Working in Italy: the collective agreement is your minimum wage, and two regimes cut your tax

INPS and the NASpI: automatic — but the U1 you arrange yourself

Unlike in Scandinavia there is nothing to choose here. Pension and unemployment insurance both run automatically through INPS, the Italian social security institute; the contribution is in the payroll deduction. Unemployment benefit is called NASpI, and the rules in a row:

NASpI	Rule
Access	at least thirteen weeks of contributions in the four years before unemployment
Amount	calculated on a reference pay of € 1,456.72 a month (2026), with a maximum of € 1,584.70 a month
Taper	from the first day of the sixth month 3% lower each month; anyone aged 55 or over at the application, only from the eighth month
Duration	half the contribution weeks of the last four years; weeks that already produced a benefit don't count
New job during the benefit	above the tax-free minimum the benefit lapses, unless the contract lasts at most six months — then it is suspended

The thirty-working-day requirement that still circulates online was abolished in 2022.

For the Dutch one rule counts double. Your Dutch insurance years count via the U1 form from the UWV, the European record of your insured periods. But that only applies after you have worked insured in Italy. So simply request that U1 on departure. It costs nothing, and without it your counter starts at zero.

Two regimes that make the difference

	Impatriati (employment and the professions)	Forfettario (self-employed)
Benefit	50% of your income tax-free, up to € 600,000 a year; 40% taxed if you move with a minor child or have one during the regime	flat tax of 15% instead of IRPEF and surcharges; 5% for the first five years for genuine starters
Conditions	not a tax resident in the three tax years before the move; highly qualified or specialised; you commit to at least four years of tax residence	turnover up to € 85,000 a year; not if you had more than € 30,000 of employment income the year before (€ 35,000 for 2025 and 2026), unless that job has ended
Duration	the year of the move plus four tax years; whoever moved in 2024 and bought a home in Italy in the twelve months before (by 31 December 2023 at the latest), three extra years	as long as you meet the requirements; above € 100,000 turnover it lapses in the same year, with VAT from that moment
Trap	leave within four years and the benefit lapses and the tax office claws everything back, with interest	cannot be combined with the impatriati regime; whoever lives outside Italy only qualifies as an EU resident earning at least 75% of their income in Italy

For anyone coming into employment, the impatriati regime is thus ready, the scheme for people moving to Italy. A university degree with a matching position suffices for the high-qualification requirement. The old stories about 70 or 90% exemption only still apply to those who moved before 2024.

For the self-employed the forfettario is this country's friendliest scheme. The catch: the 15% runs on a flat-rate share of your turnover, so not every cost item is deductible.

Choose the regime before the first contract. The impatriati regime starts in the year you become a tax resident, and the four-year requirement runs from that same moment; the forfettario looks at your employment income of the year before. Whoever first spends six months in employment and then goes self-employed may have talked themselves out of the cheapest route without knowing it. One conversation with a commercialista before signing is cheaper here than any conversation afterwards.

A commercialista is an Italian tax adviser and accountant. How the first Italian return and the Dutch M return (for the year you leave) coincide in the year after arrival is in AOW, pension and tax in Italy. The health premium you do not pay as an employee is in healthcare in Italy.

In Vertrekklaar this is phase 1 of 5 of the journey: the same steps, but on your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See the whole journey to Italy.