How much does the incorporation of a company cost in Italy?

How much does it cost to incorporate a company in Italy?

As of 2026, a bare-bones SRLS (Società a Responsabilità Limitata Semplificata, the simplified limited company) costs about €320 in state charges, a self-managed standard SRL (Società a Responsabilità Limitata, the standard limited company) runs roughly €2,000–€4,000, and a professionally assisted foreign-founder SRL typically lands at €3,500–€7,000. Notary fees are the main driver, because the incorporation deed must be executed before a notary under Article 2463 of the Italian Civil Code.

VAT stands for value-added tax. PEC and the digital signature are known, itemized mandatory costs, not hidden ones.

What are the notary fees for incorporating a company in Italy?

Notary fees for a standard SRL run €1,000–€3,000, scaling with share capital and complexity. Notarization of the atto costitutivo (incorporation deed) and statuto (bylaws) is mandatory for an SRL and an SpA (Società per Azioni, the joint-stock company) under Article 2463. The notary also collects registration tax and stamp duty for the state, so the invoice bundles the professional fee with those disbursements.

Since the 2012 liberalization decree abolished the fixed notarial tariff, notaries set incorporation fees freely, per the Consiglio Nazionale del Notariato. The SRLS is the exception: the law waives the notary fee entirely for the standard-model deed, as covered in the cheapest-route section below.

What government fees apply to business registration in Italy?

Government fees are fixed and modest. The registration tax is €200, stamp duty is about €156, and Business Register secretarial fees run €90–€120. A VAT number is free from the Agenzia delle Entrate.

The annual diritto annuale is a flat €120 for a small SRL with turnover up to €100,000, rising through turnover brackets to a €24,000 cap, with amounts confirmed for 2025 by the Ministry of Enterprises.

What is the minimum share capital to form an SRL in Italy?

A standard SRL needs €10,000 nominal share capital, with at least 25% (€2,500) paid in at incorporation for multi-member companies and 100% for a single-member SRL. An SRLS uses €1 to €9,999.99, fully paid in cash. An SpA needs €50,000, with 25% (€12,500) paid in.

Share capital is not a cost. It stays the company’s own money in its account. Registration tax is a fixed €200, so it never scales as a percentage of your capital.

How much does it cost to incorporate an SRL vs an SpA in Italy?

An SpA costs materially more than an SRL at formation and every year after. The €50,000 minimum capital is five times the SRL floor, notary tariffs run higher on larger deeds, and an SpA generally must appoint a collegio sindacale (board of statutory auditors), a recurring governance cost SRLs below statutory thresholds avoid.

Both capital companies owe the €309.87 annual concession tax on corporate books, per the Agenzia delle Entrate.

What is the cheapest way to incorporate a company in Italy?

The cheapest legal route is the SRLS. The law waives the notary fee for the standard-model deed and exempts the registration from stamp duty and secretarial fees, so out-of-pocket formation drops to about €320 in state charges plus incidental items like PEC and the digital signature. Capital is €1 to €9,999.99, fully paid in cash.

The trade-offs are real. The SRLS uses a non-customizable standard statuto set by a 2012 ministerial decree, all shareholders must be natural persons, and the sub-€10,000 capital cap means growing companies later convert to a standard SRL, which requires a new notarial deed plus registration tax and registry fees. The Consiglio Nazionale del Notariato confirms the SRLS waiver.

What do the PEC, digital signature, and other mandatory setup items cost?

Every Italian company must hold a PEC (Posta Elettronica Certificata, a certified email account), which costs about €5–€25 per year and is registered with the Business Register. Directors need a firma digitale (digital signature) to sign filings, at roughly €30–€80 one-time per certificate, renewed every few years. The codice fiscale (tax code) and Partita IVA are free from the Agenzia delle Entrate.

The PEC is needed at registration, and the digital signature is needed for Registro Imprese filings. Both are statutory, so build them into the budget from day one.

Do you need a SCIA or business license in Italy, and what does it cost?

It depends on the activity. A SCIA (Segnalazione Certificata di Inizio Attività, the certified start-of-activity notice) is filed with the municipality for regulated activities, and municipal filing and license costs typically run €30–€200 depending on city and activity.

Food service, retail premises, and regulated professional services require activity-specific filings. A pure holding or consulting SRL often needs none. Confirm requirements with the local SUAP (one-stop business desk) before you file.

How much do lawyers and incorporation service providers charge in Italy?

Lawyer fees run €1,500–€3,000+, depending on structure complexity and foreign ownership. Online providers charge less but exclude legal advice. Full-service firms bundle drafting, notary coordination, tax registration, and compliance. A registered office service costs about €1,200/year for companies without premises.

Doing it yourself saves professional fees. The risk is that a document error triggers re-filing and extra notary costs, which erases the saving. A missing page on a scan has delayed real incorporations at the notary stage, so document completeness is a direct cost-control lever.

What does it cost to set up an SRL in Italy as a foreigner?

Foreign founders pay the same statutory costs plus an extra layer: certified translations at €20–€50 per page, legalization or apostille at €30–€50 per document, and a notarized, apostilled power of attorney (POA) if incorporating remotely. The codice fiscale for foreign shareholders and directors is free, obtained from the Agenzia delle Entrate or through the Italian consulate in the founder’s country.

Italian banks apply enhanced due diligence to foreign-owned companies, so initial deposits range €100–€2,000 and onboarding can add weeks. The corporate bank account can only open once the Chamber of Commerce certificate is issued, which usually takes two to three weeks from the incorporation day. Capital sent from a foreign parent needs documented justification for the notary, so plan the fund-transfer paperwork early.

What are the ongoing compliance costs for an Italian company per year?

Budget roughly €2,000–€5,000+ per year for a small SRL, dominated by the commercialista (chartered accountant). A low-activity SRL on an annual retainer runs €1,500–€4,000/year for bookkeeping, the annual bilancio (financial statements), and the corporate tax return. Companies with monthly VAT filings, payroll, and higher volume pay €250–€800/month, or €3,000–€9,600/year.

What hidden or unexpected costs should you budget for?

The real surprises are post-incorporation changes and penalties. Amending the company name, registered office, directors, or share structure requires a new notarial deed plus registration tax and registry fees per filing. There is no official government fast-track fee, but providers charge premiums for expedited coordination.

INPS is the Istituto Nazionale della Previdenza Sociale, Italy’s social security institute. The legal interest rate on late payments is revised each year, so confirm the current rate before relying on the older ~1.6% figure.

How does the cost to incorporate in Italy compare internationally?

Italy sits at the expensive end among common destinations, because mandatory notarization adds a cost the UK avoids entirely. The UK offers cheap, fast digital filing with no minimum capital, while Germany and Switzerland are notary-bound like Italy.

How we simplify company incorporation in Italy

Commenda’s incorporation product handles Italian company formation end to end. It coordinates the notary, the Business Register, and tax registration, then tracks your post-incorporation statutory deadlines so you get certainty of process and a predictable, transparent price instead of an open-ended fee stack.

Check your name before you file with the company name checker, stay ahead of filings with the compliance calendar, and confirm foreign tax IDs with global tax ID verification. Weighing the comparisons above? See the UK, Germany, and France cost guides.

Book a demo to get a fixed, all-in quote for your Italian entity before you spend a euro on notaries.