Taxes, how much notaries, traders and farmers declare. Average incomes on the rise for VAT holders
In the tax report cards average income at 56,100 euro (+8.6% compared to tax year 2023). Half of all individual VAT numbers are on a subsidised regime: flat tax reaches 2 million self-employed and small entrepreneurs
by Marco Mobili and Giovanni Parente
Key points
The average income of VAT holders submitting tax returns is on the rise: 56,100 euro (+8.6% on the previous year). But deep differences remain between what is declared: ranging from an average of EUR 336,930 for notaries to EUR 4,040 for tanning of hides and skins, and EUR 5,830 for agricultural cultivation, forestry and use of forest areas. This is what emerges from the Isa (the technical name for tax report cards) data on declarations submitted in 2025, i.e. relating to the 2024 tax year, which is the first year of application of the two-year arrangement with creditors (Cpb).
More than half of all VAT numbers in facilitated regimes: 2 million in flat tax
The tax report card audience consists of 2.68 million self-employed persons, businesses and corporations. However, if we look at the number of individual VAT numbers alone (3.8 million), the appeal of the flat tax has now become predominant: it accounts for 52% of the total number. As the Finance Department explains, 'almost all of those who have opted for the favourable tax regimes are in the flat-rate regime, which is about 2.0 million (+3.3% compared to the previous year)'.
The department also points out that 'more than half of the VAT registration holders benefit from tax-privileged regimes and declare 31.6 per cent of the income taken into account; entrepreneurs, who make up 28.3 per cent of the individuals with VAT registration, declare around 33.5 per cent of income, and the self-employed, who account for 13.8 per cent of VAT registration holders, declare 34.4 per cent of income'.
More reliable subjects
Returning to the tax report cards, however, the number of Isa subjects in the area of reliability, i.e. with a grade from 8 upwards are 1.25 million: they represent 46.7% of the total and grew by 2.2% compared to the previous tax year. Having made the dutiful macroeconomic premise that in 2024 GDP increased by 2.8% in nominal terms and by 0.8% in real terms, the dynamics, however, record an increase in the average business or self-employment income, which, as anticipated, stood at EUR 56,100, an increase of 8.6% over the previous year. While for the most reliable (i.e. those with grades 8 and above), the average income is just over €91,000 with an increase of 7.4% compared to 2023.
Main increases in the North East and North West
Examination from a territorial point of view shows that the main increases were recorded in the North-East and North-West, which register percentage changes compared to the previous year of 9.6 per cent and 9.1 per cent respectively. In the Centre - again according to Finance - there was an increase of 8.6 per cent, in the South an increase of 7.0 per cent and in the Islands an increase of 5.4 per cent.
