Add or remove Italian IVA at the 22% standard, 10% reduced, or 4% super-reduced rate.
Italy's standard IVA rate is 22%. A 10% reduced rate applies to food, hotels, and pharmaceuticals; a 4% super-reduced rate applies to basic foodstuffs, books, and newspapers.
Illustrative estimate only, using simplified/rounded 2026 Italian tax figures — not tax advice. Regional and municipal surcharges vary by location. Always confirm with the Agenzia delle Entrate or a commercialista.
IVA (Imposta sul Valore Aggiunto) is Italy's VAT, with a standard rate of 22% applying to most goods and services. Three reduced rates cover specific categories: 10% for items including certain tourism services, some renovation work, and specific food products; 5% for a narrower list including some social and health-related services; and a 4% "super-reduced" rate reserved for genuine essentials such as basic food staples, some publications, and items for people with disabilities.
As with VAT systems across the EU, IVA is collected in stages through the supply chain — registered businesses charge it on sales and reclaim what they paid on their own business purchases, remitting only the net difference to the Agenzia delle Entrate (Italy's tax authority), so the full rate is ultimately borne by the end consumer without compounding at each stage of production.
Italian law assigns specific reduced rates to categories considered essential, socially important, or subject to targeted policy support (tourism, construction renovation, and basic food staples among them), while the 22% standard rate is the default for most other goods and services.
Businesses using Italy's flat-rate scheme for very small businesses (regime forfettario), available below a specific turnover threshold, are generally exempt from charging IVA on their invoices and from reclaiming it on purchases, a simplified regime widely used by freelancers and small operators.
The standard rates apply nationally, though some specific goods and regions (including parts of southern Italy in past periods) have occasionally had targeted rate adjustments or exemptions for specific policy reasons — the core four-rate structure, however, is national.
Generally, for consumer purchases within the EU, VAT is charged at the applicable rate based on current EU rules for cross-border digital and physical goods, with imports from outside the EU typically subject to import IVA collected at the point of entry or through the seller's registration.