Flat tax payers, benefits up to 22,000 euro for those who do not leave the flat tax system
Between January and March, 74 per cent of new personal VAT numbers chose the flat rate. Few self-employed come close to the 85,000 euro limit
class="conParagraph_R21">by Dario Aquaro and Cristiano Dell'Oste
4' min read
4' min read
For the Italian tax authorities, it is a small record: in the first three months of the year 74% of natural persons who opened a VAT number chose the Flat Tax Regime. Flat tax at 15% (or 5% for new businesses), no VAT and flat-rate costs: with these ingredients, the success of the flat tax is no surprise. Especially for those taking their first steps as free professionals or entrepreneurs (51% of new openings come from under-35s, according to the Mef Observatory).
The advantages compared to ordinary taxation are obvious. Let us take, for example, an IT technician with an income equal to the average income declared in 2024 in his sector: starting from remuneration of 35,000 euro, with the flat-rate scheme he has a net of 23,286 euro, after deducting tax and contributions; with ordinary taxation he sees his income shrink by almost 6,000 euro (assuming actual costs of around 4,000 euro and 380 euro tax deductions).
The ceiling to growth
.The convenience of the flat tax clearly grows along with the turnover up to the EUR 85,000 revenue and fee ceiling, beyond which the flat rate cannot be applied. And herein arises one of the problems: who would ever want to issue an invoice that takes him over the 85,000 euro mark, knowing that from the following year he will be out of the flat rate? Let's leave aside the case of those who exceed EUR 100,000 and immediately leave the regime, because it is very rare and linked to exceptional circumstances. For an IT technician like the one in the previous example, going from 85 thousand euro in lump sum remuneration to 86 thousand in ordinary taxation means reducing the net by almost 23 thousand euro.
Granted that calculations must be made on a case-by-case basis, in the world of professionals the figures do not change decisively if one examines other typical figures (see graphic below). A psychologist would see his net decrease by around 22 thousand euros and a lawyer by 19 thousand. A retailer and a bricklayer, on the other hand, would see a less pronounced contraction - in the order of 7 thousand euro - because they have different coefficients for determining income and usually incur higher costs.
It is in this drop in the 'net' that one sees the brake on growth of which the lump-sum regime has often been accused. The issue had already arisen years ago with the old minima (which were designed for initial or marginal activities and had a limit of EUR 30,000). And it would also arise if the current flat-rate threshold were to be increased, as requested in vain by the League in the last budget session. The heart of the matter is how to accompany the development and aggregation of individuals, perhaps with a smooth transition to ordinary taxation or incentives for those operating in organised forms.
