The code is the first item on the paperwork of a founder who lives abroad, and the tax work that follows it is covered on the tax advisory page. This guide sets out who issues the code, which form each applicant uses, what is published about time and cost, and what the 2026 law says.
What is the codice fiscale, and what does it look like?
The codice fiscale (tax code) is the tool Italy uses to identify persons and entities in every dealing with public bodies. The Agenzia delle Entrate describes it as the identification tool for natural persons, and its English page calls it the tax identification number for foreign citizens. It is not a tax, and it is not the VAT number (partita IVA), although for a company the two coincide.
An individual's code has 16 characters, letters and numbers, according to the Agenzia. An entity's code has 11 digits: seven are a progressive taxpayer number, three are the office code and one is a check character (Agenzia delle Entrate, information sheet for form AA5/6). For an individual the code is built from surname, first name, place and date of birth, sex and tax domicile (Art. 4(1)(a) D.P.R. 605/1973).
Consular guidance says the code does not expire once assigned. This page prints no sample code: a string produced by a calculator is not an issued code.
Can a foreigner who is not an Italian citizen get a codice fiscale?
Yes. The tax registry covers natural persons, legal persons, and companies, associations and other organisations without legal personality (Art. 2 D.P.R. 605/1973, Normattiva). Whoever is obliged to state a code applies for one (Art. 3), and citizenship is not a condition.
A foreigner who applies for or renews a residence permit has the code assigned by the questura, and certain entry applications through the sportelli unici per l'immigrazione work the same way, according to the Agenzia delle Entrate. A founder who lives abroad and holds no Italian permit uses the routes described in the sections below.
Do I need a codice fiscale to form an Italian company from abroad?
Art. 6(1)(b) D.P.R. 605/1973 requires the code of each party to whom the deed's immediate effects run to appear in the request to register the deed. Art. 6(1)(f) requires the codes of the persons carrying on the activity in applications to the business registers. Under Art. 11 the notary, as the public official who drafts or authenticates the deed, must ask the parties for their codes.
In practice, then, the code is needed before the deed, and that is how we treat it. The statute has a fallback: where the party who must state another person's code deals with a non-resident to whom no code was assigned, the duty is met by stating that person's Art. 4 data and the foreign domicile or seat (Art. 6). We have found no published practice showing a notary or the Register accepting this for a founder, so we do not count on it.
The text of Arts. 6 and 13 is the law in force to 31 December 2026 (Normattiva) and it moves on 1 January 2027. This guide states the 2026 law and prints no 2027 article number.
Which codes does a formation need, and who applies for each?
A formation involves up to three code holders: each individual founder, each corporate founder such as a foreign parent, and the new company. They use different forms and channels, and the company itself never applies.
| Code holder | Form | Channel | State charge |
|---|---|---|---|
| Individual founder | AA4/8 | Italian consulate of the country of residence, or an Agenzia delle Entrate office (in person for a foreigner's first code) | Nothing on the consular route, according to consular guidance |
| Foreign parent company | AA5/6 | PEC to any Direzione Provinciale, web service Consegna documenti e istanze, in person in two copies, or registered letter in one copy | None stated by the Agenzia |
| The new company | None | Its code comes out of the Comunicazione Unica incorporation filing, made by the notary | Not applied for by the founder |
Which code each party holds in a formation, with the form and channel the Agenzia delle Entrate and the Registro delle Imprese publish for it.
Source: Agenzia delle Entrate, form AA5/6 page and AA4/8 instructions; Registro delle Imprese, Comunicazione Unica; consular guidance on the charge.
How does an individual abroad apply through an Italian consulate?
This is the consular route in seven steps. Each consulate sets its own practice, so the steps give the common core and use the New York consulate's pack as the worked example.
Find the consulate
Residents abroad may ask the Italian consulate of their country of residence to assign the code, as the Agenzia delle Entrate states.
Complete form AA4/8
Download form AA4/8 from the Agenzia, complete it and sign it. A non-resident completes the foreign-residence box, which is mandatory (AA4/8 instructions).
Attach an identity document
Attach a valid passport with visa where one is required, or another document the Italian authorities recognise, according to the Agenzia delle Entrate.
Add what the consulate asks
The New York consulate adds a copy of a driving licence or other proof of address and a signed affidavit giving the reason. It also limits the service for foreign citizens to those who need the code for online procedures or cannot appoint a representative in Italy.
Send the pack
Use the channel that consulate accepts. The Paris consulate takes applications by e-mail and sends the certificate back as a PDF, for natural persons resident in its consular district.
Wait
No national term exists. The Paris consulate states about 30 days for foreign citizens resident in its district; we have found no term published for other consulates.
Receive the certificate
The applicant receives the certificato di attribuzione del codice fiscale, usable until the card arrives. The card is the Tessera Sanitaria for people in the national health service and the Tesserino del Codice Fiscale for the others (Agenzia delle Entrate).
According to consular guidance, the consular route is free of charge.
How does an individual apply at an Agenzia delle Entrate office, or through a delegate?
A resident abroad has two channels: the Italian consulate of the country of residence or any Agenzia delle Entrate office. The form may also be filed through a delegate (AA4/8 instructions). At an office, a foreigner's first code needs an in-person appointment, because presence at the counter is mandatory to identify the applicant, the Agenzia states.
A delegate shows their own identity document and a copy of the principal's. The Agenzia also says a person without a code may send AA4/8 to an Agenzia office by PEC, and EU citizens attach an identity document, not needed with a digital signature. How those two statements fit with the in-person rule is not settled in the sources we found: whether a delegate or a PEC filing can obtain a foreigner's first code without the founder attending. This guide therefore does not say the code can be obtained fully remotely that way.
On AA4/8 a non-resident gives as tax domicile the place where the Italian income is produced (Art. 58 D.P.R. 600/1973), else the place of actual presence, else leaves the box blank. Which channel applies to a given founder depends on where they live and on the consulate; we go through it with each founder.
What documents does a non-resident produce?
The list depends on who applies and where. This is the common core, with the extras one consulate adds.
- Form AA4/8, signed, with the foreign-residence box completed.
- A valid passport, with visa where required, or another document the Italian authorities recognise.
- Alternatives the Agenzia lists: consular identity attestation, valid residence permit, municipal identity card.
- For a delegate: their own valid identity document and a copy of the founder's.
- New York consulate: a copy of a driving licence or other proof of address.
- New York consulate: a signed affidavit giving the reason for the request.
- Foreign company: form AA5/6, signed digitally or by hand with a copy of the signatory's ID.
- Foreign company: the documents proving the data stated, such as the constitutional documents.
- Foreign documents: apostille or consular legalisation, then Italian translation declared conform by an official translator.
- No source we found lists an apostille or translation for an individual's passport.
Foreign documents follow the Foreign Ministry's rule on legalisation: the apostille replaces consular legalisation in Hague Convention states, and the document is then translated into Italian.
Need the founders' codes lined up before the deed?
Tell us who the founders are and where they live, and we map which codes the formation needs and in what order.
How does a foreign parent company get its code on form AA5/6?
A foreign company that is a founder needs its own code. It applies on form AA5/6, and this step can run in parallel with the founders' own applications and with the apostille and translation work.
Confirm the code is needed
Check that the foreign company is a party to whom the deed's immediate effects run, so its code must appear in the registration request under Art. 6(1)(b) D.P.R. 605/1973.
Complete AA5/6
Use form AA5/6, the form for an entity not obliged to the VAT declaration of commencement. The Agenzia's AA5/6 page sets out the channels.
Sign it
Sign digitally. Failing that, sign by hand and attach a copy of the signatory's identity document.
Attach the documents
Attach the documentation proving the data stated, such as the constitutional documents. Under the Foreign Ministry's rule on foreign documents, they carry the apostille in Hague Convention states or are legalised by the consulate, and are translated into Italian and declared conform by an official translator or the consular office.
File
File by PEC to any Direzione Provinciale, through the web service Consegna documenti e istanze, in person in two copies, or by registered letter in one copy.
No term is published for an AA5/6 issuance. For the apostille and translation we rely on the general rule for foreign documents above; we have not found whether the AA5/6 page asks for more.
Does the new company get its own codice fiscale?
A founder does not apply for the new company's code. It comes out of the Comunicazione Unica incorporation filing, which carries the "richieste di Codice Fiscale e Partita IVA" together with the Register, INPS and INAIL requests (Registro delle Imprese). The notary files within 10 days of the deed (Art. 2330 c.c.), and the Register confirms to the company's PEC within 5 days and each agency, the Agenzia delle Entrate included, within 7 (Register guide to the filing).
For a company the code and the VAT number coincide, with exceptions, and the Register number is the company's code, according to the Registro delle Imprese. Once the company trades across borders, our guide to the EORI number and how foreign invoices are reported in Italy now cover what follows the code.
How long does it take, and what does it cost?
Terms fall into three kinds, and we label them. Statutory: the notary files through Comunicazione Unica within 10 days of the deed, the Register confirms within 5 days and each agency within 7 (Art. 2330 c.c. and the Register guide). Those terms start after the deed.
No national term exists for a consular or Agenzia issuance. One consulate states a term: Paris, about 30 days. The wait for an Agenzia appointment is not published, and nor is a term for an AA5/6 issuance.
Our own practice: the 48-hour window runs from the signed deed with the codes in hand. It is not a legal term and not a guarantee, and it never includes obtaining a founder's code abroad.
On cost, the consular route is free of charge according to consular guidance, and AA4/8 with its instructions is free to download from the Agenzia. Apostille, consular legalisation and official translation are extra, and we have found no source that prices them.
Statutory term, one consulate's stated term, or no published term.
Before the deed: no national term
- Founder's codeConsular or Agenzia routeParis consulate: about 30 days
- Parent's AA5/6Foreign parent companyNo published term
- Apostille and translationForeign documentsNo published term
From the signed deed
ItaliaRegist practice: 48 hours from the signed deed, with the codes in hand; not a legal term
- The deedCodes in hand
- Notary filesComunicazione UnicaWithin 10 days (Art. 2330 c.c.)
- Agency outcomeAgenzia delle Entrate and othersWithin 7 days
Can a generator or calculator give me a valid code?
No. The Agenzia delle Entrate states that the only valid code is the one it issues, never one generated by software. Calculators and "fiscal code generators" derive a string from personal data, and a string the Agenzia did not issue is not a valid code, so it does not belong in a form, a deed or a bank file.
The check that does exist is the Agenzia's free Verifica codice fiscale service, described in the next section. It confirms a code that was issued; it does not create one.
How do I check the code, and what if my data changes or I hold two?
Six points cover finding, checking and correcting a code.
- The free Verifica codice fiscale check confirms a code exists and matches the personal data.
- The number is on the certificate first, then on the card.
- Two codes for one person: the code in the most recent notification governs (Art. 5 D.P.R. 605/1973).
- Omocodia means two people whose data yield the same code, so the Agenzia assigns each a new code.
- A change of personal data requires a new code request within six months, the old code serving meanwhile (Art. 4(3)).
- A provisional code is replaced by a definitive one within six months (Art. 3 D.P.R. 605/1973).
What is the penalty, and what changes on 1 January 2027?
Art. 13(1) D.P.R. 605/1973 punishes with an administrative sanction "da lire duecentomila a lire quattro milioni", that is 200,000 to 4,000,000 lire, a person who, among other things, does not apply within the terms or applies more than once, or omits or misstates their own code. A public official who breaches Art. 11 is covered too. The text is in force to 31 December 2026.
Lire amounts in penalties are read in euro since 1 January 2002 at the irrevocable conversion rate, with decimals dropped (Art. 51 D.Lgs. 213/1998). This guide prints no euro figure for the range.
Art. 13 is repealed from 1 January 2027 by D.Lgs. 173/2024 as amended by D.L. 200/2025, and Art. 6 shows a text valid to 31 December 2026 (Normattiva). We have not read the act that takes over the penalty or the successor text of Art. 6, so every statement here is dated, and a reader after 2026 should check the current text.
| Provision | Until 31 December 2026 | From 1 January 2027 |
|---|---|---|
| Art. 6 D.P.R. 605/1973: acts that must state the code | Text in force | Text changes; successor text not read |
| Art. 13 D.P.R. 605/1973: penalty "da lire duecentomila a lire quattro milioni" | In force | Repealed by D.Lgs. 173/2024 as amended by D.L. 200/2025 |
The position of Arts. 6 and 13 D.P.R. 605/1973 in 2026 and from 1 January 2027, with dates only.
Source: Normattiva, Arts. 6 and 13 D.P.R. 605/1973; Art. 51 D.Lgs. 213/1998.
From our practice
Our first question to a founder abroad is whose codes the deed will need and which of them has no published term. We then line up the foreign parent's AA5/6, its apostille and its translation to run alongside the founder's own application, and we count our 48 hours from the signed deed with the codes in hand. Federica Conti
Sources
- Agenzia delle Entrate, the codice fiscale for citizens: what the code is, the only valid code, the consulate route
- Agenzia delle Entrate, tax identification number for foreign citizens: the issuer's English wording
- Agenzia delle Entrate, how to apply on form AA5/6: channels, signature, attachments
- Normattiva, Art. 6 D.P.R. 605/1973: acts that must state the code
- Normattiva, Art. 13 D.P.R. 605/1973: the penalty range
- Normattiva, Art. 51 D.Lgs. 213/1998: lire read in euro
- Registro delle Imprese, codice fiscale, partita IVA and REA: the company's code and Register number
- Registro delle Imprese, Comunicazione Unica: the filing that obtains the company's code
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs, legalisation of documents: apostille, legalisation, translation
- Italian Consulate General in New York, codice fiscale: one consulate's rules and document pack
Related service
Tax Advisory for Companies in Italy covers the tax and compliance work that follows a formation.
Esterovestizione and Company Tax Residence explains where a company is taxed when it is run from abroad.
Conservazione a Norma and Digital Archiving Rules covers keeping the company's electronic records in the form the law accepts.