Codice fiscale vs partita IVA: what is the difference?
Italian forms and invoices often ask for both a codice fiscale and a partita IVA. They are not the same thing. The codice fiscale identifies a person or organisation for tax and public administration; the partita IVA identifies someone registered for VAT because they run a business or a profession.
Who has which
- Private individuals: a 16-character codice fiscale only.
- Freelancers and sole traders: their personal 16-character codice fiscale and an 11-digit partita IVA. The two numbers are different.
- Companies: an 11-digit numeric codice fiscale, usually the same as the partita IVA, though not always.
- Non-commercial associations: an 11-digit codice fiscale, no partita IVA.
How they are built
A person’s codice fiscale encodes name, date and place of birth (see how the codice fiscale is built). The partita IVA encodes nothing personal: seven digits of serial number, three digits for the issuing office and a check digit. In 00743110157 the office is 015 and the check digit 7.
Checking them
Both have a check character, so a typo is usually caught: use our codice fiscale checker and VAT number check. A correctly formed number may still not exist: a made-up partita IVA like 12345678903 passes the format test. To know whether a VAT number is active, use the Agenzia delle Entrate check or the European Commission’s VIES.
The check digit, by hand
Take the first ten digits of 00743110157. Digits in odd positions (1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th) count as they are; digits in even positions are doubled, and 9 is subtracted when the double is above 9:
| Position | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Digit | 0 | 0 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| Value | 0 | 0 | 7 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
The values add up to 23. The check digit is what brings that total to the next multiple of 10: 7, which is indeed the last digit. Change any one digit and the total changes, so the last digit no longer fits. That is why a single typo is always caught.
Where to find each number
- A person’s codice fiscale: on the certificate issued by the Agenzia delle Entrate, the health card (tessera sanitaria), the electronic ID card, payslips and tax returns.
- A partita IVA: on the VAT registration certificate, on every invoice the business issues, and on its website and letterhead.
- A company’s codice fiscale: on its Chamber of Commerce extract (visura camerale), next to the partita IVA.
When a form asks for both and you are a private person, leave the partita IVA empty: you do not have one. When you are a freelancer, give both, and do not swap them: the 16-character code goes in the codice fiscale field, the 11 digits in the partita IVA field.
On invoices
The seller’s partita IVA always appears. For the customer, a business gives its partita IVA, a private person their codice fiscale. On Italian e-invoices they are separate fields, so copy them from a document rather than from memory.
Lifetime
The codice fiscale stays with a person for life. A partita IVA is closed when the activity stops; reopening an activity later can mean a new number, while the codice fiscale never changes.
Questions
I am a freelancer: do I have two numbers?
Yes: your personal codice fiscale (16 characters) and your partita IVA (11 digits).
Should I write IT before my partita IVA?
Only for cross-border EU trade. On Italian forms, write the 11 digits.