Before you start

Codice fiscale
A determination of whether you are tax resident for the year
Employment or business records, and details of foreign income and assets
SPID or CIE for the Agenzia delle Entrate portal

Step-by-step

1
Establish when tax residence begins
Registration in the anagrafe for more than half the year, or having your habitual abode or main centre of interests in Italy for more than 183 days, makes you resident for the entire calendar year.
OnlineWho: You
2
Test the impatriate regime against the post-2024 rules
For transfers from 2024, 50% of qualifying employment and professional income is exempt up to €600,000 a year for five tax periods, conditional on high qualification or specialisation, three prior years of non-residence — six or seven if returning to the same employer or group — mainly working in Italy, and a four-year residence commitment. There is no longer a higher rate for the southern regions.
Via employerWho: YouBefore the first payroll run
3
Consider the forfettario if you are self-employed
A 15% substitute tax — 5% for the first five years of a genuinely new activity — on revenue up to €85,000, with a profitability coefficient applied by sector. It replaces IRPEF, the surcharges and IRAP, and INPS contributions are due on top from the first euro.
OnlineWho: You
4
File the right return
The 730 is the simplified return for employees and pensioners, due in September. Redditi PF covers the self-employed and anyone with foreign income and runs to a later autumn deadline.
OnlineWho: YouMay–October
5
Declare foreign assets on the RW section
Residents must report foreign financial assets and property and pay IVAFE on foreign financial assets and IVIE on foreign property. The obligation applies whether or not the assets produced income.
OnlineWho: You
6
Budget for TARI and IMU
TARI is billed by the comune to whoever occupies the flat, tenants included, and you must file a declaration on moving in and out. IMU is an owner's tax that does not apply to a main home outside luxury cadastral categories.
OnlineWho: You

Documents you’ll need

Codice fiscale and SPID or CIE
Certificazione Unica from the employer
Records of foreign income, accounts and property
Deduction receipts — medical, mortgage interest, renovation works, university fees
Registered lease, for tenant deductions and the TARI declaration

Things most newcomers don’t know

The 90% southern impatriate exemption is gone, and it is the single most consequential stale fact about moving to Naples.

Until transfers of residence in 2023, the impatriate regime exempted 90% of qualifying income for people who moved their residence to the southern regions, including Campania — an extraordinary rate that anchored a great deal of relocation advice. D.Lgs. 209/2023 replaced the whole regime for transfers from 2024 with a flat 50% exemption capped at €600,000 of income, with no geographical uplift at all. Anyone modelling a move to Naples on the 90% figure is out by forty percentage points.

Source: Agenzia delle Entrate; D.Lgs. 209/2023

Leaving Italy inside four years claws the impatriate relief back with interest.

The regime is conditional on remaining tax resident for at least four tax years after the transfer, and leaving early recovers the relief already taken, plus interest. It is a contingent liability that should be weighed before accepting a fixed-term posting or a two-year contract, and it is the condition most often overlooked in the rush to check the exemption percentage.

Source: Agenzia delle Entrate

The forfettario's 15% headline excludes INPS contributions, which start at the first euro.

Self-employed people in Italy pay social security from the first euro of income, not above a threshold, through the Gestione Separata or a professional fund. On top of the 15% substitute tax that is a substantial further percentage. Naples' lower cost base makes freelancing here attractive to remote workers, and the contribution is the number most often left out of the comparison.

Source: INPS; Agenzia delle Entrate

Undeclared rental income is the landlord's problem until it becomes yours.

A landlord who does not register the lease avoids registration tax and declares no rental income — and leaves you unable to register residence. Italian law gives a tenant in that position a route to register the contract themselves, at which point statutory terms can apply in the tenant's favour. It is a confrontational step and not a first move, but knowing it exists changes the balance of a conversation about why the contract has not been registered.

Source: Agenzia delle Entrate

Common mistakes to avoid

Modelling a move south on the abolished 90% impatriate exemption.
Taking impatriate relief and leaving Italy inside four years.
Comparing the forfettario's 15% with foreign rates while ignoring INPS contributions.
Accepting an unregistered lease and losing residence, the health card and the licence clock with it.
Failing to file the TARI declaration on move-in and move-out.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.