There are several ways to do business and invest in Italy from abroad:
- identify a foreign partner to do business in Italy;
- register a company Srl;
- open a bank account for non-resident foreigners;
- identify the tax residence;
- understand what taxes to pay;
- identify the hiring regime for foreign workers in Italy.
To facilitate the spread of international trade, and increase the number of companies doing business in Italy, many countries have agreed within international organizations for the recognition of the principle of reciprocity. Italian law recognizes the possibility of opening a company in Italy to a foreign citizen, a non-EU entrepreneur, provided that the “non-EU country of which he is a citizen recognizes the civil rights attributed to the Italian citizen”.
In summary, these are the conditions of reciprocity, subject to the provisions contained in special laws. The condition of reciprocity is also extended to foreign legal persons. Naturally, to protect the rights of Italian entrepreneur citizens, the majority jurisprudence considers that the condition of reciprocity is satisfied only when a foreign country grants the Italian citizen a right equal or very similar to the one that its citizen asks to exercise in Italy. This essentially means that a foreign or non-EU citizen can establish or participate in a company in Italy only if the enjoyment of this civil right is ensured to the Italian citizen in the respective foreign country. The foreign shareholder, who bears the burden of proving compliance with the aforementioned condition, can do so by consulting the lists specially prepared by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or by consulting our offices free of charge here at the link Contact
Companies that do business in Italy. How to identify the foreign partner of a company in Italy
A foreign entrepreneur from a country such as Pakistan, India, China, Japan, Iran, Brazil who wants to open a company in Italy must make sure that:
- identify an Italian partner for his company;
- be able to be a foreign partner of a company in Italy;
- have a residence permit to open the Srl company in Italy;
- being able to be a director of the Srl company opened in Italy;
- identify the taxes to be paid for the Srl company in Italy;
- identify which laws the foreign shareholder must follow in Italy.
In summary, everything that a foreign entrepreneur can do in Italy with his company or with the company to be established is governed by the reciprocity conditions provided for by the individual countries.
The reciprocity pacts regulate:
- entry visa into Italy of the foreign entrepreneur who does business in Italy;
- the establishment of a foreign company in Italy;
- the role of foreign partner of companies in Italy;
- the intended residence for the foreign partner of a company in Italy;
- the hiring of foreign workers and their stay in Italy;
- the method of taxation of the foreign company in Italy;
- the method of taxation of the foreign partner in Italy.
The team of lawyers of Damiani&Damiani International Law Firm
They are all experts lawyers in:
- immigration law;
- company law;
- international arbitration;
- real estate consultancy.
Damiani&Damiani international law firm can help you follow the whole procedure of setting up a company in Italy and, without obligation, provides a free contact in Italian and English to the contact form.
The international commercial law attorneys of Damiani&Damiani law firm can guide you through all the phases of company formation in Italy, from its foundation to the annual administrative management, for accounting, for tax compliance, for legal support on human resource management, on immigration law issues and many other aspects of business consulting.
Our offices are in Rome, Turin, Palermo, Barcelona, Athens, Istanbul, Izmir. With our services and our advice you can:
- Send us your company details in Pakistan, India, China, Japan, Iran, Brazil and a copy of your passport
- Obtain a personal tax code
- Sign a power of attorney to form the company by the notary
- Open a bank account
- Receive the tax ID of your company with the VAT number
- Register your company with the Chamber of Commerce in Italy
