Closing a partita IVA in Italy: how to do it, what it costs, what remains

Closing a partita IVA (Italian VAT number) is almost free and doesn’t take long: a freelance professional (libero professionista) submits form AA9/12 to the Agenzia delle Entrate (the Italian Revenue Agency), a sole proprietorship (ditta individuale) sends ComUnica (the one-stop business filing) to the Registro delle imprese (the business register), in both cases within 30 days of the end of the activity. What costs money is what’s left to do afterwards: the last income tax return, the INPS (Italy’s social security institute) contributions for the last period and, for anyone registered with the Chamber of Commerce, the annual fee (diritto annuale). Here you’ll find how to close, what it costs, what you still have to pay and what happens if you leave the partita IVA open without using it.

How to close a partita IVA

The channel is the same one you opened it with.

Freelance professional: form AA9/12

You use the same form as for opening, form AA9/12, ticking box 3 in section A (quadro A), dichiarazione di cessazione attività (declaration of end of activity), with the partita IVA number and the closing date. You submit it as you did when opening:

1. online, on your own with the Agenzia’s free software and your reserved area, or through an authorised intermediary;
2. at the counter, in two copies, at any Agenzia delle Entrate office;
3. by registered post, in one copy, with a photocopy of an identity document.

The closing date can’t be later than the day you submit the form: you can’t close today with a date next month.

If you close only one of your activities and carry on with the others, it isn’t a closure: you tick box 2, variazione dati (change of details), as the form’s instructions require.

Sole proprietorship: ComUnica

If you’re registered with the Registro delle imprese, you close with the Comunicazione Unica: deregistration from the Registro also counts as closing the partita IVA and, through the same filing, as ending the activity for INPS. You don’t need a separate form AA9/12.

When it must be closed

The rule is art. 35 of D.P.R. 633/1972: the declaration of end of activity is submitted within 30 days of the date the activity ends. If the business goes into liquidation, the 30 days start from the end of the liquidation operations. For the Registro delle imprese too, the general deadline is 30 days from the event.

The closing date is the one on which you actually completed the activity’s operations, not the one on which you stopped looking for clients. If you’re unsure about invoices still to be collected or goods still to be sold, ask a professional before choosing the date.

From 1 January 2027 art. 35 of D.P.R. 633/1972 is repealed and the matter moves into the new Testo unico IVA (D.Lgs. 19 gennaio 2026, n. 10). For closures in 2026 the rules described here apply; from 2027 check the updated reference on the Agenzia’s page for form AA9/12.

Closing a partita IVA: what it costs

The sole proprietorship figures are the ones published by the Rome Chamber of Commerce; check your own Chamber’s. In practice a professional closes at no cost, a sole proprietorship for around twenty euros, plus the annual fee if it closes at the wrong moment.

What you have to pay after closing

A closed partita IVA doesn’t cancel the obligations of the year in which you worked. Here’s what remains.

The last income tax return

The income for the year of closing is declared the following year, as every year, in the modello Redditi PF (the personal income tax return): in section LM of the return (quadro LM) if you were under the regime forfettario (Italy’s flat-rate tax regime). With the balance (saldo) you pay the taxes still due, and any advance paid in excess becomes a credit.

The last VAT return

If you were under the regime ordinario (the ordinary regime) or on simplified accounts (contabilità semplificata), you close the periodic settlements and submit the annual VAT return (dichiarazione IVA) for the year of closing, by the usual deadlines. How they work is in the guide to the periodic VAT settlement. A forfettario doesn’t submit the VAT return, and that makes closing simpler.

If I close my partita IVA, do I have to pay INPS?

Yes, for the period in which you worked. How depends on the fund.

• INPS Gestione Separata (the separate fund for professionals): according to INPS circular n. 8/2026, in 2026 contributions are a percentage of income: 26.07%, or 24% if you have other compulsory cover. On the last year’s income you pay them with the balance, in the same income tax return. With no income after closing, there are no further contributions.
• Artisans and traders: the fixed contributions on the minimum base (minimale) are due for as long as you stay registered with the fund. For a period of less than a year INPS circular n. 14/2026 calculates them by the month: in 2026 they’re €376.78 a month for artisans and €384.31 for traders. Then comes the adjustment on income above the minimum base, with the balance.

For artisans and traders every month of delay in closing is one more month of fixed contributions. If you’ve stopped working, send the ComUnica straight away, not at the end of the year.

Full rates and deadlines are in the guide to INPS contributions with a partita IVA.

The Chamber of Commerce annual fee

It only concerns anyone registered with the Registro delle imprese. The annual fee is due for every year in which the business is on the register; the obligation ends from the year after the one in which you apply for deregistration. There’s a single useful window: if the activity ended by 31 December and you submit the deregistration application by 30 January of the following year, the fee for the new year isn’t due, according to the Padua Chamber of Commerce. A backdated closing date doesn’t change this: what counts is when you submit the application.

Invoices and documents

The invoices you issued must still be kept for the years the law requires, even with the partita IVA closed. If you have invoices still to be collected, chase them before closing: the guide to the payment reminder explains how.

What happens if you close late

The text of art. 5, comma 6, of D.Lgs. 471/1997 in force in 2026 punishes with a penalty from €500 to €2,000 anyone who doesn’t submit the declaration of start or change of activity; closure isn’t named. That doesn’t make closing optional: the 30-day deadline stands, and as long as the partita IVA is open, its obligations remain.

For a sole proprietorship, delay has more concrete costs: the Chamber of Commerce applies a penalty to applications submitted more than 30 days after the event, and meanwhile the fixed INPS contributions keep running and, in January, another year’s annual fee.

Does an inactive partita IVA close by itself?

Yes, but after a while. The Agenzia delle Entrate closes ex officio the partite IVA of anyone who, on the basis of the data it holds, appears not to have carried out any business, artistic or professional activity in the three previous years (art. 35, comma 15-quinquies, D.P.R. 633/1972). It sends you a notice first. If you are in fact active, you reply by sending the documents that prove it, from your reserved area with the document delivery service or by PEC (certified email).

Waiting for the ex officio closure isn’t a strategy. For three years the partita IVA stays open with its obligations, and the Agenzia’s closure concerns the partita IVA, not the Registro delle imprese: as long as a sole proprietorship is on the register, the annual fee remains due, and with the deregistration ComUnica you also close your INPS position.

In short

• Freelance professional: form AA9/12, box 3, within 30 days. Cost €0.
• Sole proprietorship: deregistration ComUnica, which also closes the partita IVA and the INPS position. In Rome, in 2026, €17.50 in stamp duty (imposta di bollo).
• Afterwards: modello Redditi PF for the last year, VAT return if you weren’t a forfettario, INPS contributions for the last period.
• Annual fee: avoid the new year’s one by deregistering by 30 January.
• An idle partita IVA is closed ex officio only after three years: better to close it yourself.

Closing well is a way of taking care of what you’ve built, and of what comes next.
💜💙 Your BravoLisa Team

This article is for general information purposes only and does not constitute professional tax, legal, or accounting advice. Every situation is different — consult a qualified professional (tax adviser, accountant, or lawyer) for advice specific to your circumstances. BravoLisa does not accept liability for decisions made based on this information.

Last updated: September 2026. Rates and thresholds can change: always check with the Agenzia delle Entrate, INPS or the relevant authority.

Sources (12)

Verified on 30 September 2026

1. Agenzia delle Entrate — Partita Iva Persone Fisiche (AA9/12), Che cos'è
2. Agenzia delle Entrate — Modello AA9/12, istruzioni per la compilazione
3. Agenzia delle Entrate — La chiusura d'ufficio della partita Iva
4. Normattiva — D.P.R. 26 ottobre 1972, n. 633, art. 35
5. Normattiva — D.Lgs. 18 dicembre 1997, n. 471, art. 5
6. Gazzetta Ufficiale — D.Lgs. 19 gennaio 2026, n. 10 (Testo unico IVA)
7. INPS — Iscrizione Gestione Commercianti
8. INPS — Circolare n. 14 del 9 febbraio 2026, artigiani e commercianti: contribuzione 2026
9. INPS — Circolare n. 8 del 3 febbraio 2026, Gestione separata: aliquote 2026
10. Camera di Commercio di Roma — Diritti di segreteria e bolli imprese individuali
11. Camera di Commercio di Roma — Sanzioni Registro Imprese
12. Camera di Commercio di Padova — Il diritto annuale è dovuto anche in caso di cessata attività?