Dear all,
Hope this is the correct section of the forum. Can anyone help at all with my questions as I am totally lost?

I am a British self employed journalist living in Italy. I do my writing solely for UK publications.
I believe I should be registering to pay taxes in Italy as I live here and do my work here. However, I've been told all self employed/ freelance professionals must register for and charge Partita IVA on top of their work.

Can I charge the UK publishers I write for partita IVA? IVA is 20 percent and VAT in the UK is just 17.5 percent..

And if I can't charge this, does this mean I cannot pay tax here and must pay tax in the UK?

Does anyone have any advice/ been through a similar situation?

I'd be eternally grateful as I am so confused!!!

Julie, confused of Venice

Hi JulieVenice

I am not an expert but, the first question that springs to mind is: are you paying income tax in the UK on your earnings there? If the UK publications pay you in pounds into a British bank account you would not have to pay income tax here as you are paying it in the UK. However, if you are not paying income tax in the UK you can pay income tax here on foreign earnings.

If you intent to write for Italian publications you would need to get a Partita IVA so you can issue invoices, pay tax and claim it back if necessary. I don't know about charging UK publications 20% VAT!

The best thing you can do is find a commercialista (accountant) who can advise you on what you have to do.
Maybe someone here can recommend one.

Good luck :)

An actor friend of mine told me not to get involved the the IVA if possible. I just remember it was negative. If you can get away with paying the lower taxes in the UK, I assume your better off.