non-taxable, exempt, or otherwise VAT-free transactions, the fiscal representation may be limited to the invoicing obligations for such transactions and to the submission of INTRASTAT lists, thereby excluding the ordinary obligations of registration and declaration.
However, the possibility of benefiting from this simplified regime ceases upon the performance of the first transaction falling under the ordinary VAT regime.
The Customs Declaration
For the purpose of submitting a customs declaration by a non-EU established entity through a customs representative (who must, therefore, be established within the EU), Circular No. 40/2021 of the Italian Customs and Monopolies Agency clarified that, in this context, the VAT fiscal representative, “being relevant solely for VAT purposes, is not authorised to submit a customs declaration on behalf of a non-established person.”
However, the VAT identification number must nevertheless be indicated in Box 44 of the customs declaration in order to comply with the obligations set forth by Presidential Decree No. 633/1972.
What are the liabilities of a fiscal representative?
In terms of the liability of the fiscal representative, as highlighted by the Italian Supreme Court (Judgment No. 15518/2024), the relationship established between the non-resident and the fiscal representative “is to be framed within the relationship of mandate with representation.” The fiscal representative acts as the agent of the appointing entity and becomes jointly and severally liable with the latter for any irregularities related to the performance of VAT-relevant transactions.
To this effect, the rule from which such joint liability derives is Article 17, paragraph 3 of Presidential Decree No. 633/1972, which provides that “the fiscal representative is jointly and severally liable with the represented entity for the obligations arising from the application of the provisions on value added tax.”
However, the legal personality attributed to the fiscal representative is defined as “partial” (Supreme Court, 30.9.2016, No. 19482), that is, limited to the passive transactions specifically attributed to him by the non-resident principal (in whose name and on whose behalf he acts); such joint liability arises “not from the mere existence of the mandate relationship, but from having actually carried out irregular operations in the interest of the represented entity, the proof of which is inferred from the active involvement of the representative – even in breach of the mandate – in the unlawful operations directly carried out by the non-resident principal, whereas the mere knowledge or possibility of knowing of such operations is not sufficient” (Supreme Court, Section V, Order No. 591 of 08/01/2024).
