Italy E-Invoicing for Foreign Businesses: FatturaPA and Cross-Border Guide 2026

Italy's FatturaPA mandate has been live since 2019 — making it the world's longest-running mandatory B2B e-invoicing system. But many foreign businesses with Italian operations are still unclear about exactly which transactions require FatturaPA, how to submit through SDI, and what to do about cross-border invoices.

This guide answers those questions specifically for non-Italian businesses operating in Italy or invoicing Italian customers.

Who This Guide Is For

EU companies with Italian VAT registrations
Non-EU companies with Italian permanent establishments (stabile organizzazione)
Foreign businesses invoicing Italian companies under the Italian reverse charge mechanism
E-commerce businesses with Italian B2C customers

Which Transactions Require FatturaPA?

The short answer: FatturaPA is required for transactions between Italian VAT-registered entities for Italian domestic business.

FatturaPA Required For:

B2B invoices between two Italian VAT numbers, regardless of where the companies are headquartered
B2G invoices to Italian public authorities (regardless of the issuer's country)
A German company with an Italian VAT number invoicing an Italian business entity → FatturaPA required
An Italian business issuing invoices in Italy, even if the customer's parent company is foreign → FatturaPA required

FatturaPA NOT Required For:

Invoices from an Italian entity to a non-Italian EU customer (cross-border B2B) → Not required (Peppol or local format instead)
Invoices from a non-Italian entity without an Italian VAT number → Not required
Invoices to Italian non-VAT-registered consumers (B2C) — these use a separate "corrispettivi telematici" system

How SDI Works for Foreign Businesses

If you have an Italian VAT number, you must submit domestic Italian invoices through SDI (Sistema di Interscambio) — exactly as Italian businesses do.

Option 1: Use an Italian SDI Intermediary

Most practical for foreign businesses. An Italian-certified SDI intermediary (intermediario SDI) submits invoices to the SDI on your behalf. You provide invoice data via their platform or API; they handle the SDI submission and return the reference number.

Common SDI intermediaries used by foreign businesses:

Aruba — most established, enterprise-grade infrastructure
TeamSystem — popular with Italian accountants
Zucchetti — used by large multinationals with Italian operations
Agyo (Agyo.io) — API-first, popular with tech-forward multinationals

Option 2: Integrate Your ERP with SDI API Directly

Large enterprises (typically those with dedicated Italian IT teams) integrate their ERP directly with the SDI API. This requires:

Italian SPID (digital identity) or CNS (smart card) authentication
PEC (Posta Elettronica Certificata) mailbox for SDI communication
XML generation capability for FatturaPA 1.3 schema

SAP S/4HANA, Oracle Cloud, and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance all have Italian SDI modules. Verify your version includes the latest FatturaPA 1.3 support.

Option 3: Use the Agenzia delle Entrate Portal (Low Volume)

For very low invoice volumes, the free government portal (fatture-e-corrispettivi.agenziaentrate.gov.it) allows manual FatturaPA creation and submission. Not practical for more than 10–20 invoices per year.

The FatturaPA XML Fields Foreign Businesses Often Miss

Codice Destinatario (7-character routing code)

This is the field that tells SDI where to route the invoice. Get it from your Italian customer before sending.

Recipient type	What to use
Business with a specific code	Use their 7-digit code
Business using PEC email	Use their PEC email address in the campo PEC field
Business without a code	Use 0000000 (seven zeros) as fallback — not ideal
Italian public authority	Use the IPA (Indice PA) code — mandatory for B2G

Codice Fiscale vs. Partita IVA

Foreign businesses often confuse these:

Partita IVA = Italian VAT number (format: IT + 11 digits) — required for all VAT-registered entities
Codice Fiscale = Italian tax code — 16-character alphanumeric for individuals, same as Partita IVA for companies

Your Italian SDI intermediary will typically handle these fields if you provide your Italian VAT number.

Tipo Documento (Invoice Type)

Code	Meaning
TD01	Standard invoice (most common)
TD04	Credit note
TD07	Simplified invoice (under €400)
TD17	Reverse charge — services from non-EU
TD19	Reverse charge — goods import

Foreign businesses providing services to Italian customers under the reverse charge mechanism typically use TD17.

Cross-Border Invoices: What Format?

For invoices from Italy to other EU countries (cross-border B2B), FatturaPA is not required. You can use:

Peppol BIS 3.0 — if the customer's country uses Peppol (Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, etc.)
XRechnung — if the customer is a German business specifically requesting it
Factur-X / ZUGFeRD — if the customer is French
Standard PDF — still legally valid for cross-border B2B (until ViDA's 2030 DRR mandate changes this)

The practical recommendation: get a Peppol access point if you regularly invoice across EU borders. One Peppol ID lets you send invoices in multiple EU formats.

Conservazione Sostitutiva for Foreign Businesses

All FatturaPA invoices must be digitally preserved for 10 years under Italy's conservazione sostitutiva rules. This applies to foreign businesses with Italian VAT registrations too.

Good news: if you use an Italian SDI intermediary (Aruba, TeamSystem, etc.), conservazione is typically included in their service and handled automatically. Verify this in your service contract.

If you manage SDI submission yourself, you need a separate AGID-accredited conservazione provider.

Common Issues for Foreign Businesses

"Our invoice was rejected with error code PA04"

PA04 means the recipient's Codice Destinatario is unknown or inactive. Solution: Contact your Italian customer to confirm their correct code. Also check for typos — the 7-character code is case-sensitive.

"SDI says the invoice is consegnata but the customer says they didn't receive it"

"Consegnata" means SDI delivered it to the recipient's SDI intermediary. If the customer doesn't see it, the issue is on their side (their intermediary may not have notified them). Solution: Give them the SDI progressive number and ask them to check their intermediary's portal.

"We can't get SPID/CNS for SDI direct access as a foreign entity"

SPID (Italian digital identity) is available to EU citizens and some non-EU nationals, but not always to foreign legal entities. Solution: Use a certified SDI intermediary rather than direct SDI API access. This is the standard approach for multinational companies.

Recommended Setup for Foreign Businesses

Scenario	Recommended approach
< 100 Italian invoices/year	Use Aruba or Fattura24 — low cost, easy to set up
100–1000 Italian invoices/year	TeamSystem or Zucchetti via Italian accountant
> 1000 invoices/year	SAP/Oracle/Dynamics Italian localisation or Agyo API
Italian subsidiary with local staff	Full Italian accounting software (Zucchetti, TeamSystem)