The same question keeps coming up in Spanish freelancer groups: «should I bill from Italy instead?» It usually comes from having read that Italy has a flat rate of 15%, sometimes even 5%, against Spain’s progressive income tax that in practice runs 30-40% for most mid-income freelancers. The number is real. What almost never gets explained is who it’s actually real for, and where it stops being real the moment your situation gets even slightly complicated.
How the regime forfettario actually works
Italy’s flat-rate regime is the closest thing to a simplified scheme for freelancers with moderate turnover. As of 2026 it still requires:
- Annual gross revenue under €85,000. Cross it and you’re out of the regime (with some nuance if you exceed it only slightly).
- A 15% flat tax on your income — not on total revenue, but on a fixed percentage of it (the «profitability coefficient»), which for most professional services sits around 78%.
- A reduced 5% rate for the first five years if it’s your first activity and you meet certain conditions (no similar activity in the previous three years, among others).
- The only deduction allowed is social security contributions (INPS) actually paid that year. No deducting your office rent, laptop, or accountant separately — the system already assumes expenses through the coefficient.
- You can’t bill more than 50% of your activity to a former employer from the last two years, nor hold stakes in companies related to your activity. This exists precisely to stop companies turning employees into fake forfettario freelancers.
The question that actually matters: where are you tax resident?
The flat-rate regime is for Italian tax residents. There’s an exception — residing in the EU/EEA and earning at least 75% of your income from Italian sources — but it’s a narrow case, meant for cross-border commuters, not a backdoor to keep living in Málaga while billing as if you lived in Milan.
Italian tax residency, like Spain’s, is determined mainly by spending more than 183 days a year in the country (or having your main economic or personal interests there). Moving your tax address without actually moving your life is the fastest way to end up with a problem in two countries instead of one.
Spain vs. Italy, in real numbers
| Self-employed in Spain (direct estimation) | Forfettario in Italy | |
|---|---|---|
| Rate applied | Progressive income tax, ~19-47% depending on brackets and region | Flat 15% (5% for first 5 years if applicable) |
| Base for calculation | Income minus real deductible expenses | Fixed percentage of revenue (coefficient), no real expense deduction |
| Social security | Self-employed contribution, variable by income bracket | INPS contribution, separate scheme, percentage of income |
| Revenue cap | None (you change tax regime, not status) | €85,000 a year |
The comparison favours Italy in nominal rate terms for almost any income level below the cap. But a lower rate on a system with fewer deductible expenses doesn’t always beat someone in Spain who aggressively deducts real expenses — especially if your activity has high costs (equipment, premises, subcontracting). Run the numbers with your own figures, not the 15% headline.
What the headline leaves out
Profitability coefficients aren’t the same across activities: software development is taxed on 67% of revenue, consulting on 78%, retail on much lower percentages. Before comparing rates, check the coefficient for your specific activity code (ATECO) — it can change the whole calculation.
There’s also no «digital nomad edition» of this regime. It’s built so Italy collects tax from people who live and work in Italy. If your real intention is to live in Spain while billing from Italy without actually moving, you’re not optimising your taxes — you’re setting up a problem with two tax authorities instead of one, and neither has any reason to look the other way.
In the comments: if you have a partita IVA under the forfettario regime, share what coefficient you were assigned for your exact ATECO code and how it compares in practice to what you’d pay in Spain. Real numbers from real people beat any online calculator.
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Sources: regime forfettario regulations (Agenzia delle Entrate), Italian tax guides updated for 2026 (Namirial, Quickfisco, FreeInvoice). This isn’t tax advice — before making any move, check your specific case with an Italian commercialista or a Spanish tax adviser experienced in international taxation.