How to file your Italian tax return (730 or Redditi)

What it is

If you're tax resident in Italy, you pay Italian income tax (IRPEF) on your income from anywhere in the world. You're usually tax resident for a year if, for most of that year, you were registered as resident at your comune or had your home or main interests in Italy.

Each year you declare the previous year's income on one of two forms:

• the 730, for employees and pensioners: simpler, and any refund comes through your pay or pension. Deadline 30 September.
• the Modello Redditi (persone fisiche), for the self-employed and other cases. Deadline 31 October.

The Agenzia delle Entrate prepares a pre-filled return (precompilata) from 30 April.

Do you have to file?

• Self-employed (partita IVA): always.
• Employees or pensioners with only Italian income from one employer or pension, taxed at source: often not, because the tax is already withheld. You can still file to claim deductions.
• Income or assets abroad: usually yes. Foreign pensions, rent or interest go in the return, and money, investments and property held abroad go on the RW section, with the taxes on them (IVAFE on financial assets, IVIE on property).

Before you start

You'll need:

• Your codice fiscale.
• SPID, CIE or CNS to sign in to the Agenzia delle Entrate.
• Your income documents: the Certificazione Unica from your employer or pension body, statements of foreign income and tax paid abroad.
• Details of assets abroad: bank accounts, investments, property, with their values.

Steps

1. Sign in to the Agenzia delle Entrate's online area from 30 April and open the precompilata.
2. Check and complete it, adding foreign income, tax paid abroad (for the credit) and the RW section for assets abroad.
3. Send it by 30 September (730) or 31 October (Redditi). You can also file through a CAF (tax assistance centre) or a commercialista.
4. Pay any tax due (with an F24 for Redditi), or receive your refund.

Cost

Filing online yourself is free. CAFs and accountants charge for their help.

Common pitfalls

• Forgetting assets abroad. The RW section is required even when the assets produce no income, and missing it brings penalties.
• Assuming tax paid abroad settles it. You declare the income in Italy and claim the credit.
• Missing the deadline. Late returns bring penalties, and a return more than 90 days late counts as not filed.

When to ask a helper

Ask someone with a similar situation (a foreign pension, or savings abroad) who filed recently: they'll know whether a CAF helped and how they filled in the RW section.