Tax residence in Italy for Indian taxpayers

Italy treats you as resident for the calendar year if, for most of it, you are present there, have your domicilio (main personal and family relationships) or residenza there, or are registered in the anagrafe. India counts days over 1 April – 31 March, so both countries can claim you. Art. 4(2) of the India–Italy DTAA then decides, and Art. 24 relieves double tax by credit.

Check your status: India and Italy

Free, no sign-up, about 3 minutes. Conclusion under Indian income-tax law, compared with the law of Italy and the tax treaty.

When Italy treats you as a tax resident

Since 2024 Italy treats you as resident if any one criterion is met for most of the year: physical presence (a part of a day counts as a full day), domicilio (main personal and family relationships in Italy), residenza (habitual abode), or registration in the anagrafe.

You were in Italy for 183 days or more (counting parts of days) — you are an Italian resident, including if you worked remotely from there.
Your main personal and family relationships are in Italy: that is domicilio, and since 2024 it makes you an Italian resident even without days of presence.
You are registered in the anagrafe — Italian residence is presumed. You can rebut the presumption only by showing that none of the criteria (presence, domicilio, residenza) is met.

When you are a nonresident

Fewer than 183 days, no family and no registration in Italy — you are not an Italian resident. Pay for work done in Italy is still taxable there.

Where the rules of Italy clash with Indian tax rules

Collision: most of the year in Italy while still resident in India. Because the two tax years cover different months, you can spend most of a calendar year in Italy and still be resident in India for an Indian tax year — for example with 182 days in India from 1 April, or 60 days plus 365 days in the four preceding years. Both countries then tax you as a resident. Art. 4(2) of the India–Italy DTAA decides: permanent home; with a home in both countries, centre of vital interests; if that cannot be determined, or you have a permanent home in neither, habitual abode; then nationality; then mutual agreement.
Collision: family in Italy — resident without a single day there. Since 2024 Italy treats as resident anyone whose main personal and family relationships are in Italy, even without presence. If India also treats you as resident, Art. 4(2) of the DTAA applies: a permanent home only in India makes you a resident of India; with a permanent home in both countries, a family living in Italy weighs heavily for an Italian centre of vital interests. Before 2024 the Court of Cassation gave priority to economic interests; the new rules are not retroactive (Cass. 19843/2024).
Collision: registration in the anagrafe. Registration in the Italian population register for most of the year creates a presumption of Italian residence; Indian law ignores it. The conflict is resolved by Art. 4(2) of the DTAA — the Agenzia delle Entrate accepts that treaty rules apply even where Italian residence follows only from anagrafe registration. If you have moved back to India, cancel the registration (or register with AIRE if you are an Italian citizen) and keep your Indian tax residency certificate.

What else to know

Different tax years: 1 April in India, the calendar year in Italy. India counts your days over its tax year (1 April – 31 March); Italy decides residence for the calendar year — presence, domicilio or residenza for most of the year (183 days, 184 in a leap year), with any part of a day counted as a full day, or registration in the anagrafe. The 183-day test for salary in Art. 16(2) of the DTAA counts days «in the fiscal year concerned»: for Indian tax, the «previous year» (Art. 3(1)(h)); for Italian tax the DTAA gives no definition, so Italy applies its own tax period.
Working in Italy while resident in India: the 183-day rule (Art. 16(2)). Days of remote work from Italy are days of presence in Italy, and pay for that work is Italian-source income (art. 23(1)(c) TUIR). If India is your treaty residence, Italy does not tax that pay only if all three conditions of Art. 16(2) are met: not more than 183 days in Italy in the fiscal year concerned, an employer who is not resident in Italy, and pay not borne by a permanent establishment or fixed base the employer has in Italy. Otherwise Italy taxes the pay for Italian work days and India gives credit under Art. 24(3).
How India and Italy relieve double taxation. If India is your state of residence, India allows the Italian tax on Italian-source income as a credit, up to the Indian tax attributable to that income (Art. 24(3)); claim it with Form No. 44 (rule 76 of the Income-tax Rules, 2026). If Italy is your state of residence, Italy includes the Indian income in its tax base and deducts the Indian tax, up to the proportion of Italian tax that income bears to total income (Art. 24(4)(a), art. 165 TUIR) — but gives no credit if you asked for the income to be taxed in Italy by a final withholding tax.
Italian flat tax for new residents (art. 24-bis TUIR). If you were not an Italian resident for at least nine of the ten previous tax years, you can opt to pay a fixed substitute tax on all foreign income: EUR 300,000 a year for people moving to Italy from the entry into force of Law 199/2025 (earlier movers keep the amount applicable when they moved), EUR 50,000 per family member, for up to 15 years. You can exclude income from specific countries — e.g. India — and have it taxed ordinarily with a foreign tax credit. India continues to tax Indian-source income; whether India accepts a flat-tax payer as a «resident of Italy» for reduced treaty rates was not verified.
Italian impatriate regime (art. 5 D.Lgs. 209/2023). Workers moving to Italy who were not Italian residents in the three previous tax years (six or seven if they worked for the same employer or group before), work mostly in Italy, meet high-qualification requirements and stay resident for five tax years pay Italian tax on only 50% of their employment or self-employment income (60% exempt with a minor child), within EUR 600,000 a year. From 2027 the regime is art. 225 of the new Testo unico. The relief lowers Italian tax only; Indian-source income remains taxable in India under its own rules.
New Italian tax code from 2027. From 1 January 2027 the TUIR is replaced by a new code (D.Lgs. 117/2026). The residence rules are unchanged; other articles are renumbered.

How dual residence is resolved

If both countries treat you as a resident, Art. 4(2) of the treaty applies: Agreement for avoidance of double taxation and prevention of fiscal evasion between India and Italy — Convention and Protocol signed at New Delhi on 19 February 1993. The tests are applied in order — permanent home, centre of vital interests, habitual abode, nationality, and finally mutual agreement between the tax authorities.

Terms you will come across in Italy

residenza fiscale: Italian tax residence under art. 2 TUIR — any one criterion for most of the year is enough
domicilio: the place of your main personal and family relationships (since 2024)
anagrafe: the municipal population register; registration creates a rebuttable presumption of residence
IRPEF: Italian personal income tax, with regional and municipal surcharges
flat tax (art. 24-bis TUIR): fixed annual substitute tax on foreign income for new residents
Agenzia delle Entrate: the Italian Revenue Agency

Questions

Can I be resident in Italy without spending 183 days there?

Yes. Since 2024 your domicilio — main personal and family relationships — in Italy is enough, and registration in the anagrafe creates a presumption of residence. If India also treats you as resident, Art. 4(2) of the India–Italy DTAA decides.

Does Italy tax my salary for a short assignment if I stay resident in India?

Not if all conditions of Art. 16(2) are met: not more than 183 days in Italy in the fiscal year concerned, an employer not resident in Italy, and pay not borne by an Italian permanent establishment or fixed base.

How does India avoid double taxation of Italian income?

If India is your state of residence, it credits the Italian tax against Indian tax on that income, up to the Indian tax attributable to it (Art. 24(3)); you claim the credit with Form No. 44.

Sources

Legislation and official guidance

art. 2(2) TUIR (DPR 917/1986, as amended from 2024) — Resident is anyone who for most of the tax year (counting parts of days) has in Italy his or her residenza (habitual abode), domicilio (main personal and family relationships) or is physically present there; registration in the anagrafe (population register) is a rebuttable presumption. The criteria are alternative.
Agenzia delle Entrate, circolare no. 20/E of 4 Nov 2024 — Criteria are alternative; threshold 183 days (184 in a leap year); any part of a day counts as a day; domicilio means primarily personal and family relationships, not economic ones; 183 days of remote work from Italy alone make you resident; anagrafe registration is a rebuttable presumption; rules apply from 1 Jan 2024; tax treaties prevail, including where Italian residence follows only from anagrafe registration.
D.Lgs. 19 June 2026, no. 117 (new Testo unico, from 1 Jan 2027) — From 2027 the TUIR is replaced by a new code: the residence article 2 is carried over word for word; non-residents' income — art. 25; foreign tax credit — art. 185.
art. 23(1)(c) TUIR — For a non-resident, pay for work performed in Italy is taxable in Italy.
Income-tax Act, 2025, s. 6(1)–(2) — Residential status is determined for each tax year. An individual is resident in India in a tax year if in India for 182 days or more in that year, or for 60 days or more in that year and 365 days or more in the four years preceding it.
Art. 16(2) India–Italy DTAA; Art. 3(1)(h) and 3(2) («fiscal year») — Pay of a resident of one State for employment exercised in the other State is taxable only in the State of residence if (a) the recipient is present in the other State for a period or periods not exceeding in the aggregate 183 days in the fiscal year concerned, (b) the pay is paid by, or on behalf of, an employer who is not a resident of the other State, and (c) it is not borne by a permanent establishment or fixed base which the employer has in the other State. «Fiscal year» is defined only for Indian tax — the «previous year»; for Italian tax the term takes its domestic meaning (Art. 3(2)).
Art. 4(2) India–Italy DTAA (1993) — Dual-resident individual: (a) resident of the State in which he has a permanent home available to him; if he has a permanent home in both States, of the State with which his personal and economic relations are closer (centre of vital interests); (b) if the centre of vital interests cannot be determined, or if he has not a permanent home available to him in either State, of the State in which he has an habitual abode; (c) habitual abode in both States or in neither — the State of which he is a national; (d) national of both or neither — the competent authorities settle the question by mutual agreement.
Income-tax Rules, 2026, rule 75(3); Form No. 42 (application) and Form No. 43 (certificate) — Application for a certificate of residence for the purposes of an agreement under s. 159(1)–(2), filed on the e-filing portal (replaces Form 10FA): period for which the certificate is needed, basis of the residential status claimed, address in that period, supporting documents; the certificate is issued in Form No. 43.
Art. 24(3)–(5) India–Italy DTAA — India (para. 3): the Italian tax payable on income from sources in Italy is allowed as a credit against Indian tax on that income, not exceeding the Indian tax attributable to it. Italy (para. 4(a)): Italy may include the Indian-taxable income in its tax base and deducts the Indian tax, but not more than the proportion of Italian tax that the income bears to total income; no deduction is granted where the item of income is subjected in Italy, at the recipient's request, to a final withholding tax. Para. 4(b): tax exempted or reduced in the source State under incentive provisions is treated as paid. Para. 5: income exempt under the Convention may be taken into account in calculating tax on other income.
Income-tax Rules, 2026, rule 76; Forms No. 44 and 45 — A resident gets credit for foreign tax in the tax year in which the income is taxed in India; credit is the lower of the Indian tax on that income and the foreign tax, per source and per country; not against interest, fees or penalties; disputed foreign tax only after settlement (Form No. 45, within 6 months of the month of settlement). Form No. 44 with a certificate of income and tax and proof of payment, within 12 months from the end of the tax year if the return was filed on time; accountant verification if foreign tax is ₹1,00,000 or more. Conversion at the TT buying rate.
art. 165 TUIR — Foreign tax is credited up to the share of Italian tax attributable to the foreign income.
art. 24-bis TUIR (current text, Brocardi mirror) — Optional substitute tax on foreign income for people who become Italian residents and were not resident for at least nine of the ten previous tax years: EUR 300,000 per year, EUR 50,000 per extended family member; ends after 15 years; specific foreign States can be excluded (comma 5), their income then being taxed ordinarily with foreign tax credit.
Law 30 Dec 2025, no. 199, art. 1(25)–(26) (GU no. 301 of 30 Dec 2025, S.O. 42/L; copy on finanzaefisco.com) — Raises the art. 24-bis substitute tax from EUR 200,000 to EUR 300,000 and the family-member amount from EUR 25,000 to EUR 50,000, for people who transfer their residence to Italy from the entry into force of the law.
art. 5 D.Lgs. 27 Dec 2023, no. 209 — as restated in Agenzia delle Entrate ruling (risposta) no. 2/2026 (copy on fiscoetasse.com) — Employment and self-employment income of workers moving to Italy counts at 50% within EUR 600,000 a year, if they were not Italian residents in the three previous tax years, work mostly in Italy, meet high-qualification requirements and stay resident for the year of transfer and the four following years.
art. 225 of the new Testo unico (D.Lgs. 19 June 2026, no. 117), derived from art. 5 D.Lgs. 209/2023 (miolegale.it mirror) — Same regime in the new code: 50% within EUR 600,000; prior non-residence of 3 tax years (6 or 7 if you worked for the same employer or group before); 60% exempt if you move with a minor child or a child is born or adopted during the regime.
Agenzia delle Entrate, circolare no. 9/E of 5 Mar 2015 (art. 165 TUIR) — Creditable are foreign taxes on income or of a similar nature, paid definitively; taxes covered by a tax treaty need no further check; in case of doubt a ruling request (interpello) can be filed.
Art. 4(2)(a) India–Italy DTAA (1993) — Resident of the State in which he has a permanent home available to him; if he has a permanent home available to him in both States, resident of the State with which his personal and economic relations are closer (centre of vital interests).
Income-tax Act, 2025, s. 159 — The Central Government may enter into agreements for relief from double taxation and avoidance of double taxation; where an agreement applies, the Act applies only to the extent more beneficial to the assessee (s. 159(4)). A non-resident may claim treaty relief only with a certificate of residence from the other country's government and the prescribed documents and information (s. 159(8)).
Art. 4(2)(b) India–Italy DTAA (1993) — If the centre of vital interests cannot be determined, or if he has not a permanent home available to him in either State, the individual is deemed a resident of the State in which he has an habitual abode.
Art. 4(2)(c)–(d) India–Italy DTAA (1993) — Habitual abode in both States or in neither — resident of the State of which he is a national; national of both States or of neither — the competent authorities settle the question by mutual agreement.

Case law

Corte di Cassazione, Sez. 5 (tax), sentenza n. 19843 (Rv. 671648-02), 18/07/2024 — The new residence rules (D.Lgs. 209/2023) are not retroactive — they apply to facts from 1 Jan 2024. For earlier years domicilio means the centre of business and vital interests, and family ties count only together with other criteria. The taxpayer's appeal (tax year 2009) was declared inadmissible.
Corte di Cassazione, Sez. 5 (tax), ordinanza n. 18009, 06/06/2022 — The presumption of Italian residence for citizens who moved to low-tax States (here Switzerland) can be rebutted; the centre of vital interests was found to be in Switzerland although home and work were close to the border. Pre-2024 rules.
Corte di Cassazione, ordinanza n. 18702, 01/07/2021 — Registration in AIRE (Monaco) did not exclude Italian residence: the centre of business and vital interests — family and a directorship of an Italian company — was decisive. Pre-2024 rules.
Corte di Cassazione, ordinanza n. 8286, 15/03/2022 — A citizen whose domicilio (main place of business and economic interests) is in Italy is an Italian resident regardless of AIRE registration; case remanded. Pre-2024 rules.

Updated 04/11/2026. The result is for information only and is not tax or legal advice. Tax authorities and courts may interpret the rules differently, including because of circumstances not covered here, and the law changes. Consult a qualified adviser before making decisions.

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