Italy

Accounting Requirements

Accounting Books:

• Posting Journal (Libro Giornale)
• Detailed Trial Balance (Mastrini)
• Trial Balance Reports (Libro Inventari)

Other Requirements:

• Year-end closing of balance sheet accounts
• Tax Depreciations (Fixed Assets) to be posted in General Ledger

VAT/Tax Requirements

Applicable Types

• VAT (IVA)
• Import VAT
• Withholding income tax (Ritenuta)
• Deferred VAT on Sales until payment – for sales to some governmental institutions (Fattura Differita)

VAT/Tax Books:

• VAT Ledger of purchase and sales (Libro IVA)
• WHT Ledger
• EU Sales Listing (VIES)
• Intrastat Listing (Riepilogo Degli A/C Intracomunitari di Beni
• Annual Listing of transactions with customers and vendors

VAT/Tax Documents:

• Self Invoice (Auto Fattura)
• Annual Withholding Tax Letters (Certificazione ritenuta)

Other Requirements:

• Rules about Invoice Numbering
• Partly non-deductable input VAT

Usual Business Requirements

• Electronic payments of vendors
• Direct debit (electronic) of customers (Ri.ba.)

Requirements that exist in most countries, e.g. documentation of transactions, Annual Accounts or periodic reporting of VAT totals, are NOT listed above if no specific legislation exists about format or content.

DISLAIMER: No responsibility is taken of the correctness of above information. The specific accounting and VAT/Tax requirements for a company should always be confirmed with local auditors. The listed issues may not be applicable for all types of companies as well as additional issues may exist depending on the specific type of business.