How to Open a Partita IVA Under Italy's Flat-Rate Tax Regime

Form AA9/12 is what an individual uses to tell the Agenzia delle Entrate they’re opening a partita IVA for a professional activity, when registration with the Business Register isn’t required. It has to be filed within 30 days of the date the activity starts, and it’s on that same filing that someone states they want to use the flat-rate regime: anyone starting a brand-new activity can do this by stating, in the VAT filing, that they expect to meet the requirements, without having to wait a year to demonstrate it.

The form can be filed in more than one way. One is certified email, or PEC, with “Dichiarazione di inizio attività” as the subject line. Another is registered post, with a copy of a valid ID document attached, sent to any Agenzia delle Entrate office. The third is filling in the form using the software the tax agency provides and filing it directly through the online service in an account, on your own or through an authorized intermediary.

Practical example: someone starting out as a consultant fills in form AA9/12 with their ATECO business-activity code, states on the same filing that they want to use the flat-rate regime by declaring an expectation of meeting its requirements, and files everything through the Agenzia delle Entrate’s software from their own online account, within 30 days of the first day of activity.

Anyone running a business or craft activity instead follows a different path: opening, changing or closing that kind of partita IVA requires the Comunicazione Unica d’Impresa, not form AA9/12 alone.

Opening a partita IVA with only form AA9/12 doesn’t carry a filing fee of its own. The Chamber of Commerce’s annual fee does exist, but it only applies to those who register with the Business Register and the REA: in 2026 it comes to €120 for sole proprietorships in the ordinary section, and €52.80 (rounded to €53) for the special section, covering small operators, craftspeople and farmers. A freelance professional who opened a partita IVA with only the AA9/12, without registering with the Business Register, doesn’t owe this fee.

Opening a partita IVA for a professional activity generally brings welfare-related obligations too, which need checking case by case against your own position, beyond simply filing form AA9/12.

Before even reaching the form, there are entry requirements to check for the chosen regime: the Italian partita IVA is the identifier this procedure produces, while the flat-rate regime is the tax scheme someone declares they want from the moment they open up, with its own thresholds and exclusions — including the one tied to employment income that was too high in previous years.