Payroll Services in Italy for Foreign Employers

No. Payroll formalities for employees are performed by the employer itself or its own staff, or by an enrolled consulente del lavoro, lawyer or dottore commercialista (Art. 1 L. 12/1979). We coordinate the enrolled professional, the employer registrations and the calendar, and we sign, file or transmit nothing that the law reserves.

The statute exempts providers qualified under their own EU state's law who work in Italy under the free provision of services. Only small and artisan firms, and firms over 250 staff without in-house structures, may use data-processing centres, always under enrolled assistance (Art. 1 L. 12/1979). It names no provider qualified only outside the EU; no conclusion follows.

An employer must exist. An Italian subsidiary, or the foreign company's own branch (the branch is the parent itself, Art. 2508 c.c.), registers with INPS and INAIL. For a temporary assignment the foreign employer can instead post its own staff under notification to the Ministry of Labour. Which route fits is settled in a conversation with you.

Italian statute does not use the term. Art. 30(1) D.Lgs. 81/2015 defines agency work: an agency authorised under D.Lgs. 276/2003 places its own employees at a user's disposal, and the user directs and controls them for the whole assignment. Before relying on an employer-of-record offer, ask the provider which authorisation it holds.

Our fees are quoted on request once the scope is known: the employer route, the headcount, whether the formation filing carries the employer registrations, and how the enrolled professional is engaged. The state's own charges, meaning withholdings, contributions and penalties, are separate and are listed on this page with their source. Pricing on request.

INPS access needs enablement on form SC65 and SPID at level 2 or 3, CIE 3.0 or CNS; the sources read print no other credential. An enrolled professional acting on the employer's explicit delegation can file instead. The form of a delegation signed abroad is not settled in the sources read, so it is checked case by case.

When the business starts and hires at the same time, through the Comunicazione Unica that forms the company. When hiring comes later, through that filing or the INPS online procedure, and in any case by the 16th of the month after the month the contributions concern. The ordinary term for INPS's decision is 30 days under L. 241/1990.

The hiring notice (UniLav) reaches the employment service by the day before the start (Art. 9-bis D.L. 510/1996). The written terms come before work starts; a copy of the UniLav notice meets that duty, the missing items follow within seven days and some within one month. The INAIL notice follows at the start or within five days.

Monthly, the payroll book is completed by the following month's end and contributions and withholdings are paid on the F24 by the 16th. Each year, as in force in 2026, the true-up falls by 28 February, the Certificazione Unica by 16 March and the modello 770 between 15 April and 31 October. The UniEmens date is not stated here.

The employer withholds IRPEF on account at each payment, at the 2026 brackets of 23% up to EUR 28,000, 33% to EUR 50,000 and 43% above, after the employee's deductions, together with the worker's share of contributions. The year-end true-up falls by 28 February or on termination (Art. 23 D.P.R. 600/1973, printed to 31 December 2026).

The TFR accrues yearly as pay divided by 13.5, revalued each year (Art. 2120 of the Civil Code). In 2026 and 2027 it goes monthly to the INPS Treasury Fund, unless sent to a pension fund, when last year's average headcount was 60 or more, or in a start year that year's reaches 50; otherwise it stays a company liability.

Not setting up and keeping the payroll book is fined EUR 500 to 2,500. Missing or untrue entries that change pay, contributions or tax are fined from EUR 150 up to EUR 6,000, depending on the headcount and the period (Art. 39 D.L. 112/2008). A late, missing or wrong Certificazione Unica costs EUR 100 each.

A posting undertaking notifies the Ministry of Labour, keeps Italian records during the posting and two years after, and names an Italian contact (Art. 10 D.Lgs. 136/2016). Inside the EU the sending State's social-security law covers a posting expected to last up to 24 months that replaces no other person. Whether it covers non-EU undertakings is open; nothing is promised.

In 2026 a paid director with no other compulsory cover pays into the INPS Gestione Separata at 35.03% in all, or 24% where insured elsewhere or a pensioner. Two thirds fall on the company and one third on the director; the company pays the whole amount on the F24 by the 16th of the month after the fee is paid.

The applicable national collective agreement (CCNL) sets the levels and the pay. There is no statutory national minimum wage for the private sector: the Civil Code leaves pay to the collective agreement first and only otherwise to a judge (Art. 2099). The written terms given to the worker must name the agreement and its code.