Registered in the REA, not the ordinary section of the register
What an Italian representative office is
An Italian representative office (ufficio di rappresentanza) is a presence a foreign company opens in Italy, registered in the REA rather than the ordinary section of the Register of Companies, and carrying no permanent establishment while it stays inside the Article 162 TUIR carve-out.
The general procedure to set up a company in Italy sits on its own page.
REA-only registration
An office confined to auxiliary or preparatory activity is entered as a new REA subject, different from local units.
What the REA is
The register of economic and administrative particulars: a distinct index, kept apart from the ordinary section that holds companies and branches (Normattiva: D.P.R. 581/1995, Art. 1(h)).
No personality, no trading, no VAT
The office has no legal personality of its own, cannot trade in Italy, and needs no partita IVA while it carries on no business.
What the office may and may not do
A permanent establishment is a sede fissa di affari (fixed place of business) through which a non-resident enterprise carries on all or part of its business in Italian territory (Normattiva: TUIR, Art. 162(1) and (2)(f-bis)).
No official list of permitted activities exists on agenziaentrate.gov.it or registroimprese.it. Market research, promotion and liaison are a reasoned mapping onto Article 162(4)(d) and (e) (Normattiva: TUIR, Art. 162(4) and (4-bis)), never a quoted statutory catalogue. The office stays outside the definition because of what it does, not what it is called.
| Stays inside the carve-out | Crosses into permanent establishment |
|---|---|
| Storage, display or delivery of goods | Invoicing customers in Italy |
| Goods held for processing by another enterprise | Negotiating or signing contracts for the company |
| A fixed place used only to purchase goods or collect information | Any other activity that generates revenue |
| Market research, promotion and liaison, mapped onto Art. 162(4)(d) and (e) | A continuous economic presence with no physical footprint, Art. 162(2)(f-bis) |
| Any combination of these, if preparatory or auxiliary, Art. 162(4-bis) | Habitually concluding contracts through a dependent agent, Art. 162(6) |
Decision flow: start at Planned activity in Italy. Gate 1, under Article 162(4) TUIR: is the activity storage, display, delivery, processing, purchasing or information-gathering? A no answer leads to Permanent establishment, taxed as a branch would be. A yes answer continues to Gate 2, under Article 162(4-bis) TUIR: is the activity, or the combined activity, preparatory or auxiliary in character? A no answer again leads to Permanent establishment, taxed as a branch would be. A yes answer leads to Stays a representative office, REA-only.
What to settle before you file
Each of these decides whether the carve-out holds, and each is easier to answer before the filing.
- The activities the office will and will not perform, written down
- Whether any of them sits on the Article 162(4) exclusion list
- Whether the group already holds a permanent establishment elsewhere in Italy
- Whether anyone will habitually conclude contracts in Italy for the parent
- The reciprocity position of the foreign company itself
What the engagement covers
Pricing is on request, through the contact form, once we understand what the office is meant to do. If you are ready to trade, the full walkthrough is the better starting point.
Activity assessment
We test what the office is meant to do against the Article 162(4) list and the preparatory-or-auxiliary condition, before filing and as its role develops.
REA registration
We coordinate the filing, so the office is entered as a REA subject rather than in the ordinary section.
Reciprocity check
Article 16 disp. prel. c.c. conditions civil rights on reciprocity and reaches foreign legal persons, so the parent's own position is checked.
The limits of the work
Neither adviser holds the title Avvocato, Dottore Commercialista or Notaio, and neither files the REA registration personally. The work is assessment and coordination.
How the process works
- Scope what the office will do. The planned activity is tested against the Article 162(4) list and the preparatory-or-auxiliary condition. Before anything is filed
- Check reciprocity for the parent. Article 16 disp. prel. c.c. reaches the foreign legal person itself, not only whoever signs the filing.
- File the REA registration. The office is entered as a new REA subject, different from local units, not in the ordinary section.
- Record the boundary in writing. What the office will and will not do is documented at the outset, before any question is raised.
- Watch the line as the role develops. Carrying on a business, or establishing a permanent establishment, triggers VAT registration on form AA7/10 (Normattiva: D.P.R. 633/1972, Artt. 4(1) and 35(1)). Within 30 days
Before you file
Not every plan fits inside the carve-out
Tell us what the office will actually do in Italy and we will tell you whether it stays outside permanent-establishment status.
Tell us about your caseRegistration and cost against a branch and a subsidiary
The 2026 diritto annuale (annual chamber fee) table lists EUR 18.00 for a new REA subject, different from local units; EUR 66.00 for a company with its head office abroad; and EUR 100.00 to 120.00 for a newly incorporated società di capitali (Camera di Commercio delle Marche: diritto annuale 2026).
Eighteen euros measures a registration category, not the tax exposure behind it. The heavier routes are registering a branch instead, the same legal entity as the parent, or incorporating a subsidiary instead, an S.r.l. with EUR 10,000 subscribed capital and its own liability shield.
| Feature | Representative Office | Branch (sede secondaria) | Subsidiary (S.r.l.) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Register | REA only (Art. 1(h) D.P.R. 581/1995) | Ordinary section, Register of Companies | Ordinary section, Register of Companies |
| Permanent establishment | No, while inside Art. 162(4)/(4-bis) TUIR | Yes, by definition (Art. 162(1) TUIR) | Not applicable: a separate taxable entity |
| VAT registration duty | None, unless the carve-out is lost (Artt. 4, 35 D.P.R. 633/1972) | Yes, on form AA7/10 | Yes, on incorporation |
| Annual chamber fee (2026) | EUR 18.00 | EUR 66.00 | EUR 100.00 to 120.00 |
| Legal personality | None | None, an extension of the foreign parent | Yes, a separate Italian legal entity |
Step 1, Representative Office: lightest footprint, cannot trade. Step 2, Branch: same legal entity as the parent, can trade, taxed as a permanent establishment. Step 3, Subsidiary: separate legal entity, own capital, a liability shield. Each step to the right trades a lighter filing for a heavier one, and buys something back in exchange, the ability to trade, or a wall around the parent's own balance sheet.
Where a representative office goes wrong
The dependent agent
A person habitually concluding contracts in Italy for the foreign company, or leading their conclusion, creates a permanent establishment with no fixed office at all (Normattiva: TUIR, Art. 162(5), (6), (7) and (7-bis)).
A second presence in the group
The exclusions fall away where the same enterprise, or a closely related one, already runs a permanent establishment in Italy and the combined activity is not, taken together, preparatory or auxiliary.
An agent who is not independent
An agente indipendente creates no permanent establishment for the company it represents. That exception falls away for an agent working almost exclusively for closely related enterprises: control, common control, or a stake above 50 percent.
The tax consequence
Crossing the line makes the fixed place a permanent establishment, taxable on its Italian-source income at 24 percent IRES (Agenzia delle Entrate: IRES).
Regularising afterwards
Reclassification for tax and registering a proper presence are two separate steps; the law converts nothing automatically. A shelf company in Italy is one alternative.
Next step
From a light office to the right structure
Describe the Italian presence you have in mind and we will tell you which of the three forms actually fits.
Tell us about your caseWhy work with us
From our practice: the line is usually crossed first by the parent's own marketing team, describing the office as generating leads rather than collecting information, months before any invoice is issued locally.
By Giulia Mancini, Head of Corporate Formation, Milan office. Giulia Mancini leads company formation for founders who are not resident in Italy, including representative offices, branches and subsidiaries of foreign companies.
Reviewed by Alessandro Ferri, Tax and Accounting Lead, Rome office. Updated 13 September 2026.
Tell us about your case
Describe the activity you have in mind and we will say whether it stays inside the preparatory-or-auxiliary test.
Frequently asked questions
What is an Italian representative office (ufficio di rappresentanza)?
A presence a foreign company opens in Italy that is registered in the REA alone, not the ordinary section of the Register of Companies, provided its activity stays inside the preparatory-or-auxiliary carve-out of Article 162 TUIR.
Where is a representative office registered: the REA or the ordinary section?
In the REA, the register of economic and administrative particulars defined by Article 1(h) of D.P.R. 581/1995, not the ordinary section of the Register of Companies that a branch or a new company uses.
What is the REA?
The repertorio delle notizie economiche e amministrative: a distinct index within the Register of Companies system, populated by subjects such as associations, foundations and representative offices that do not carry on a registrable business activity of their own.
What does REA registration cost each year?
EUR 18.00 for 2026: the fee the CCIAA Marche schedule lists for a new REA subject, different from local units, the registration category a representative office falls into, rather than the ordinary company-register categories used by a branch or a subsidiary.
What is the preparatory or auxiliary test?
The condition in Article 162(4-bis) TUIR that every permanent-establishment exclusion depends on: the listed activity, or the combined activity where several are combined, must not amount to more than preparation or support for the enterprise's real business.
What activities does the statute actually exclude from permanent-establishment status?
Storage, display or delivery installations; goods held for storage, display, delivery or processing by another enterprise; a fixed place used only to purchase goods or collect information; and any other purely preparatory or auxiliary activity, alone or combined.
Can a representative office sign contracts on the foreign company's behalf?
Not without risk. Signing, or habitually leading the conclusion of, contracts is not on the Article 162(4) exclusion list and can itself create a permanent establishment under the dependent-agent rule, independently of the office's own REA registration.
Does a representative office need an Italian VAT number?
Not while it carries on no business activity and creates no permanent establishment. VAT registration is triggered by either event, under Articles 4(1) and 35(1) of D.P.R. 633/1972, and must then be filed within 30 days on form AA7/10.
What is a dependent agent permanent establishment?
A permanent establishment that arises because a person acts in Italy for the foreign company and habitually concludes contracts, or habitually plays the principal role leading to their conclusion, independently of whether any fixed place of business exists at all.
What happens once a representative office starts generating revenue in Italy?
It converts into a permanent establishment, taxable in Italy on that income at the standard 24 percent IRES rate, and must register for VAT within 30 days on form AA7/10, regardless of its REA filing.
When should a foreign company use a branch or a subsidiary instead of a representative office?
Once the intended Italian activity goes beyond preparation or support, selling, contracting, invoicing, a representative office no longer fits. The choice then follows the same branch-versus-subsidiary logic: a lighter, same-legal-entity presence, or a separate entity with its own liability shield.