Company Registration in Italy

Before Registering a Company

Registering a company in Italy is similar to any other company established before. However, any individuals must be aware of differences in terms of culture in Italy. In other words, he/she must establish an effective business relationship with your customers. Personals and quality of products and services must be sufficient enough to converse with Italian customers.

Advantages of Establishing a Company

Italy is located in a geographical position that has the advantage of acting as a crossroad for international businesses, better to say a bridge for commercial activities between many countries, e.g., European and African countries. Statistic shows that northern part of Italy is considered to have one of the highest per capita incomes in Europe.
Construction, mechanical, chemical and transport industries are those we have to mention as most developed sectors in Italy. The most developed sectors of the Italian industry include the manufacturing, mechanical, construction sectors, chemicals, and the transport industry.
The key advantages of registering a company in Italy are a follows:

• 100% ownership (no need for a local partner)
• The ability to apply for Permanent residency after 3 years
• The ability to open a company or private account
•  The ability to obtain a Visa from countries around the world
•  The ability to use European trade-marks
•  Free commercial and Customs laws within the European Union (EU)
•  The ability to free of taxes for 10 years in places with the high employment-to-population ratio
• The ability to register in the Social Security Organization
• The ability to receive loans with low interest for companies exporting Italian products

Types of Company Registered

Companies in Italy usually are registered in 3 types

• Private Limited Company (S.R.L) (in Italian: Società a Responsabilità Limitata)
• Public Limited Company by Shares (S.P.A)
• Branch of a Company

Società a Responsabilità Limitata (S.R.L)

This type of company has got attention from many audiences and laws and regulations of this country can only be applied to the capital invested by the company shareholders. An individual (from any corner of the world) will have the ability to register and start a company having at least 10,000 €. In addition, there is no limit on the number of shareholders. This type of company must consist of at least 2 shareholders and 2 accountants.
The balance sheet report shall be prepared, annually. In this type of company we want to register, the shareholder will have the ability to transfer their shares freely. It should be noted that the owners of this registered company are not necessarily also the directors and directors are not necessarily company owners.

Public Limited Company by Shares (S.P.A)

This type of company that individual desires to register at Italy, unlike the previously registered one, is generally considered for larger companies. The applicant will be able to start the cooperation with at least 120,000 €, no matter the nationality.
In addition, there is no limit for the number of shareholders and balance sheet reports shall be prepared, monthly, after the company was registered. Public limited companies in Italy are modeled after the UK companies. It must be noted that these types of companies, for registration, will require a manager and a minimum of 50,000 € to start their activities.

A Company Branch

For the registration of this company, the parent company must be located in another country and a sub-branch in Italy. The amount of tax and account turnover shall be a liability of the parent company. The commercial plan of the branch must also be based on the activities of the parent company. In addition, documents required for establishing a branch will be determined based on the laws and regulations of Italy. The documents that are necessary for registering a branch in Italy are as follows.

• The activity certificate and commercial plan must be obtained from the parent company.
• Identity authentication
• A bank account must be opened in the
• Company address and location must be registered
• The names of company managers and members
• Obtaining articles of association and agreement of the company from the Company Registration Office
• After the above documents were provided, a taxpayer identification number (id) and value- added tax code (Partita IVA) shall be issued.

Required Documents

• Company articles of association, shares, and capital
• Identity documents of the board of directors members must be provided
• - Completed tax forms and all the scanned documents must be submitted (submitting the respective form online)
• Application form for company registration and identity documents must be submitted to the Italy Chamber of Commerce.
• Tax form and Company Capital
• Insurance forms of company employees

Visa For Company Registration

There is no defined official period of getting a Visa; however, it all depends on the individual condition and provision of the respective documents. The period of company registration shall be 2 to 4 months. After the company was registered, you should be active in your business in Italy for at least 2 years. After that, you can apply for permanent residency.

Ready-Made Company (Shelf Company)

Are you in a hurry to open a business? You don’t have time to start your business?  Then we recommend shelf companies. An individual who desires to buy a shelf company, must review the company records and make sure that the company records will not have a destructive effect on his/ her line of work. The new owner will have the right to change the company name and receive a license for his/her activities and start his business.

Advantage of Shelf Company

The reason that the investors are turning toward the purchase of a shelf company in Italy is that he/she will be able to benefit from the company’s credits and profits in recent years. And this is considered to be the fastest way for investors.

Company Registration Cost

If a foreign investor desires to establish a company in Italy he must be aware of all respective and operation costs and these costs include the minimum capital stock, Italian officers, bank expenses and other sectors and the payment for the professional advocate in the field of company registration who will be a guide through this process. For more information on the exact costs, please contact our senior advisors.