Daily life
Codice fiscale
KO-dee-cheh fees-KA-leh
Your Italian tax code — a sixteen-character string derived from your name and date of birth. Needed before a lease, a bank account, a phone contract or a doctor. Get it first.
Permesso di soggiorno
per-MES-so dee sod-JOR-no
The residence permit. Non-EU arrivals must file for it within eight working days of entering Italy, on paper, at a post office.
Residenza / Iscrizione anagrafica
reh-see-DEN-tsa
Registering your address with the comune. A municipal police officer calls at the flat to confirm you actually live there.
Marca da bollo
MAR-ka da BOL-lo
A revenue stamp bought at a tobacconist and stuck onto official forms. Italy still runs on these and no office will sell you one.
Tabaccheria
tab-ak-keh-REE-a
Tobacconist — but really the counter that sells transport tickets, revenue stamps, top-ups and stamps. The most useful shop in Italy.
Area C
A-reh-a CHEE
Milan's congestion charge zone inside the Cerchia dei Bastioni. €7.50 a day, weekdays 7:30–19:30, and cameras, not barriers.
Work
Cedolare secca
cheh-do-LA-reh SEK-ka
The flat-rate tax a landlord can elect on rental income. It matters to you: under it the landlord cannot apply the annual ISTAT rent increase.
Culture
Ambrogino / Sant'Ambrogio
am-bro-JEE-no
7 December, Milan's patron saint's day and a city-only public holiday. Offices shut and the whole country's calendar stops applying.
Social
Aperitivo
a-peh-ree-TEE-vo
Early-evening drink with food included in the price. Invented commercially here and still the default way Milan socialises after work.
Food
Panettone
pa-net-TO-neh
The domed Christmas bread that is a Milanese invention, and a subject on which locals hold strong and specific views.
Emergency
112
uno uno due
The single European emergency number. In Lombardy it reaches a unified answering centre that dispatches police, fire and ambulance.
Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.