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Italy: visas, tax & cost of living

Moving to Italy, made plain. The digital nomad visa and its income bar, the 183-day tax rule, the flat-tax regimes, and what a month really costs.

Italy: visas, tax & cost of living
Your passport

United KingdomItaly

Your move to Italy on a United Kingdom passport

  • VisitEasyVisa-free entry
  • NomadEasyNomad visa, likely eligible
  • RelocateFairly easyClear residence route

Visiting

Visa-free for up to 90 days. Travel on a passport valid for your whole stay, with a return or onward ticket and proof you can support yourself.

Passport validity: Issued within the last 10 years and valid at least 3 months beyond planned departure from the Schengen area; at least 2 blank pages recommended.

Heads-up: EU Entry/Exit System (EES) biometric registration replaced passport stamps (phased from 12 October 2025, fully operational 10 April 2026), and ETIAS pre-authorisation is expected in the last quarter of 2026 with a fee around EUR 20.

At the border: Border officers may ask for a return or onward ticket, proof of sufficient funds, proof of accommodation, and travel insurance with at least EUR 30,000 medical cover, and amounts of EUR 10,000 or more must be declared.

Working remotely

Digital Nomad / Remote Worker Visa.

Income needed: ~EUR 24,789/yr minimum (Digital Nomad / Remote Worker Visa, set at 3x the healthcare cost-sharing exemption threshold, so it moves only when that threshold does) (estimate)

Duration: 12 months

Fee: ~116 EUR (estimate)

Who qualifies: Two separate routes: self-employed "nomadi digitali" and employed or contracted "lavoratori da remoto". The company you work for may sit outside Italy but does not have to, and the decree expressly contemplates an employer or client resident in Italy. You need the highly qualified credentials of art. 27-quater (recognised post-secondary degree, licensed profession, or about 5 years of experience, 3 for ICT specialists), at least 6 months of prior experience in the work you will do, income of at least EUR 24,789 a year from that work (passive income such as rent, dividends or a pension is not counted), health cover of at least EUR 30,000, and a lease or deed in your own name covering the whole visa. The five-year clean-record test is on the employer or client, not on the applicant, who files a declaration they sign. Employed remote workers must also be paid at least the relevant Italian collective-contract rate and never below the ISTAT median salary.

Tax and residency

Since the 2024 reform, resident if for at least 183 days of the year (184 in a leap year) you have your habitual residence, your domicile (now defined as where personal and family ties mainly sit) or simply your physical presence in Italy, part days included; anagrafe registration is only a rebuttable presumption. Forfettario (15%) or impatriati (~50% exemption) regimes may apply. (estimate)

The UK decides residence with its Statutory Residence Test (days in the UK plus your ties). As a non-resident you are usually taxed only on UK income; where one exists, a double-tax treaty with the destination decides who taxes what.

Double-tax treaty: yes, in force since 1990

Practical

Currency: EUR. Cost of living: mid.

Healthcare: Visitors carry travel insurance or a GHIC (EU reciprocity); nomad and long-stay applicants need private health cover of at least 30,000 EUR, and legal residents can enrol in the national health service (SSN).

Healthcare agreement: UK GHIC covers medically necessary state treatment for short visits

Driving: Visitors can drive on a foreign licence, with an International Driving Permit recommended for non-EU holders, but residents must convert to or obtain an Italian licence.

Sources: Italy, Ministry of Foreign Affairs: the official visa portal · Italy, Ministry of the Interior interministerial decree of 29 February 2024 on digital nomads and remote workers (Gazzetta Ufficiale Serie Generale n. 79, 4 April 2024) · Consolato Generale d'Italia (esteri.it): Digital Nomad / Remote Worker visa requirements and document list · Agenzia delle Entrate: residence for tax purposes · Italy, Legislative Decree 209/2023 art. 1 (Gazzetta Ufficiale n. 301, 28 December 2023): TUIR art. 2 tax residence test rewritten with effect from 2024 · GOV.UK: tax on foreign income · HMRC: double-taxation treaties

Estimates, not advice. Confirm with the official sources before you act.

Should you move to Italy?

The lifestyle sells itself. Food, design, history, and slow afternoons people cross the world for. The honest part is the paperwork, plus the price gap between regions. Milan can rival Northern Europe on cost, while the south and the small towns stay among the cheapest places to live in the EU. Where you land matters as much as whether you come.

Which visa do you need?

EU and EEA citizens move freely; no permit, just a registration once you settle. Non-EU remote workers now have a real option: the Italy digital nomad visa, opened in 2024. It is really two doors, not one. A nomade digitale is self-employed; a lavoratore da remoto is an employee or a contractor. Either way the work has to clear the highly qualified bar of article 27-quater: a recognised post-secondary degree, a licensed profession, or about five years of experience, three if you are an ICT specialist. On top of that you show at least six months of prior experience doing the work you are bringing with you. A common myth to drop here: the company does not have to be foreign. The decree allows a non-resident employer, and it expressly contemplates one resident in Italy.

The income floor is roughly 24,789 euros a year (about 2,065 a month), set at three times the healthcare cost-sharing exemption threshold, so it moves only when that threshold does. It has to come from the work itself; rent, dividends, a pension and other passive income are not counted. You also show health cover of at least 30,000 euros and a lease or deed in your own name that runs for the whole visa. A hospitality letter from a friend or a hotel booking gets the application refused, so the housing is settled before you fly, not after. One thing that surprises almost everyone: the five-year clean-record declaration is about your employer or client, not about you, and you hand it in signed by them. For short stays, the Schengen 90-in-180-day rule still applies.

How tax residency works

Italy rewrote this test in 2024, and the new version catches more people than the old one. You are resident if, for at least 183 days of the year (184 in a leap year), any one of these is true: your habitual residence is here, your domicile is here, or you are simply physically present here. Part days count as whole days. Domicile now means the place where your personal and family relationships mainly sit, not where your business is, and being on the anagrafe is a presumption you can rebut rather than proof. Two regimes help new arrivals. The regime forfettario is a 15 percent flat rate for the self-employed under about 85,000 euros of revenue, dropping to 5 percent for the first five years if the activity is genuinely new and not a continuation of what you were already doing. The impatriati break exempts roughly half your work income for five years. You pick one, not both, and each carries conditions, so check before you bank on either.

What does it cost to live here?

The currency is the euro. Cost of living swings hard by city, so budget for your actual town, not the country average. Milan runs high; a comfortable single month lands near 2,800 to 3,500 euros. The south and the smaller towns are far gentler, often 1,200 to 1,800 euros for a similar life. Across the country, plan for a mid-range budget and adjust once you know where you are headed.

Figures are estimates. Always check the official source linked below.

At a glance

Currency
EUR
Cost of living
Moderate
Digital-nomad visa
Yes

Frequently asked questions

Italy: is there a digital nomad visa?
Digital Nomad / Remote Worker Visa. Two separate routes: self-employed "nomadi digitali" and employed or contracted "lavoratori da remoto". The company you work for may sit outside Italy but does not have to, and the decree expressly contemplates an employer or client resident in Italy. You need the highly qualified credentials of art. 27-quater (recognised post-secondary degree, licensed profession, or about 5 years of experience, 3 for ICT specialists), at least 6 months of prior experience in the work you will do, income of at least EUR 24,789 a year from that work (passive income such as rent, dividends or a pension is not counted), health cover of at least EUR 30,000, and a lease or deed in your own name covering the whole visa. The five-year clean-record test is on the employer or client, not on the applicant, who files a declaration they sign. Employed remote workers must also be paid at least the relevant Italian collective-contract rate and never below the ISTAT median salary.
Italy: when do you become a tax resident?
Since the 2024 reform, resident if for at least 183 days of the year (184 in a leap year) you have your habitual residence, your domicile (now defined as where personal and family ties mainly sit) or simply your physical presence in Italy, part days included; anagrafe registration is only a rebuttable presumption. Forfettario (15%) or impatriati (~50% exemption) regimes may apply.
Italy: what is the cost of living?
The cost of living is moderate and the local currency is the EUR. Treat any figures as estimates.
Italy: do you need health insurance?
Visitors carry travel insurance or a GHIC (EU reciprocity); nomad and long-stay applicants need private health cover of at least 30,000 EUR, and legal residents can enrol in the national health service (SSN).
Italy: can you drive on a foreign licence?
Visitors can drive on a foreign licence, with an International Driving Permit recommended for non-EU holders, but residents must convert to or obtain an Italian licence.

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