Flat-rate regime and employment: the 30,000 or 35,000 euro limit, and what happens in 2027

In short: you can have a salary and a flat-rate VAT number, but only if in the previous year your employment or pension income did not exceed €30,000. For 2025 and 2026 the law raised the limit to €35,000. As of 23 October 2026 no rule extends it: without an extension, from 2027 it returns to €30,000, and the 2026 salary is the one that counts.

Can you be an employee and have a flat-rate VAT number?

Yes: the flat-rate regime does not prohibit employment. Two specific causes of exclusion in art. 1, para. 57 of Law 190/2014 apply: letter d-ter, on the level of the previous year's salary, and letter d-bis, on who your clients are. If neither applies, and you meet the other requirements, you can apply the flat-rate regime.

The two rules are independent: you can exceed the first and not the second, or vice versa. The other access requirements (revenues within €85,000, work expenses within €20,000) apply as for everyone and are summarised in the guide flat tax 2027 for sole traders.

What exactly does the €30,000 limit say?

Those who in the previous year received employment income and similar income (articles 49 and 50 of the TUIR, the Income Tax Consolidation Act) above €30,000 may not use the flat-rate regime. The threshold check is irrelevant if the employment relationship has ended. This is the text in force of art. 1, para. 57, letter d-ter of Law 190/2014, as read on Normattiva on 23/10/2026.

• What is counted: employment income (art. 49 TUIR, which also includes pensions) and similar income (art. 50 TUIR), received in the year before the one in which you apply the flat-rate regime.
• When it does not count: if the employment relationship has ended. The Revenue Agency page specifies: ended in the previous year, "provided that in that same year no pension income or employment income from another employment relationship was received".
• What does not count: the revenues of the VAT number. The limit concerns only salary or pension; for revenues there is the separate €85,000 threshold.

Why is the limit €35,000 for 2025 and 2026?

It was decided by the 2025 budget law: art. 1, para. 12 of Law 207/2024 provides that "for the years 2025 and 2026, the limit referred to in Article 1, paragraph 57, letter d-ter), of Law No. 190 of 23 December 2014, is raised to EUR 35,000". It is a time-limited derogation, not a permanent change: the text of Law 190/2014 still says €30,000.

The Revenue Agency page "Regime forfetario" reports it as follows: employment and similar income above €30,000 "(for the years 2025 and 2026 the limit is raised to EUR 35,000)".

What happens from 2027 if the limit is not extended?

It returns to €30,000. The derogation of Law 207/2024 covers only 2025 and 2026; as of 23 October 2026 the 2027 budget law does not yet exist as a text approved by the Council of Ministers, so no extension has been decided. For the 2027 flat-rate regime, the salary received in 2026 is considered: if it exceeds €30,000 and the relationship is ongoing, you are excluded.

For many employees with a VAT number, this 2027 variable weighs more than the €100,000 revenue threshold reported in the press (see the dedicated section of the simulator). To follow the budget law's progress and understand when it will be known: 2027 budget law, stages and dates.

Example: €32,000 salary in 2026, what happens in 2027?

With a gross salary of €32,000 in 2026 and the employment relationship still ongoing, in 2027 you can remain in or enter the flat-rate regime only if the extension of the limit to €35,000 arrives. Without an extension, €32,000 exceeds €30,000 and the cause of exclusion applies for the whole of 2027.

The opposite case: with a 2026 salary up to €30,000 the problem does not arise, with or without an extension.

Can you invoice your employer as a flat-rate taxpayer?

Not predominantly. Letter d-bis of para. 57 excludes those who carry on the activity predominantly towards current employers or employers of the last two tax periods, or towards persons connected to them. The exception is for those who start a new activity after the compulsory traineeship required to practise arts or professions.

Revenue Agency circular 9/E of 10/4/2019 (§2.3.2) explains how it applies:

• Predominance over 50%: the cause triggers if the revenues and fees of the year from those employers (or connected persons) exceed 50% of the total.
• Year-end check: predominance is checked at the end of the tax period. In the circular's example, someone who ended the relationship in 2018 can apply the flat-rate regime in 2019, but if at the end of 2019 they invoiced mainly their former employer, they leave the regime in 2020.
• Two-year lookback: the cause does not apply if the relationship ended before the two tax periods preceding the period of application of the regime.
• Compulsory retirement: whoever retires because it is compulsory by law does not fall under the cause; the cause applies instead if the relationship is interrupted (dismissal, resignation) and the activity continues predominantly with the former employer.
• Compulsory traineeship: the exclusion applies only to self-employed workers who invoice predominantly the persons with whom they did their traineeship.

How much is left of €30,000 of fees if you are already an employee?

With €30,000 of professional fees in the separate management scheme, anyone already insured as an employee pays 24% in contributions: €21,716.40 is left after contributions and the 15% substitute tax. The calculation is that of the simulator engine, with the 2026 INPS rates.

1. Flat-rate income: €30,000 × 78% coefficient (professional activities) = €23,400.00.
2. Separate management scheme contributions: €23,400.00 × 24% = €5,616.00. INPS circular 8 of 3/2/2026 (§2) confirms for 2026 the 24% for holders of self-employment income who are "retired or insured with other compulsory social security schemes"; those with no other coverage pay 26.07%.
3. Taxable base: €23,400.00 − €5,616.00 = €17,784.00 (compulsory contributions are deducted from the flat-rate income).
4. Substitute tax: €17,784.00 × 15% = €2,667.60.
5. Net: €30,000 − €5,616.00 − €2,667.60 = €21,716.40.

For comparison, without other social security coverage the contributions would be €6,100.38 and the net €21,304.68. The substitute tax replaces IRPEF and surcharges on the VAT number income; the salary remains taxed separately, as before. Declared simplification: the engine deducts the contributions of the same year, not those paid on a cash basis the year before. If you are a craftsman or trader, or enrolled in a professional fund, the rules change: see INPS contributions in the flat-rate regime 2026.

What is certain and what is a hypothesis for 2027?

It is certain that today the €35,000 limit applies only for 2025 and 2026 and that the stable rule is €30,000. It has not been decided whether the 2027 budget law will extend the €35,000: as of 23 October 2026 the draft law has not been approved by the Council of Ministers, which has only adopted the draft budget policy document (Documento programmatico di bilancio).

The simulator guides you on the numbers; if your 2026 salary is close to the limit, the choice of regime should be made with your accountant. To understand whether the flat-rate regime still suits you compared with the ordinary one: flat-rate or ordinary regime.

Sources

• Law of 23 December 2014, no. 190, art. 1 paras. 54-89, text in force (Normattiva): para. 57, letters d-bis and d-ter. Consulted on 23/10/2026.
• Law of 30 December 2024, no. 207 (2025 budget law), art. 1 para. 12 (Normattiva): limit raised to EUR 35,000 for 2025 and 2026. Consulted on 23/10/2026.
• Agenzia delle Entrate (Italian Revenue Agency), "Regime forfetario" page: causes of exclusion, ended employment. Consulted on 23/10/2026.
• Agenzia delle Entrate, circular 9/E of 10 April 2019, §2.3.2: predominance towards employers. Consulted on 23/10/2026.
• INPS, circular no. 8 of 3 February 2026, §2: separate management scheme rates 2026 for professionals. Consulted on 23/10/2026.
• Italian Government, Council of Ministers press release no. 192 of 13/10/2026 (draft budget policy document). Consulted on 23/10/2026.
• Alanews, 20/10/2026 (press hypothesis on the 2027 budget law). Consulted on 23/10/2026.
• Sky TG24, 13/10/2026 (press hypothesis on the 2027 budget law). Consulted on 23/10/2026.