The Italian tax code: how to get one when buying from abroad

The codice fiscale identifies individuals in dealings with the Italian state, public bodies and private parties. Every contract, tax payment and formality asks for it. For a buyer that means:

• the offer and the preliminary contract;
• the deed and the taxes paid through the notary;
• a mortgage, a tenancy or loan-for-use agreement, accepting an inheritance;
• afterwards, the yearly local property tax and the regional second-home notice (ILIA).

Beware of websites that "calculate" it: only a code assigned by the Agenzia delle Entrate counts. A code produced by software is not valid.

1. At the Italian consulate for your country of residence, with its form, a copy of an identity document and the reason for the request.
2. From the Agenzia delle Entrate, with signed form AA4/8, sent by certified email (PEC, an Italian registered-mail system) to a tax office, or handed in at any office by appointment once you are in Italy. EU citizens attach an identity document, unnecessary if the form carries a digital signature; others attach a passport with visa where required, or another accepted document.
3. Through a special power of attorney: someone you trust files the form for you at a tax office in Italy.

The consulates' online service, Fast It, is only for Italian citizens registered abroad (AIRE). Non-EU nationals applying for an Italian residence permit get the code from the police headquarters (Questura) or the immigration desk, without visiting the tax office.

Once the code is assigned you receive a certificate of attribution, valid until the plastic card arrives at your address; people enrolled in the national health service get a health card carrying the code instead. The Revenue Agency's service charter targets an average wait of 30 min from ticket to counter, and appointments can be booked up to 3 weeks ahead.

None of the official sources we read gives a processing time for consulates: it depends on the office. Nor do they mention a fee; the forms are a free download from the Agency's website.

Each person has a code of their own: two buyers need two. For a minor, a parent applies and attaches their own ID. If you later move to Italy, you will need it to join the health service and for almost everything else: residency in Friuli. The Agency also runs an online check, with no login, that confirms whether a code matches a person's details. The full route: buying a house in Italy.