Ownership passes on deposit with the Register, not at signature
Ready-made Italian companies currently available
Availability changes, so the table is rewritten from our inventory file on Monday and Thursday.
Updated:
| Ref | Legal form | Year | Region | Share capital | Price | Status | Request |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IT-009 | S.r.l.s. | 2023 | Apulia | EUR 2,500 | EUR 5,900 | Available | Request |
| IT-003 | S.p.A. | 2015 | Veneto | EUR 50,000 | EUR 21,000 | Available | Request |
| IT-005 | S.r.l. | 2018 | Tuscany | EUR 15,000 | EUR 10,400 | Available | Request |
| IT-002 | S.r.l. | 2017 | Lazio | EUR 10,000 | EUR 9,500 | Available | Request |
| IT-007 | S.r.l. | 2022 | Campania | EUR 10,000 | EUR 7,800 | Available | Request |
| IT-010 | S.r.l. | 2014 | Liguria | EUR 10,000 | EUR 12,600 | Available | Request |
| IT-001 | S.r.l. | 2019 | Lombardy | EUR 10,000 | EUR 8,900 | Available | Request |
| IT-006 | S.r.l. | 2020 | Emilia-Romagna | EUR 10,000 | EUR 8,700 | Available | Request |
| IT-004 | S.r.l.s. | 2021 | Piedmont | EUR 1,000 | EUR 6,200 | Reserved | Request |
| IT-008 | S.r.l. | 2016 | Friuli Venezia Giulia | EUR 20,000 | EUR 11,900 | Reserved | Request |
For any entry you select we obtain a visura storica and hand it to you before signing. The figure shown does not cover the government fees below.
What a ready-made company is in Italy
A ready-made Italian company is an S.r.l. already entered in the Register of Companies and passed to a new owner by cessione di quote, a transfer of quotas. No shares are issued and no incorporation deed is signed: S.r.l. participations may not be represented by shares (Art. 2468 c.c.).
Italian law sets no minimum holding period, and Art. 2469(1) c.c. makes participations freely transferable unless the articles say otherwise (Normattiva: Codice civile, artt. 2462–2490). An S.r.l.s. may be held only by individuals (Art. 2463-bis(1) c.c.), so a corporate buyer needs a conversion first. Compare the forms on Italian company types.
Ready-made or new formation
The alternative to buying is Italian company formation from scratch.
| What you compare | Ready-made company (transfer of quotas) | New formation (atto costitutivo) |
|---|---|---|
| Notary | Not required for a clean transfer: an authorised intermediary may file a digitally signed deed (Art. 36(1-bis) D.L. 112/2008) | Mandatory: the atto costitutivo is a public deed |
| Filing window | 30 days from the deed | 10 days from the deed (Art. 2330 c.c.) |
| When it takes effect | On deposit with the Register, not at signature (Art. 2470(1) c.c.) | Legal personality arises on registration (Art. 2331 c.c.) |
| Government charges | EUR 15.00 of bollo on the deed (M.U.I.), EUR 65.00 on the filing, EUR 90 of segreteria, doubled when the sole-member notice travels with it, and EUR 200 of registration tax (Art. 26(2) D.L. 104/2013) | EUR 156.00 of bollo through the M.U.I. and EUR 90 of segreteria |
| Capital | As the seller subscribed and paid it; a gap between the two blocks any increase | EUR 10 000 subscribed, or from EUR 1 and below EUR 10 000 where cash is paid in full (Artt. 2463(2)(4), 2463(4) c.c.) |
| First diritto annuale | Follows the chamber for the province where the office sits on 1 January | EUR 100 on the national base, EUR 120 with the 20% surcharge, within 30 days of the application |
| Trading and filing history | Comes with the company, good and bad, readable in the visura storica | None: the company starts empty |
| Seller's tax position | A corporate seller's gain may fall under the participation exemption, 95% exempt (TUIR, Art. 87) | Not applicable: there is no seller |
Chamber tariffs are regional; the figures above are CCIAA Romagna, rev. 16 of 27 January 2026.
A foreign parent wanting presence without a new legal person needs a branch office in Italy; a separate entity is an Italian subsidiary. First steps: what a foreign founder needs.
What the transfer includes
You take the company as the register records it, which is why we read the file first.
- A company already entered in the Register of Companies
- Its full filing history since incorporation, read from the visura storica
- The last deposited articles, with the transfer clause and any approval requirement
- The sede legale, whose comune fixes which chamber collects the diritto annuale
- Its partita IVA status, which shows whether returns have been running
- Any pledge, usufruct or attachment recorded over the quotas (Art. 2471(1) c.c.)
- Any unpaid chamber fee, which follows the company to you
- The socio unico and director filings that travel with it
Text restatement of the diagram: the eight zones of a historical chamber extract and the risk each one hides. One, scioglimento, procedure concorsuali e cancellazione: dissolution, insolvency proceedings and cancellation. Two, soci e titolari di diritti su quote e azioni: pledges, usufruct and the attachment of a quota. Three, pratiche in istruttoria: what has been filed but not yet processed. Four, trasferimenti d'azienda, fusioni, scissioni, subentri: traces of reorganisations. Five, società o enti controllanti: who controls the company. Six, partecipazioni in altre società: inherited participations. Seven, informazioni da statuto, ultimo statuto depositato: the freedom to transfer quotas and the comune of the registered office. Eight, informazioni patrimoniali: subscribed capital against paid-up capital. The extract costs EUR 6.00 and is ordered before signature.
How the acquisition works
- Reserve an entry. The Request button carries its ID into
/contact/?ref=, so the enquiry arrives attached to the company you were reading. - Due diligence on the file. We order the visura storica at EUR 6.00 (Registro Imprese) and read the last deposited articles first. Before signature
- The transfer deed. Either authenticated signatures before a notaio autenticante (Art. 2470(2) c.c.), or a firma digitale filed by an authorised intermediary (Art. 36(1-bis) D.L. 112/2008).
- Filed with the Register for the district of the sede legale. An earlier deed loses to an earlier filing, so we file the same day. Within 30 days of the deed
- Deposit: the transfer takes effect towards the company (Art. 2470(1) c.c.). This, and not the signature, is the moment you become a member. On the day of deposit
- The filings that travel with it: the socio unico declaration (Art. 2470(4)-(7) c.c.), the directors (Art. 2383(4) c.c.) and the incoming director's domicilio digitale (CCIAA Milano). Within the same 30 days
Text restatement of the diagram: the transfer deed, the atto di trasferimento, is signed. From there the file takes one of two routes, either a notaio autenticante with authenticated signatures under Art. 2470(2) c.c., or a firma digitale under Art. 24 CAD filed by an intermediario abilitato under Art. 36(1-bis) D.L. 112/2008. Both converge on filing with the Register of Companies within 30 days of the deed. On deposit the transfer takes effect towards the company under Art. 2470(1) c.c. Within the same 30 days come the socio unico declaration under Art. 2470(4)-(7) c.c., the directors under Art. 2383(4) c.c. and the personal domicilio digitale under D.L. 159/2025. The side note: the first good-faith registration wins, even against an earlier deed, Art. 2470(3) c.c.
Next step
Found a company that fits?
Send us the reference and we pull its visura storica before anything is signed.
Tell us about your caseLegal notes and limits
A dormant company still owes the chamber fee
The diritto annuale accrues at zero turnover: a base of EUR 200.00 applies up to EUR 100 000 of turnover, reduced by 50% (CCIAA Marche 2026).
The società di comodo surcharge
A non-operating company pays an IRES surcharge of 10.5 percentage points on the ordinary tax calendar, where it falls within that regime (Agenzia delle Entrate). Otherwise see how Italian company tax works.
An inactive company is not struck off automatically
Cancellation ex officio under D.P.R. 247/2004 reaches partnerships and sole traders. A company limited by quotas is at risk only in liquidation, after three years without a filed balance sheet (Art. 2490 c.c.).
Capital subscribed but never paid
Company stationery states the capital actually paid in (Art. 2250(2) c.c.), and no increase is possible until contributions previously due are paid in full (Art. 2481(2) c.c.).
The beneficial-owner register is active
Reporting of the titolare effettivo is active: D.Lgs. 210/2025 has been in force since 9 January 2026 (CCIAA Genova). No power of attorney is allowed, as our Italian UBO register guide explains.
From our practice. The commonest failure we see is a buyer who treats the 30-day filings as somebody else's paperwork.
This page states Italian law as published by the sources cited and is not legal or tax advice. Sources verified 6 to 9 September 2026.
Prepared by Giulia Mancini, Head of Corporate Formation, Milan office.
Reviewed by Alessandro Ferri, Tax and Accounting Lead, Rome office. Updated 13 September 2026.
Tell us about your case
Tell us the date you are working to and what the company has to be able to do on that date.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are shelf companies legal in Italy?
Yes. Italian law does not prohibit incorporating a company and selling its quotas later, and it sets no minimum holding period. Art. 2469(1) of the Civil Code makes S.r.l. quotas freely transferable unless the articles of association provide otherwise, which is why the articles are the first document to read.
What am I actually buying: shares or quotas?
Quotas. S.r.l. participations cannot be represented by shares and cannot be offered to the public as financial products, apart from crowdfunding under Regulation (EU) 2020/1503 (Art. 2468 c.c.). Buying a ready-made Italian company is therefore always a contractual transfer of quotas, a cessione di quote, never a share purchase.
When do I actually become the owner?
On deposit, not at signature. Art. 2470(1) c.c. provides that the transfer of quotas takes effect towards the company from the moment the deed is deposited with the Register of Companies. The deed is filed within 30 days, by the authenticating notary or by an authorised intermediary.
Do I need an Italian notary to buy a ready-made company?
Not for a clean transfer of quotas. Art. 36(1-bis) D.L. 112/2008 allows a digitally signed deed filed by an authorised intermediary, confirmed by Parliament as a derogation from Art. 2470(2) c.c. Anything that amends the articles of association still requires a notary, and the tax treatment of the deed is unchanged.
What changes at takeover need a notary and what does not?
No notary: the transfer itself, the sole-member declaration, a change of directors, the company PEC, and moving the registered office inside the same municipality. A notary is required for a change of name, corporate object, capital or management rules, and for a move to a different municipality, because each amends the articles.
What must be filed if I buy 100% of the quotas?
A sole-member declaration with full identification data, filed with the Register within 30 days of the change in membership (Art. 2470(4)-(7) c.c.). If that publicity is not carried out, the sole member answers without limitation for obligations arising while it held all quotas, should the company become insolvent (Art. 2462(2) c.c.).
What government fees does the transfer cost?
EUR 15.00 of stamp duty on the deed through the M.U.I., EUR 65.00 of stamp duty on the filing, and EUR 90 of chamber secretarial fees. When the transfer is filed together with the sole-member notice, the chamber fee is counted twice, 90 plus 90. Registration tax is a fixed EUR 200.
What should I check before I sign?
Order a visura storica for EUR 6.00 and read the sections on dissolution, insolvency proceedings and cancellation, on members and holders of rights over quotas, on filings under examination, and the last deposited articles. Then compare subscribed capital against paid-up capital: a gap blocks any capital increase.
Can I get the chamber extract in English?
Yes. The Register of Companies issues the extract in English under the same rule and at the same cost as the Italian version, so no separate translation is needed for a foreign bank or authority. A visura ordinaria costs EUR 5.00 and a visura storica EUR 6.00.
What does a dormant Italian company still owe?
The annual chamber fee accrues even at zero turnover: with turnover between 0 and EUR 100 000 a fixed base of EUR 200.00 applies, reduced by 50%, and the chamber must start recovery of anything left unpaid. The annual VAT return is due even with no taxable transactions.
Can I buy a simplified S.r.l. through my holding company?
Not without converting it first. An S.r.l.s. can be held only by individuals (Art. 2463-bis(1) c.c.), and the clauses of its standard model articles cannot be varied, so drag-along, tag-along or special quorums cannot be written into a simplified company before you buy it.
What must the new director do immediately?
Ask for registration of the appointment within 30 days of being notified of it (Art. 2383(4) c.c.), and register a personal domicilio digitale, distinct from the company PEC, at the moment of appointment. The Civil Code does not require the director to be resident in Italy.