Italy Tax Residence: the rule, how days are counted, examples

Summary

You are tax resident in Italy for a year if, for most of that year, you are physically present in Italy, or your habitual home is in Italy, or your personal and family life is centred in Italy. Most of the year means 183 days, or 184 days in a leap year. Since 1 January 2024 presence alone is enough, and parts of a day count as days. Being on the resident register for most of the year is presumed to make you resident unless you prove otherwise. A resident pays Italian tax on worldwide income. The Agenzia delle Entrate decides.

Limit: 183 days in the year, 184 days in a leap year
Period: The calendar year, 1 January to 31 December
A day counts when: You are in Italy for any part of the day
Law: TUIR (Presidential Decree 917 of 1986), article 2, paragraph 2
Changed from: 1 January 2024, by Legislative Decree 209 of 27 December 2023
Run by: Agenzia delle Entrate (Italian Revenue Agency)

Who it applies to

Remote workers who spend long periods in Italy while employed by a foreign company.
People who own a second home in Italy and stay for many months of the year.
Italians who live abroad but are still on the resident register of an Italian town.
People who work abroad while their partner and children live in Italy.
People who move to or from Italy in the middle of a year.

The rule

Article 2, paragraph 2 of the Italian income tax code (TUIR) says who is resident. From 1 January 2024 the text reads: people are resident if, for the greater part of the tax period, counting parts of days as well, they have their residence under the Civil Code or their domicile in Italy, or are present in Italy. The tax period is the calendar year. The Revenue Agency explains in Circular 20/E of 4 November 2024 that the greater part of the year is 183 days, or 184 days in a leap year, and that the days do not need to be in a row.

There are four links, and one is enough. Residence under the Civil Code is your habitual home. Domicile has its own tax meaning since 2024: the place where your personal and family relationships mainly develop. Before 2024 it meant the main centre of your business and interests, so the new text puts family life ahead of economic ties. Physical presence is the new link: it only asks whether you were in Italy, for any reason, including holidays, study or visits to relatives.

The fourth link is the resident register of the town (anagrafe). People registered for most of the year are presumed resident. Until 2023 this was an absolute rule. Now you can prove the opposite, by showing with objective evidence that for most of the year you had no habitual home and no domicile in Italy and were not physically present there.

Italian law has no split year. If one link is met for most of the year you are resident for the whole year, and if not, for none of it. The circular notes that the treaties with Germany, Switzerland and Panama divide the year when a person moves. In all treaty cases, tie-breaker rules decide when two countries both treat you as resident. The circular also says that residence depends on facts checked case by case and cannot be confirmed in advance by a ruling request.

Why it exists

Italy taxes residents on worldwide income, so it needs a clear test of who belongs to its tax system. The 2023 reform was made to bring the test closer to international practice and tax treaties, to give more legal certainty and to reduce court disputes. The presence test also answers remote work: a person who really lives and works in Italy for most of the year is now resident even without a registered address or family there.

Counting the days

You count the days on which you were in Italy during one calendar year. Any part of a day in Italy makes the whole day count. The days are added up even when the stays are separate.

Check whether the year is a leap year. The limit is 183 days in a normal year and 184 days in a leap year.
List every stay in Italy between 1 January and 31 December with arrival and departure dates.
Count each stay with both the arrival day and the departure day, even if you landed late at night or left early in the morning.
Add all stays together. Reaching the limit makes you resident for the whole year, including the months before you arrived.
Also check the other links for most of the year: a habitual home in Italy, family life centred in Italy, or registration on the resident register.
If another country also treats you as resident, apply the tie-breaker rules of its tax treaty with Italy.

How Countr counts it. Countr counts every day on which you were in Italy for any part of the day, from 1 January to 31 December. This matches the law, which counts parts of days. The app's line is 182 days, so the 183rd day is the day you cross it, and it warns 14 days before. In a leap year the legal limit is 184 days, but Countr keeps the 183-day line and so warns one day early. Countr cannot see the other links: the resident register, your habitual home and the place of your personal and family life can make you resident with any number of days in Italy.

Track Italy Tax Residence on your phone.

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Examples

Landing late on 2 July

Tom is not on any Italian register and has no home or family in Italy. He lands in Rome at 23:00 on 2 July 2026 and stays until he flies out at 01:00 on 31 December 2026. Parts of days count, so 2 July and 31 December are both days in Italy. That gives 30 days in July, 31 in August, 30 in September, 31 in October, 30 in November and 31 in December: 183 days. He is Italian tax resident for all of 2026, and his income from January to June is covered too.

Still on the register while living in London

Giulia moved to London in 2024 but never cancelled her registration in her Italian town or signed up to the register of Italians living abroad (AIRE). In 2026 she spends 20 days in Italy. Because she is on the resident register all year, she is presumed Italian tax resident. Since 2024 she can prove the opposite, with evidence that her home, her family life and her presence were in the United Kingdom for most of the year. Before 2024 the registration alone would have decided the matter under Italian law.

183 days in a leap year

In 2028, a leap year, Ken is in Italy from 1 January to 1 July. January has 31 days, February 29, March 31, April 30, May 31 and June 30, which is 182 days, plus 1 July makes 183. A leap year has 366 days, so the greater part of the year is 184 days. Ken has not met the presence test. Countr would already show him over its line, because it keeps 183 days in every year.

Exceptions

A tax treaty can move your residence to the other country through its tie-breaker rules, even when an Italian link is met.
The treaties with Germany, Switzerland and Panama split the tax year when you move your home from one country to the other.
Registration on the resident register is only a presumption since 2024: you can prove that it does not match your real situation.
Italian citizens who cancel their registration and move to a country on Italy's list of low-tax states are presumed to stay resident unless they prove otherwise (article 2, paragraph 2-bis). Switzerland left that list from 1 January 2024.
The new definitions apply from tax year 2024. Earlier years are judged under the old text, where domicile had its Civil Code meaning.

Common misconceptions

“I am not on the Italian resident register, so I cannot be tax resident.”: Since 2024 physical presence for most of the year is enough, with no registration, home or family in Italy.
“Only full days in Italy count.”: The law says parts of days count. The Revenue Agency's own example treats a landing at 23:00 and a departure at 01:00 as two days in Italy.
“If I arrive in July, I am only resident from July.”: Italian law does not split the year. Once a link is met for most of the year you are resident for the whole calendar year, unless a treaty with a split-year clause applies.
“My business is abroad, so my domicile is abroad.”: From 2024 the tax meaning of domicile is the place where your personal and family relationships mainly develop. Economic ties no longer come first.

Questions and answers

How many days can I spend in Italy without becoming tax resident?

Up to 182 days in a normal year and 183 days in a leap year, if no other link applies. A habitual home, family life centred in Italy or registration on the resident register for most of the year can make you resident with fewer days.

Do the arrival day and the departure day count in Italy?

Yes. The law counts parts of days, so both the day you arrive and the day you leave are days in Italy, whatever the hour.

Do the 183 days have to be in a row?

No. The Revenue Agency confirms that separate periods in the same calendar year are added together.

Does a holiday in Italy count toward the 183 days?

Yes. The presence test does not look at the reason for your stay. Holidays, study and visits to friends or family all count.

I work remotely from Italy for a foreign employer. Am I resident?

If you are in Italy for 183 days in the year, or 184 in a leap year, yes. The circular says that this stay by itself gives tax residence, and then all your income is taxable in Italy, subject to any tax treaty.

What should Italians who move abroad do about the register?

Cancel the town registration and sign up to AIRE, the register of Italians living abroad. If you stay on the resident register for most of a year, you are presumed resident and must prove the opposite.

Can I ask the Revenue Agency to confirm that I am not resident?

No. The circular says residence depends on facts that cannot be checked in an advance ruling, so such requests are not accepted.

Sources

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This page explains the rule and how the days are counted. It is not legal or tax advice. The authority decides each case on its own facts.