E-invoicing has been well-established in Italy. Paper or fax invoices and even PDFs are no longer accepted as legal invoice formats.
Italy does not use Peppol for e-invoicing but a separate platform called SDI.
Discover below how you can receive and send Italian invoices via SDI and get started in a few easy steps.
Businesses who work with the Italian government, have been required to use e-invoicing since 2014. More specifically, this is the case for submitting, receiving an processing e-invoices.
As of July 2022, this obligation has been extended to all Italian invoices, including those concerning foreign partners. This means e- invoicing is mandatory for B2G, B2B and B2C in Italy.
All e-invoices must be sent via SDI.
SDI - or Systema Di Interscambio - is a centralized platform and network for e-invoicing in Italy. Businesses must send and receive invoices via this system. All invoices need to be submitted in the FatturaPA file format. Other types of invoices such as paper or non-electronic invoices (such as PDFs) are no longer accepted in Italy.
This obligation applies to e-invoicing for B2G, B2B and B2C.
There are 5 options for legally sending e-invoices to Italian businesses, consumers or the government. They all have their specific requirements, such as the e-invoice file size.
Billit takes care of your registration on SDI. Wen you create a Billit account, you will also automatically register on SDI.
Your invoices are automatically converted in the required FatturaPA format. That means you don't have to retype anything and all your invoices will meet the required standard as soon as you create them.
Use one platform to create, track and receive your invoices. Billit will automatically retrieve all communication and status messages from SDI. Your incoming invoices will also appear immediately in Billit so you can keep all your e-invoices in one place.
The identity of everyone affiliated with the network is verified, so you can be sure that the invoices you receive are genuine, and you avoid invoice fraud.
The invoices you send through the network are completely digital, so you can process them automatically in your invoicing software.
Create your invoice and send it immediately via SDI. Combined with automatic processing, this will save a lot of time.
If you want to send or receive e-invoices from Italy, you need to register on the SDI network.
Follow the steps below to register on SDI via Billit and send your first invoice.
In order to send your first Italian invoice, you need to connect to SDI.
There are many kinds of identifiers for sending invoices via SDI. Find out the difference between each option below.
| Type | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Codice Fiscale (CFI) | This 16-digit number is allotted to all Italian individuals. It as used as a tax or personal identification number or fiscal code. | cvonmr69d63f205w |
| VAT (identification) number or VAT-id number | A unique identification number for entrepreneurs liable to VAT. It should be included on each invoice to customers. An Italian VAT number starts with IT, followed by 11 digits. | IT11694100014 |
| Posta Elettronica Certificata (PEC) | This code refers to the email certificate which can be used to send certified emails. | Email addresses end in @pec.it or @legalmail.it |
| Codice Destinatario (CODDEST) | This code consists of 7 characters and represents the digital address your customer is registered on. | T04ZHR3 |
| Codice Univoco d'Ufficio (CUU) | The CUU is required when sending to Italian public services. It is not mandatory for B2B invoicing. | rspzcl |
Billit will keep track of all your status messages from SDI. Below each invoice you send via SDI, you will see a history of messages including 'delivered' or 'not ok'.
For the use of the SDI network, the Italian government charges a setup fee of €175 for the registration and certification process and an annual subscription fee of €175. These costs will be automatically added to your invoice.
