Invoice generator for Italy (fattura): IVA and ritenuta

How to create an invoice for Italy

1. Check the region and currency. The editor opens with Italy defaults: EUR, VAT (IVA) presets and the right date and number format. Change the currency in the settings if you bill in another one.
2. Add your business details. Enter your name, address and Partita IVA and codice fiscale. Upload a logo if you have one. Save it as a business profile so you can reuse it next time.
3. Add the client. Fill in the customer’s name and address and their customer p.iva / cf where it applies. Saved clients are stored in your browser for next time.
4. Add line items and tax. Describe each item, enter quantity and rate, and choose a VAT (IVA) preset or set your own rate. The totals update as you type, and you can switch between tax-exclusive and tax-inclusive prices.
5. Check the checklist and terms. Open the compliance checklist to see which required fields are still empty, then choose payment terms, add bank details and notes.
6. Pick a template and colour, then export. Choose one of the 15 templates and colour themes, then download the PDF, use Print / Save as PDF, or export a PNG. Everything is created in your browser.

Read this first: Italy’s electronic invoice (fattura elettronica)

Italy was one of the first EU countries to make electronic invoicing mandatory. For most transactions between Italian VAT-registered businesses, and for many sales to consumers, the legal invoice is an XML file sent through the Agenzia delle Entrate’s Sistema di Interscambio (SDI), not a PDF. The details, including which small businesses were originally exempt and when that changed, are on the Agenzia delle Entrate’s e-invoicing pages, and the rules have been updated several times. Ask your accountant or check the official page before assuming you are exempt.

So what is this generator useful for? Italian freelancers and foreign businesses often need a readable invoice document for clients abroad, for pre-invoice documents (a pro forma or a quote), for internal use, or to check the calculation, including the ritenuta d’acconto, before entering it in their SDI-compliant software or the free portal the Agenzia provides. It is not a substitute for an SDI e-invoice where one is required.

The editor uses Italian-style number formats (1.234,56 €), day-month-year dates and A4 paper.

What an Italian invoice contains

The invoice content is set by article 21 of the VAT decree (DPR 633/1972) and the e-invoice technical specifications. The generator’s fields cover the human-readable essentials:

• Supplier name, address, Partita IVA
• Customer name, address and tax identifier
• Invoice date and sequential number
• Description, taxable amount, IVA rate and amount

• Date and sequential number.
• Name, address and partita IVA (VAT number) of the supplier; for the customer, name, address and either partita IVA or codice fiscale.
• Nature, quantity and description of goods or services.
• Taxable amount, IVA rate and amount, or the legal reference for an exemption or non-taxable operation.
• Where applicable, the ritenuta d’acconto, the cassa previdenziale contribution (professional pension fund), and the stamp duty.

IVA rates, ritenuta d’acconto and the regime forfettario

Italy’s standard IVA rate is 22%. Reduced rates of 10%, 5% and 4% apply to specific goods and services, set out in tables attached to the VAT decree. Verify the rate for your product with the Agenzia delle Entrate.

Professionals who invoice companies often have to apply a ritenuta d’acconto, a withholding on the fee that the client deducts and pays to the tax authority as an advance on your income tax. The common rate for self-employed professionals is 20% of the taxable fee, but there are different bases and exceptions. The generator offers a preset that adds IVA and subtracts a 20% withholding. As in Spain, the withholding is calculated on the fee, not the IVA.

The regime forfettario is a flat-tax scheme for small businesses and freelancers under revenue limits. Invoices in this regime show no IVA and no ritenuta, and must carry a reference to the law. The generator prints a standard wording and reminds you to verify it. Under certain conditions you may also have to apply stamp duty (imposta di bollo, commonly €2) on invoices without IVA above a minimum amount (commonly €77.47); check the Agenzia delle Entrate for the current rules.

For B2B services to a customer in another EU country, the customer normally accounts for IVA under the reverse charge, written as “Inversione contabile”. See reverse charge explained and the VAT calculator.

A worked example with ritenuta

Marco is a freelance consultant in Milan, not in the forfettario regime, invoicing an Italian company €3,000 for an advisory project. He applies 22% IVA and 20% ritenuta d’acconto. (He may also owe a cassa contribution depending on his registry, which we ignore here.)

The client pays him 3,060 and remits 600 to the tax office. In the actual e-invoice file, Marco’s software will place these figures in the proper XML fields.

Late payment and record keeping

Italian law implementing the EU Late Payment Directive (Legislative Decree 231/2002) sets default payment terms between businesses, normally 30 days, with interest at the ECB reference rate plus eight percentage points and a right to compensation for recovery costs. Parties can agree longer terms within limits. Check the current provisions and the current reference rate before you quote an amount.

E-invoices must be stored for the legally required period using compliant electronic preservation, which the Agenzia’s portal offers free to many users. See our retention guide.

Mistakes to avoid

• Sending a PDF when an SDI e-invoice is required.
• Calculating the ritenuta on the total including IVA.
• Using forfettario wording when you have left the regime.
• Omitting stamp duty where it is due.
• Skipping the client’s codice fiscale or partita IVA.
• Leaving out the cassa previdenziale contribution where your professional registry requires it.

What this page is and is not for

Use this page to draft the figures and layout of an invoice, to produce a readable invoice for a customer outside Italy, to prepare a pro forma or quote, or to double-check the ritenuta and IVA calculation before keying the numbers into your SDI software. Do not use it as a replacement for the XML invoice where Italian law requires one. If you are unsure whether your activity falls under the e-invoicing obligation, ask your commercialista or check the Agenzia delle Entrate’s guide to electronic invoicing. Our pro-forma generator, quote generator and VAT calculator help with the pre-invoice stages, and the European e-invoicing timeline shows where Italy sits relative to its neighbours.

Invoicing Italian customers: delivery codes, PEC and payment

When you prepare an invoice for an Italian business, ask for two things up front: their partita IVA or codice fiscale, and their codice destinatario (a seven-character code that tells SDI where to deliver the e-invoice) or their certified email address (PEC). Without a code, the e-invoice goes to the customer’s tax cassetto and many customers will ask you to resend it with the correct details. If you invoice public bodies, they use a specific code and the invoice may be subject to the split payment regime, where the IVA is paid directly to the tax authority.

Italian customers mostly pay by bank transfer (bonifico), so show your IBAN, the payment term and the invoice number as the reference. Note that in practice payment terms of 30 to 60 days are common, but the late-payment rules limit unreasonable terms between businesses. For bigger projects, ask for an advance (acconto) and show it clearly on the final invoice.

If a customer is late, a friendly reminder (sollecito), a formal notice by PEC (diffida) and then a court payment injunction (decreto ingiuntivo) are the usual steps. Check with an adviser before taking legal steps, and keep proof of delivery and a signed quote.

Glossary

SDI

Sistema di Interscambio, Italy’s e-invoice exchange.

Partita IVA

Italian VAT number.

Codice fiscale

Italian tax code for individuals and entities.

Ritenuta d’acconto

Income-tax withholding applied by the client.

Forfettario

Flat-tax regime for small businesses and freelancers.

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