Invoicing abroad
Invoicing to Italy: VAT, reverse charge and mandatory details
To a business in Italy you invoice without VAT and add the reverse-charge note. Your customer accounts for the tax in Italy; you need their valid VAT ID for that.
This page is written for freelancers and small businesses in Germany and Austria. Pick your country below — the rules differ.
Do you charge VAT?
From Germany to a business in Italy: no VAT, with the reverse-charge note. The basis is § 3a Abs. 2 in Verbindung mit § 14a Abs. 1 UStG. The standard rate in Italy is 22 % — but your customer accounts for it, not you.
From Austria to a business in Italy: no VAT, with the reverse-charge note. The basis is § 3a Abs. 6 UStG 1994 in Verbindung mit Art. 196 MwStSystRL. The standard rate in Italy is 22 % — but your customer accounts for it, not you.
Private customers: Reverse charge never applies to consumers. Up to €10,000 in total you charge your own domestic VAT; above it you owe the destination country’s VAT and report it through the One-Stop Shop (§ 3a Abs. 5 UStG). Note the €10,000 is cumulative across the whole EU, not per country.
The sentence for the invoice
No exact wording is prescribed; the note only has to be unambiguous. This is the customary form:
Steuerschuldnerschaft des Leistungsempfängers (Reverse Charge)
Both VAT IDs belong on the invoice: yours and your customer’s. Without a valid recipient VAT ID the reverse-charge mechanism does not apply.
Do you have to report it?
Yes. The supply belongs in the recapitulative statement, with your customer’s VAT ID and the net amount — by the 25th day after the end of the reporting period. It is a report rather than a tax return, but it is forgotten regularly, and it is the most common reason a tax office asks about EU supplies.
Yes. The supply belongs in the recapitulative statement, with your customer’s VAT ID and the net amount — by the end of the following month. It is a report rather than a tax return, but it is forgotten regularly, and it is the most common reason a tax office asks about EU supplies.
Does Italy’s e-invoicing mandate apply to you?
Italy mandates FatturaPA via the Sistema di Interscambio for domestic B2B — but explicitly only between businesses established in Italy. Without a fixed establishment there you are not in scope: you send a normal invoice with no VAT, and your Italian customer handles the integrazione or autofattura in their own system.
In short: the duty is your customer’s, not yours. You send a normal invoice; they do whatever their own system requires of them.
The most common mistake
Italian clients regularly ask for a "Codice Destinatario" or a PEC address and claim they cannot book the invoice without FatturaPA. That is their system’s requirement, not your legal duty — the recipient does the SdI filing.
Sources
- Agenzia delle Entrate — Fatturazione elettronica — https://www.agenziaentrate.gov.it/portale/web/guest/aree-tematiche/fatturazione-elettronica
- MwStSystRL Art. 44 / 196 (EUR-Lex) — https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2006/112/2025-04-14
Verified on 2026-09-06. VAT rates and e-invoicing timetables change several times a year — this article is general information and does not replace tax advice.