E-Invoicing in Italy: SDI & FatturaPA Guide

Short answer: Italy has had mandatory e-invoicing for B2B and B2C sales since 1 January 2019, and it applies to every business established in Italy, including flat-rate (forfettario) sole traders since 2024. Every invoice is an XML file in the FatturaPA format, sent through the tax agency’s Sistema di Interscambio (SdI) within 12 days of the sale. Foreign businesses without an Italian establishment are not required to use SdI, even with an Italian VAT number. In practice, the Italian buyer reports your invoice into SdI itself.

This guide is for small online sellers: Italian businesses getting started with SdI, and UK, US or EU businesses selling to Italian companies or holding an Italian VAT number. For the EU picture, see the EU e-invoicing overview.

Italy e-invoicing at a glance

Mandate status	In force since 1 January 2019 for B2B and B2C. B2G since 2014 and 2015
Who’s in scope	Every taxable person established in Italy (seat, permanent establishment or tax domicile), including forfettari since 1 January 2024
Key dates	B2B/B2C: 1 January 2019. Forfettari over €25,000: 1 July 2022. All forfettari: 1 January 2024. Esterometro moved into SdI: 1 July 2022
Format	FatturaPA XML. Technical specifications version 1.9.1, usable since 15 May 2026
Platform	Sistema di Interscambio (SdI), run by the Agenzia delle Entrate. Delivery by codice destinatario or PEC
Deadline	12 days from the transaction for immediate invoices. 15th of the following month for deferred invoices
Cross-border	Sales abroad sent to SdI with code XXXXXXX. Purchases from abroad reported by the buyer as TD17, TD18 or TD19
Penalties	Generally 70% of the VAT on a missing or wrong invoice. €2 per invoice, max €400 a month, for missing cross-border data
Non-resident scope	Not obliged without an Italian establishment, even with an Italian VAT number. Voluntary for B2C sales

Sources: the Agenzia delle Entrate’s e-invoicing guide, its FAQ on cross-border invoices and Circular 26/E of 13 July 2022 on cross-border data.

How Italian e-invoicing works

In Italy an invoice only exists if it has gone through SdI. The flow is the same for every sale:

1. You create the invoice as a FatturaPA XML file, using invoicing software, your accountant’s system or the Agenzia’s free tools.
2. You send it to SdI, through an e-invoicing provider, by PEC email, by web service or through the Agenzia’s Fatture e Corrispettivi portal.
3. SdI checks it. It validates the file’s structure, the VAT number or tax code of both parties and other mandatory data. If the file fails, SdI sends a rejection notice (notifica di scarto) and the invoice counts as never issued. You can correct and resend it within five days.
4. SdI delivers it to the customer’s address: their codice destinatario or PEC.
5. If delivery fails (the address is wrong or missing), SdI makes the invoice available in the customer’s reserved area on the Agenzia’s portal. The invoice still counts as issued, and you should tell the customer, for example by sending them a copy.

SdI keeps all invoice data, which the Agenzia uses to pre-fill VAT records and returns. Consumer invoices go through SdI too: the consumer is identified by their tax code (codice fiscale) and finds the invoice in their own area of the portal.

Retail sales with a receipt rather than an invoice are a separate system: shops send daily takings (corrispettivi telematici) from a registered till. Online shops selling to Italian consumers usually don’t need an invoice unless the customer asks for one.

The FatturaPA format

FatturaPA is Italy’s national XML format. It predates the EU e-invoicing standard and is not the same as Peppol UBL, although SdI also accepts invoices in the EU standard (EN 16931) for public sector customers.

What every FatturaPA invoice includes:

• Supplier and customer details: VAT number (partita IVA) and/or tax code (codice fiscale), address
• Codice destinatario or PEC of the customer
• Document type (TipoDocumento): TD01 for a normal invoice, TD04 for a credit note, TD24 for a deferred invoice, and so on
• For each line: description, quantity, price, VAT rate, or a nature code (Natura, N1 to N7) explaining why there’s no VAT, for example N3.2 for intra-EU supplies or the N6 codes for reverse charge
• Stamp duty flag (BolloVirtuale) where it applies

The Agenzia publishes the technical specifications. The current version, 1.9.1, has been usable since 15 May 2026. Version 1.9, from 1 April 2025, added document type TD29, which a buyer uses to report a supplier that never issued an invoice.

Codice destinatario and PEC

The codice destinatario (recipient code) is a 7-character code that tells SdI where to deliver the invoice. Usually it’s the code of the e-invoicing provider the customer uses. This is the field Italian B2B customers will ask you about.

What the customer gives you	What you enter
A 7-character code	That code
A PEC (certified email) address	0000000 plus the PEC address
Nothing (a consumer, or a business that hasn’t given you an address)	0000000. SdI places the invoice in the customer’s online area
You’re invoicing a foreign customer	XXXXXXX, the customer’s country code and an identifier
A public body	The 6-character office code (codice univoco ufficio) from the public administration index

A business can also register a default address on the Agenzia’s portal. SdI then delivers there whatever the supplier enters.

The 12-day rule and other timing

Invoice type	When it must reach SdI
Immediate invoice (fattura immediata)	Within 12 days of the transaction (delivery of goods or payment for services). The invoice date is the transaction date
Deferred invoice (fattura differita, TD24)	By the 15th of the following month, for deliveries documented by a delivery note or similar during the month
Rejected invoice	Corrected and resent within five days of the rejection notice

The invoice is issued when SdI accepts it, so build in time for rejections. Sending on day 12 leaves no margin.

Flat-rate taxpayers (forfettari)

Sole traders in the regime forfettario (the simplified flat-rate tax regime) were originally exempt. Under article 18 of Decree-Law 36/2022:

From	Who
1 July 2022	Forfettari with revenue above €25,000 in the previous year
1 January 2024	All forfettari, whatever their revenue

Forfettari don’t charge VAT, so their invoices carry nature code N2.2 and, above €77.47, the €2 stamp duty.

Worked example: a freelance designer in Bologna

Giulia is a graphic designer in the regime forfettario. She invoices a client €300.00 for a logo.

• VAT: none (flat-rate regime, nature code N2.2)
• The invoice is over €77.47, so €2.00 stamp duty applies. She flags it in the XML and usually charges it to the client: total €302.00
• She sends the invoice to SdI within 12 days of being paid, using the client’s codice destinatario
• At the end of the quarter, the Agenzia totals the stamp duty on her SdI invoices, and she pays it

Stamp duty (imposta di bollo) on invoices

Invoices for transactions without VAT (exempt, out of scope, non-taxable or from forfettari) attract €2 stamp duty when the amount is over €77.47. Invoices that charge VAT don’t. Exports and intra-EU supplies are generally exempt from it too.

How it works with e-invoices, per the Agenzia’s guidance:

• You flag the duty in the FatturaPA file.
• Each quarter, the Agenzia calculates what’s due from SdI data, and adds invoices you should have flagged but didn’t.
• You pay by 31 May (first quarter), 30 September (second), 30 November (third) and the end of February of the next year (fourth), by F24 or direct debit from the portal.
• If the first quarter’s total is €5,000 or less, you can pay it with the second quarter. If the first two quarters together are €5,000 or less, you can pay them by 30 November.

Cross-border invoices: the esterometro is now in SdI

Italian businesses used to file a separate return of cross-border invoices, the esterometro. For transactions from 1 July 2022, that data goes through SdI in FatturaPA format instead.

Sales to foreign customers

An Italian seller sends an invoice to SdI for each sale to a foreign customer, using codice destinatario XXXXXXX, within the normal invoicing deadlines. The foreign customer receives the invoice the normal way (PDF or paper). Sales covered by a customs export declaration don’t need it.

Purchases from foreign suppliers: TD17, TD18 and TD19

When an Italian business buys from a supplier not established in Italy and accounts for the VAT itself, it sends an integration or self-invoice document to SdI:

Document type	When the Italian buyer uses it
TD17	Buying services from abroad (EU or non-EU), for example software, advertising or consulting
TD18	Buying goods from another EU country (intra-EU acquisition)
TD19	Buying goods already in Italy from a non-established supplier (article 17(2) of the VAT decree)

The deadline is the 15th of the month after the buyer receives the supplier’s invoice (or, for intra-EU goods, after the transaction). This is the document that puts your invoice into the Italian system when you’re a foreign supplier.

Archiving (conservazione)

Storing XML files in a folder isn’t enough. Italian e-invoices must go into a compliant digital preservation system (conservazione digitale a norma) that guarantees they can’t be altered, generally kept for 10 years.

• The Agenzia offers a free preservation service on its Fatture e Corrispettivi portal. You must sign up to it; it isn’t automatic.
• Most commercial e-invoicing providers include preservation in their service.
• Preservation must be completed by the third month after the deadline for that year’s income tax return.

Penalties

Italy reformed its tax penalties for violations from 1 September 2024 (Legislative Decree 87/2024). The main ones for invoicing:

Failure	Penalty
Invoice not issued, or issued wrongly, so VAT is understated	70% of the VAT involved (it was 90% to 180% before September 2024), with a minimum per violation
Invoice error with no effect on the VAT due	€250 to €2,000
Cross-border data (esterometro) missing or wrong	€2 per invoice, up to €400 a month. Halved to €1, up to €200, if corrected within 15 days
Buyer who receives no invoice and doesn’t report it with TD29 within 90 days	70% of the VAT, minimum €250
Stamp duty not paid	Stamp duty penalties plus interest, reduced if you pay quickly

Italy’s voluntary correction scheme (ravvedimento operoso) reduces most penalties if you fix the problem before the Agenzia contacts you.

For small Italian businesses: what to do

1. Pick a way to send invoices: an e-invoicing provider, your accountant’s software, or the Agenzia’s free portal and app.
2. Register your own codice destinatario or PEC on the Agenzia’s portal so supplier invoices reach you reliably.
3. Collect each B2B customer’s codice destinatario or PEC when you open their account.
4. Send within 12 days of each sale, and check for rejections.
5. Flag stamp duty on non-VAT invoices over €77.47.
6. Self-report foreign purchases (Shopify, Meta ads, Google ads, SaaS tools billed from abroad) as TD17, TD18 or TD19 by the 15th of the following month.
7. Sign up for preservation, either the Agenzia’s free service or your provider’s.

Worked example: a homeware shop in Florence

Casa Lume SRL sells ceramics online and to Italian shops. It delivers 50 plates to a shop in Rome on 3 March.

• Net amount: 50 × €20.00 = €1,000.00
• IVA at 22%: €220.00
• Total: €1,220.00
• The shop gave its codice destinatario when it opened its account. Casa Lume sends the FatturaPA to SdI by 15 March, dated 3 March.

Casa Lume also pays a US software provider €100.00 a month with no VAT. By the 15th of the next month it sends a TD17 to SdI, adding 22% Italian VAT of €22.00, which it both owes and deducts on its VAT return.

Foreign sellers: UK, US and non-established businesses

The e-invoicing obligation applies to taxable persons resident or established in Italy. The Agenzia has confirmed since 2018 (Circular 13/E of 2 July 2018, confirmed in ruling 26 of 26 February 2019) that a business identified for Italian VAT without an Italian establishment is not obliged to use SdI. That holds whether it registered directly or through a fiscal representative. We found no change to this position in 2024, 2025 or 2026.

Your situation	Must you issue through SdI?	What happens instead
No Italian VAT number, selling to Italian consumers through OSS or IOSS	No	Normal invoices if any. You declare VAT on your OSS or IOSS return
Selling services to an Italian business (e.g. SaaS, consulting)	No	You invoice without VAT under the reverse charge. The buyer sends a TD17 to SdI
Selling goods from another EU country to an Italian business	No	Zero-rated intra-EU supply. The buyer sends a TD18
Italian VAT number (direct or fiscal representative), goods in Italy, selling to an Italian business	No	The reverse charge applies. The buyer sends a TD19
Italian VAT number, selling to Italian consumers from stock in Italy	No, but you can choose to	You charge Italian VAT and declare it on your Italian return. Issuing through SdI is voluntary
Italian branch or permanent establishment	Yes	Full SdI rules, like any Italian business

For B2B sales, non-established suppliers generally can’t usefully issue through SdI. The Agenzia has said that a foreign business identified in Italy shouldn’t send B2B invoices through SdI as if it were the party liable for the VAT, because the Italian customer is. The customer’s TD17, TD18 or TD19 is the record that counts.

Italian suppliers selling to you (for example, your Italian 3PL billing a VAT-registered foreign business) still send their invoice to SdI, usually with code 0000000. They should also give you a copy, by PDF or email.

What your Italian B2B customers will ask for

The practical side of SdI for foreign sellers:

• “What’s your codice destinatario?” Italian finance teams ask every supplier. Tell them you’re a non-established supplier with no codice destinatario. They’ll record your invoice through TD17, TD18 or TD19.
• Your invoice details. They need your full legal name, address, VAT number (or foreign tax ID), invoice number and date, and a reverse-charge note, to build their self-invoice. Missing details slow down their reporting.
• Timing. They must report your invoice by the 15th of the following month, so send invoices promptly.

Worked example: a UK SaaS with Italian customers

A UK software company sells a €500.00 monthly plan to an SRL in Milan.

• The UK company invoices €500.00 with no Italian VAT and the note “reverse charge”. A PDF is fine.
• The Milan customer sends a TD17 to SdI by the 15th of the following month, adding Italian VAT at 22% (€110.00), which it owes and deducts in the same return.
• Italian consumers on the same plan are charged €610.00 including VAT, declared through non-Union OSS. No SdI involvement.

If the UK company later opened a Milan office that counted as a permanent establishment, that office would have to invoice through SdI.

How GoodVat helps

GoodVat is not an SdI intermediary and doesn’t send invoices to SdI. We handle the VAT side through GoodVat Global Tax Compliance:

• Work out what applies to you in Italy: OSS or IOSS, an Italian VAT number, a fiscal representative, and whether SdI applies at all
• Register you for Italian VAT, OSS or IOSS where you need it
• Calculate the right IVA rate for each product at checkout
• File your returns and keep your invoices compliant with EU rules, so Italian customers have what they need for their TD17, TD18 and TD19 reports

Selling into Italy?

Tell us where you're established, where your stock is and who you sell to. We'll map which Italian VAT and e-invoicing obligations apply to you, including whether SdI applies at all, then handle the VAT registrations and filings for you.

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FAQ

Is e-invoicing mandatory in Italy?

Yes. Since 1 January 2019, businesses established in Italy must issue B2B and B2C invoices as FatturaPA XML files through the Sistema di Interscambio (SdI), the tax agency’s exchange system. Flat-rate (forfettario) taxpayers were brought in from 2022 and all of them have been in since 1 January 2024. A PDF emailed to a customer is not a valid Italian invoice.

What is the SDI in Italy?

The Sistema di Interscambio (SdI) is the Italian tax agency’s platform that every e-invoice passes through. It checks each FatturaPA file, delivers it to the customer’s address (a 7-character codice destinatario or a PEC email address) and keeps the data for the tax agency. An invoice that SdI rejects counts as never issued.

What is a codice destinatario?

It’s the 7-character code that tells SdI where to deliver an invoice, usually the code of the customer’s e-invoicing provider. Customers without one can give a certified email address (PEC) instead, or the supplier enters 0000000 and SdI makes the invoice available in the customer’s online area. For foreign customers the code is XXXXXXX.

Do foreign companies need to issue e-invoices through SDI?

No. The obligation applies to businesses established in Italy: those with their seat, a permanent establishment or tax domicile there. A foreign company with only an Italian VAT number, directly or through a fiscal representative, is not obliged to use SdI, though it can for consumer sales. An Italian branch or permanent establishment must use it.

What are TD17, TD18 and TD19?

They are SdI document types an Italian buyer sends when it buys from a foreign supplier and accounts for the VAT itself. TD17 is for services bought from abroad, TD18 for goods bought from another EU country, and TD19 for goods already in Italy bought from a non-established supplier. They replaced the old esterometro return from 1 July 2022 and are due by the 15th of the month after the invoice is received.

How long do you have to issue an invoice in Italy?

An immediate invoice must reach SdI within 12 days of the transaction, dated with the transaction date. A deferred monthly invoice, which groups deliveries documented by delivery notes, must be issued by the 15th of the following month.

When is the €2 stamp duty due on Italian invoices?

The €2 imposta di bollo is due on invoices for transactions without VAT, such as exempt sales or invoices from flat-rate taxpayers, when the amount exceeds €77.47. You flag it in the FatturaPA file and pay it quarterly. The tax agency calculates the amount due from SdI data.

Do I need to archive Italian e-invoices?

Yes. Italian e-invoices must be kept in a compliant digital preservation system (conservazione digitale), not just as files on a drive, generally for 10 years. The tax agency offers a free preservation service through its Fatture e Corrispettivi portal, and most e-invoicing providers include one.

Related guides

• E-invoicing in the EU: every country’s mandate and timeline in one place
• E-invoicing in France: the September 2026 and 2027 reform, and e-reporting
• E-invoicing in Spain: the B2B mandate and Verifactu
• E-invoicing in Germany: the B2B mandate that started with receiving in 2025
• E-invoicing in Belgium: Peppol B2B e-invoicing since January 2026
• E-invoicing in the Netherlands: where the Dutch plans stand
• Selling to Italy: VAT rates and rules: IVA rates, IOSS and B2B reverse charge
• Reclaiming Italian VAT: how foreign businesses recover VAT paid in Italy
• Non-Union OSS for digital services: how non-EU SaaS businesses charge EU VAT