Gestione Separata INPS, artisans and traders: 2026 contributions in Italy

With a partita IVA (Italian VAT number) you pay your social security contributions to INPS (Italy’s social security institute) into one of two funds: the INPS Gestione Separata (the separate fund for professionals), if you work as a freelance professional (libero professionista) without a professional pension fund (cassa professionale) of your own, or the INPS artisans’ and traders’ funds (gestioni artigiani e commercianti), if you run a sole proprietorship (ditta individuale). The two work very differently: in the first you pay a percentage of what you earn, in the second you pay a fixed amount every year regardless, even if you take in little. Here you’ll find which one you belong to, how you register, the 2026 figures INPS publishes, the payment dates with the F24 (the unified payment form) and the 35% reduction reserved for forfettari (those under the regime forfettario, Italy’s flat-rate tax regime).

Which INPS fund applies to you

You don’t choose the fund: the type of activity decides it.

The distinction comes down to one question: is your activity a business (enrolled in the Registro delle imprese, the business register) or a profession (arts and professions)? A business goes into the artisans’ and traders’ funds; a profession without its own fund goes into the Gestione Separata. If you haven’t opened yet, your choice of ATECO code (the activity classification) settles this too: we cover it in how to open a partita IVA.

Gestione Separata INPS: 2026 rates

For 2026, INPS circular no. 8 of 3 February 2026 sets these rates for professionals with a partita IVA:

The rate applies to the income you declare, calculated on the same basis as income tax. For a forfettario it’s the flat-rate income: the fees you’ve received multiplied by the profitability coefficient (coefficiente di redditività) of your ATECO code.

Two figures complete the picture:

• 2026 ceiling (massimale): €122,295.00. Above this income no contributions are due.
• 2026 minimum base (minimale): €18,808.00. In the Gestione Separata it isn’t an amount you must pay regardless: it determines how many months of pension you’re credited with. At the 26.07% rate the whole year is covered if you pay at least €4,903.25 (of which €4,702.00 counts towards your pension). If your income is lower you pay only the percentage, but you’re credited with fewer months.

If you also have a job as an employee, you pay 24% to the Gestione Separata instead of 26.07%, because you already have another compulsory pension scheme. Employment alongside a partita IVA has other rules: you’ll find them in partita IVA and employment.

Registering with the Gestione Separata INPS

Registering with the Gestione Separata INPS is an online application you make yourself, separately from opening the partita IVA. According to the INPS page on registering freelance professionals, the application is for professionals with a partita IVA who have no independent pension fund, and you submit it like this:

1. log in to the Gestione Separata - Iscrizione service (the “Iscrizione Parasubordinati” application) on the INPS website with your credentials;
2. choose the Gestione Separata registration form;
3. fill in the required fields;
4. confirm the registration and complete it;
5. print the receipt and keep it.

Opening a partita IVA doesn’t register you automatically with the Gestione Separata: the application to INPS is a separate step, to take when you start working.

INPS artisans and traders: 2026 minimum base and fixed contributions

In the INPS artisans’ and traders’ funds the contribution has two parts: a fixed amount on the minimum base, due whatever your income, and a percentage on the income above the minimum base. The 2026 figures are those of INPS circular no. 14 of 9 February 2026.

The fixed contribution includes €7.44 a year for maternity (€0.62 a month). Almost all of the traders’ extra 0.48% (0.46%) funds the allowance for those who close a commercial business.

Here too there’s a ceiling. For those who registered from 1 January 1996 onwards with no earlier contributions, the 2026 ceiling is €122,295.00. For those with contributions paid by 31 December 1995 it’s €93,707.00.

The contribution on the minimum base is due even if the year goes badly or you make a loss. In 2026 an artisan pays at least €4,521.36 and a trader at least €4,611.64, unless the reduction for forfettari explained below applies.

How you register as an artisan or trader

There’s no separate application to INPS here. You register through the Comunicazione Unica (ComUnica, the one-stop business filing) at the Chamber of Commerce, the same filing that enrols the business in the Registro delle imprese:

• Artisan: the ComUnica also covers the Albo delle imprese artigiane (the register of artisan businesses), through section AA (quadro AA). The application to join the Albo must be filed within 30 days of starting the activity, and, as the INPS page on registering with the artisans’ fund explains, it brings with it registration with the artisans’ fund.
• Trader: in the ComUnica you always fill in section AC (quadro AC), with the details for the traders’ fund, as the INPS page on registering with the traders’ fund states.

Family members who work with you habitually and mainly must also be registered, as collaborators. After registration INPS publishes the amounts to pay in the Cassetto previdenziale artigiani e commercianti (the online contributions account for artisans and traders), in the “Dati del mod. F24” section (the F24 data), where you can also download the pre-filled form.

When INPS contributions are paid with the F24

All contributions are paid with the F24 form, the same one used for taxes, and you can offset them (compensazione) against any tax credits.

Gestione Separata

You pay on the income tax deadlines, as balance and advance (saldo e acconto): the previous year’s balance and the first advance for the current year together, then the second advance. The 2026 advance is calculated with the 2026 rates. For 2026 the dates are these:

Artisans and traders

The fixed contribution on the minimum base is paid in four equal instalments, on the dates set by circular no. 14/2026:

The part on income above the minimum base, on the other hand, is paid on the income tax deadlines, as the 2025 balance, first 2026 advance and second 2026 advance, with the same option to defer by 30 days by paying 0.40% on top.

Set your contributions aside every time you’re paid, not in June. In June the previous year’s balance and the first advance for the new one arrive together, and for many people it’s the heaviest month of the year.

INPS contributions under the regime forfettario

The regime forfettario doesn’t exempt you from INPS: it changes only how the income you pay on is calculated. There are three things to know.

• The base is the flat-rate income, that is revenue or fees times the profitability coefficient, not what you have left after your actual expenses.
• The contributions you pay are deducted from that income before the substitute tax (imposta sostitutiva) is calculated, as legge 190/2014, art. 1, comma 64, provides. If they exceed the income, the excess is deducted from your total income.
• Your fund stays the one for your activity. A professional forfettario pays 26.07% to the Gestione Separata. An artisan or trader forfettario pays the minimum base and the percentage, and can apply for the 35% reduction.

INPS contribution reduction for forfettari: the 35%

The 35% contribution reduction is provided for by legge 190/2014, art. 1, commi 76–84, and applies only to those running a business, so to members of the artisans’ and traders’ funds. It doesn’t exist in the Gestione Separata.

According to INPS circular no. 35/2016, the 35% reduction applies both to the contribution on the minimum base and to the one on the income above it. It isn’t automatic: you have to apply for it.

How to apply

You submit the application to join the reduced scheme online, from the Cassetto previdenziale artigiani e commercianti, in the online applications section (“adesione/rinuncia regime agevolato”, joining or leaving the reduced scheme).

By when

If you send the application after 28 February, the reduction starts the following year.

Two consequences to weigh before you apply. First: with lower contributions you’re credited with fewer months towards your pension. Second: leaving is final. If you give it up by 28 February you return to the ordinary contribution scheme from 1 January of that year; if you leave the regime forfettario, from the following year. Either way you can’t rejoin the reduced scheme, not even if you become a forfettario again.

If the forfettario feels too tight and you’re thinking of moving on, first compare the two regimes in simplified and ordinary regime: under the regime ordinario (the ordinary regime) there’s no reduction.

Where to start again

• Check your fund: the Gestione Separata for a profession without its own fund, artisans or traders for a business.
• Register: online with INPS for the Gestione Separata, through the ComUnica for artisans and traders.
• Mark the deadlines: four fixed instalments on the minimum base for a business; balance, first and second advance for everyone.
• If you have an artisan or commercial business under the forfettario, decide by 28 February whether to apply for the 35% reduction.

One contribution at a time, set aside with every invoice: that’s how June stops being frightening.
💜💙 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 (9)

Verified on 30 September 2026

1. INPS — Circolare n. 8 del 3 febbraio 2026, Gestione separata: aliquote contributive per l'anno 2026
2. INPS — Circolare n. 14 del 9 febbraio 2026, Artigiani ed esercenti attività commerciali: contribuzione per l'anno 2026
3. INPS — Iscrizione liberi professionisti (Gestione Separata)
4. INPS — Iscrizione Gestione Artigiani
5. INPS — Iscrizione Gestione Commercianti
6. INPS — Cassetto previdenziale artigiani e commercianti
7. INPS — Circolare n. 35 del 19 febbraio 2016, regime contributivo agevolato per i forfetari
8. Agenzia delle Entrate — Legge 23 dicembre 2014, n. 190, art. 1, commi 54–89
9. Agenzia delle Entrate — Redditi Persone fisiche 2026, istruzioni fascicolo 1 (termini di versamento)