Italy is an economically developed EU state. It is bounded by Switzerland, France, Slovenia, and also has internal borders with the Vatican and San Marino.
Unlike other EU countries, it is possible to register a company in Italy only with the participation of a notary to legalize the Memorandum and Articles of Association.
Certain types of economic activity are entered in separate registers and may involve passing a state competency exam or submitting a Decreto di Riconoscimento (Recognition Decision) confirming relevant experience in EU countries.
Italy has a rather complex tax system and high requirements for transparency of companies.
Legal forms
You can set up a company in Italy by considering the following legal forms:
- Limited Liability Company – SRL (Società a Responsabilità Limitata);
- SPA (Società per azioni), which allows listing on a stock exchange.
If you are interested in registering a SPA in Italy, note that it implies a more complex registration process and requires 120 thousand EUR of the share capital.
Registration requirements
In order to register an Italian company remotely, you will need the following:
- The selected company name;
- The city and address of the head office (YB Case provides legal assistance in registering a virtual office or legal address);
- A detailed description of the business with the expected turnover and information about the planned transactions;
- The selected type of management (by one manager/board of directors);
- The selected amount of capital (must be deposited to the bank account or paid in cash in the presence of notary, if the amount is up to 3 000 EUR).
Preparation of documents
Those, who are intended to set up a SRL in Italy, should provide us with the following documents:
- Documents of each owner (a certified copy of the foreign passport and confirmation of a residential address);
- Documents of manager or council member, including the Italian tax number.
Registration procedure
When setting up a company in Italy a legal address* (presence of a registered office) is required, as well as:
- The director (s) and the owner (s) must receive a tax number in Italy (YB Case experts will provide legal support in submitting a request for its receipt for clients with valid visas, otherwise the tax numbers will be received through the local Italian Consulate);
- You need to sign a special power of attorney (which will be provided by YB Case specialists) under the apostille in the country of the founder/director of the company (it is necessary to resolve current issues without the physical presence of the founder/director);
- Notarial legalization of the Constitutive Act;
- Drawing up the Articles of Association: requires the most complete list of economic services that can be provided by the company in the future (since further amendments to the Articles of Association are possible only through the approval of a notary);
- Signing of the Constitutive Act by power of attorney.
Further, if it is necessary to place the share capital, you will need to open a corporate account in an Italian bank: the director of the company should make a personal visit to Italy.
*Obtaining a legal address for the company is possible upon signing the contract for the comprehensive servicing of the company (the service includes legal advice and support of competent lawyers in matters of payroll records, statements, tax returns, VAT refunds, residence permits for owners and directors, etc.).
The cost of connecting to comprehensive services is determined on the basis of the type of activity, annual turnover and the number of invoices.
Price list:
- Legal support services of our experts in setting up an Italian company will cost 5 000 EUR (including all current expenses and fees associated with the registration process and share capital);
- Legal accompany services in opening an account for a company in Italy from our team will cost 1 200 EUR;
- Registering a company in Italy will take from 3 weeks.
For more information, please contact our specialists.
