A few days after the publication of the operational procedures for the guarantee that non-EU residents must provide to carry out intra-union transactions, with a new Provision prot. n. 186368/2025, the Italian tax authorities have defined the operational procedures for fiscal representatives under art. 17(3) of the Italian Presidential decree no. 633/1972. 

From April 17, 2025, subjects who intend to assume or already operate as fiscal representatives are required to submit both a declaration of attestation of honorability requirements (art. 8, co. 1, lett. a), b), c) and d) of Ministerial Decree n. 164/1999) and a guarantee proportionate to the number of subjects represented. 

Both documents must be provided by fiscal representatives at the time of submitting the declaration form for the start of activities or data change for VAT purposes at the Provincial Directorate of the Italian tax authorities competent based on their tax domicile. 

Regarding the declaration of attestation of subjective requirements, it has been clarified that, in the case of fiscal representatives other than natural persons, the declaration must be made by all legal representatives indicated in the declaration form for the start of activities or data change for VAT purposes. In case of replacement or new appointment of one or more legal representatives, the declaration must be made by them simultaneously with the submission of the declaration form for the start of activities or data change for VAT purposes. 

With reference to the guarantee, it has been specified that it must be provided for at least forty-eight months from the delivery to the Provincial Directorate of the Italian tax authorities, for a value that varies, based on the number of subjects represented, from 30,000 euros to 2,000,000 euros in the form of a deposit in government bonds or government-guaranteed securities (which must present the information contained in the deposit in government bonds  attached to the provision) or through a surety bond or bank guarantee (which must present the information contained in the fac-simile bank guarantee  attached to the provision). 

Once the guarantee has been submitted, the competent Italian tax authorities verifies if it meets the regulatory requirements and communicates the result to the person who submitted it. Only after a positive result, the subject is authorized to operate as a fiscal representative. If the representative is required to submit a new guarantee for the higher range, they may request the release of the previous guarantee. 

Those who already operate as fiscal representatives as of April 17 must submit the declaration attesting the subjective requirements and the guarantee by June 16, 2025. In case of non-compliance, the Italian tax authorities will start the procedure for the official termination of VAT numbers of represented subjects(The Italian tax authorities communicate to the fiscal representative, via PEC or at the registered office, the start of the procedure for the official termination of represented subjects. From that date, the representative has sixty days to provide the necessary documentation to maintain the role of fiscal representative. If the documentation is not provided within this period, the VAT numbers will be officially terminated.). 

With a specific notice on the website, the Italian tax authorities will communicate the availability of the service for consulting the references of fiscal representatives who have submitted the declaration of the existence of subjective requirements and have provided the required guarantee. For representatives who do not comply with the new guaranteed obligations, it is reminded that an administrative fine ranging from 3,000 to 50,000 euros is applicable, without the possibility of applying the so called “cumulo giuridico”. 

Prepared by Davide Accorsi and Federica Valastro