How To Create an Italian tax code – Codice Fiscale

The Codice Fiscale is an alpha numeric code which is assigned to all Italians at birth.  Anyone who comes to live and work in Italy will need this code too.  I have one, even though I am not Italian.

Recently a number of readers have been having problems with Italian web sites which require a codice fiscale before certain operations, such as paying fines, buying tickets and making online purchases can be carried out.  Online stores based in Italy may request a codice fiscale before a purchase can be completed. No codice fiscale, no sale.

The trouble is, if you are not Italian, or not resident in Italy, you will probably not have one of these codes. To help you overcome this annoying little obstacle, here is how to obtain your very own, unofficial, Italian codice fiscale which should work OK with Italian online stores and websites where you can buy things like advance tickets to Italy’s museums and other tourist attractions, such as the Doge’s Palace in Venice.

Those who need a real codice fiscale will also find instructions on where to go to obtain an official one.

The Italian Codice Fiscale tax code

Before I explain how to use an online system to create a codice fiscale be aware that if you ever need a real codice fiscale, the one you create using the system mentioned here may not be 100% accurate.

Problems can occur if more than one person has a similar name and surname, was born on exactly the same date and in the same ‘comune’.  OK, so this is going to be rare, but I thought I should mention this – just in case.

Note, again, that the code you create with this system is not official – to create a real codice fiscale you will need to come to Italy, get up early and go stand in a queue – see below.  If you are in Italy and you try to pass off the codice fiscale you create with the system mentioned below as a legal tax code, you may well end up with a visit from Italy’s police – be warned.

Incidentally, I used the system below to calculate my own codice fiscale and the result was exactly the same as my actual official Italian codice fiscale code – but this is not always the case.  As I mentioned at the start of this ‘how to’, I have a codice fiscale because I live and work in Italy, even though I am not Italian.

Information on how to obtain an official codice fiscale follows the unofficial codice fiscale creation section.

Now, if you just want an unofficial codice fiscale to use on some Italian online store or other, here is how you can do it:

Codice Fiscale Creation Instructions

Remembering that this process will not create an official Codice Fiscale (Yes, In know I keep repeating this – if I don’t, you may forget, and moan), first of all, you will need to go to this site: http://www.comuni.it/servizi/codfisc/ (The link will open in a new window/tab, so you can refer to instructions which follow.)

You should see a screen which looks something like this:

Create an unofficial Codice Fiscale

Now, how to use the tax code creation system.  Enter your:

• Cognome – Surname – Jones

• Nome – First Name (from your passport) – Mark

• Sesso=sex – select M, if you are a man, or F, if you are the other.

First – longer box:

• Comune/Prov.: (o Stato estero) – Birthplace – in Italian, for Example ‘Gran Bretagna’ = Great Britain, ‘Stati Uniti’ = United States, etc, etc. – Or, if this does not work, try ‘EE’, if you are from a country in the European Union.

Data di Nascita – Date of Birth

• Giorno=day – select a number eg 21

• Mese=month – select a month eg Aprile

Months in Italian and English

Gennaio – January
Febbraio – Feburary
Marzo – March
Aprile – April
Maggio – May
Giugno – June
Luglio – July
Agosto – August
Settembre – September
Ottobre – October
Novembre – November
Dicembre – December

• anno=year – enter eg 1967

Then click on ‘Calcola‘.  Again, note that this does not create an official Codice Fiscale, as has already been pointed out more than a few times.

On the next screen that you should see, will be your very own, unofficial, codice fiscale – make a note of the alpha numeric code.  It should look something like this: JNS JHN 67B02 Z404Z – 6 letters, then numbers and letters.

Now you can whiz off to acquire an unlocked Apple iPhone, buy a ticket to the Doge’s Palace Venice, or order something from an online shop based in Italy.

If You Need an Official Codice Fiscale – Read This

PLEASE NOTE: The system mentioned on this page does not produce an official Italian Codice Fiscale.  If you need an official Codice Fiscale, then you must go to the offices of the Agenzia Delle Entrate.  There is more information, in English, on the Italian Agenzie Delle Entrate website: Health and Tax Code Section.

To get a real codice fiscale, you will need an identity document.  A passport, or birth certificate for young children, will be enough.

Get there Early

The offices issuing the codice fiscale are usually open from 8am in the morning until 1pm in the afternoon.  It is a good idea to get there at opening time – or you may have to come back the next day.  In the bigger Italian cities, queues are likely to be long meaning that a morning off work is advisable.  If you tell your Italian boss where you are going, he or she will understand.  Many companies in Italy will help you with the creation of a codice fiscale, and may even go do the queuing for you.

The codice fiscale serves in Italy as both a tax and health code.

Hope this helps.  And you might find this post:  How to Avoid Fines while Staying in Italy useful too – assuming you’ve arrived here before being fined, that is.

If you have problems, let me know.