Checked on 23 October 2026
How to get your codice fiscale (tax number) in Italy
The codice fiscale is your Italian tax number: 16 letters and digits calculated from your name, your date and your place of birth. You need it for all your procedures, and in particular to register with the health service and choose your doctor. As an EU citizen, you request it by appointment at any Agenzia delle Entrate (tax authority) office, with your identity document, or at the Italian consulate in your country before you leave.
- Costs
- No fee indicated by the Agenzia delle Entrate
- Timeframes
- Varies depending on appointments; card then sent by post
Steps
- Choose where to request it:
- in Italy, at any territorial office of the Agenzia delle Entrate;
- before leaving, at the Italian consulate in your country of residence.
- Book an appointment. For a first codice fiscale, foreigners (EU or not) must appear in person, by appointment, so that their identity can be verified.
- Fill in form AA4/8 (application for assignment of the codice fiscale), sign it and state the reason for your application and your tax address, where the card will be sent.
- Go to the appointment with your identity document.
- Receive your card by post: at your residence address if you live in Italy, otherwise at the tax address given.
Documents
- Form AA4/8 completed and signed.
- EU citizen: passport or identity card valid for travel abroad.
- Non-EU national (including British nationals): passport with visa if necessary, or residence permit, or identity certificate from your country's consulate with a photo, or Italian identity card. You must also prove your right to stay in Italy, even temporarily.
Costs and timelines
- Cost: the Agenzia delle Entrate indicates no fee.
- Timeline: varies depending on appointments. The card then arrives by post.
- Validity: the codice fiscale does not expire.
Common pitfalls
- Turning up without an appointment. For a first codice fiscale, the Agenzia requires an in-person visit by appointment.
- A code calculated on the Internet. A codice fiscale is only valid if it has been assigned and certified by the Agenzia delle Entrate.
- Errors on the card. Have any error corrected at an Agenzia office, with a valid identity document.
- Loss or theft. The duplicate is requested online or at an Agenzia office.
- Mixing it up with the health card. In Italy, the tessera sanitaria (health card) carries your codice fiscale, but it only arrives once you are registered with the health service (sheet IT-SANTE-TOUS-001).
What changes by country of origin
- EU and EEA citizens: identity card or passport; Agenzia office or Italian consulate.
- Swiss nationals: the Agenzia does not single them out. For a non-EU foreigner legally staying in Italy, its leaflet asks for form AA4/8 with a valid passport (visa if required, which is not the case for a Swiss national) or another document recognised by the Italian authorities: come with your Swiss passport, it is the document named in so many words. Before departure, the Italian consulate also issues the codice fiscale.
- British nationals (Scots included): non-EU nationals since Brexit. If they arrive to work or to join their family, the Sportello Unico per l'Immigrazione (single immigration desk) assigns them the codice fiscale; if they apply for another residence permit, it is the Questura (police headquarters). Otherwise, Agenzia office with passport and proof of the right of residence.