[QUOTE=frank tarsitano;22321]To be honest without offending anyone..if I was somone with a teaching background for english or a medical background wanting to live and work in italy and did not lets say have large amount of capital to invest but still have to pay rent. I personally would advise using your smarts and getting a studio apartment and use your USA or Foriegn registered company along with your codice fiscale to operate legally in Italy. This way you create your own job and kill to birds with one stone by setting up shop and hiring local Italians on commision if needed to work for you. Remember you can always file your taxes back home and operate a company in Italy...thats what I do.[/QUOTE

Frank, I assume you are addressing me? No offense taken....but I'm not sure I understand...can you advise me further on what you have put forth? As a doctor or a TEFL teacher I am not affiliated with a USA registered company, let alone own one....just not sure I am following you. Thanks.

[quote=tangobunny;22335]Opening a business in Italy

You want to live and work in Italy and seeking employment is your biggest challenge. Foreigners and those with dual citizenship can also open a business or provide a business service legally. How can I open a business or create employment for myself in Italy without spending an enormous amount of money? What skills do I have that can support the business?
Example
1. Doctor with medical skills that can also be related to the Spa and Beauty Industry.
2. Teachers with Italian and English skills.
3. Musicians with teaching skills.

Our least challenge was finding a place to live but we are thinking of setting up a business so are best choice would be renting or purchasing an affordable studio apartment or old home located in area that is zoned C1 for commercial activitty in Italy. There are plenty of these types of locations available at this time for rent! Of course my client did not have a large amount of savings to purchase a property so renting was the best option. Great we found a place in Italy thru our real estate agency for 400 Euros a month. In Calabria the rents are very cheap…It had a one bedroom above and the commercial space below it was perfect. My client had a medical certificate and a registered company from the USA that the client could use to do business in Italy but decided to register a company in Italy, so the client paid American Italian Commercial Law Office (500 dollars) for this registration fee and received a P.IVA number. http://www.lawrossi.com/lawrossi-eng...perations.html
The client with the medical certificate opened a small charming medical clinic beauty spa specializing in curing foot disorders while also offering beauty treatments such as manicures...hairstyles...etc. Wow the client must have spent a fortunate? No she spent only a couple thousand dollars to repaint the commercial studio, purchased 5 hairstyling chairs, and separated the medical office from the salon for privacy where she catered to the patients with foot disorders. Italy’s national health care system received the billings of the customers that received treatment for the foot disorders. The festinating factor of this business operation was that the owner client hired Italian Hairstylists to rent out the chairs on a monthly basis and other Italian Hairstylists paid her 50% of the daily gross sales. This client became successful because the client took advantage of an established network that was developed previously by the employees. I use the word employees but there was no payroll the majority worked on commission and the others just paid the client rent for the chairs. This setup gave the client owner a comfort zone without stress too also build up a client base for the treatment of foot disorders by simply networking and handing out business cards.

Example 2. The Teacher Client...domani

[quote=frank tarsitano;22380]Oh my God, Frank!! It's unbelievable...that's exactly the kind of specialist I am (foot) and as I mentioned am a certified esthetician. I have actually thought about opening a spa/podiatry establishment including offering holistic services to clients - like Reiki, Yoga....what an interesting idea you have shown me....How do foreigners though, even if they become citizens get credentialed to practice in Italy? I am having a terrible time getting answers about that. Will they accept my credentials in either field from the U.S.? I had contacted the secretary of the President of the Italian Podiatry Association and she kept writing back, "You have to attend an Italian university in order to practice podiatry here." That seems strange...I know of a dentist from Holland who has practiced there for years and I know he didn't re-do his education in Italy once he graduated from dental school in Holland. Che ne pensi?? Thank you for all of this....

Hi Frank

Without taking away from Tangobuny's thread could you do a paragraph on musician with teaching skills when you get a chance as my husband is a musician. Is there demand etc?

Thanks for your help.

Cheers

1. Medical Client
The medical client talked to the specialized Commercial Lawyer who setup the company and provided the proper tax solution that best suited the client. The Commercial Lawyer made sure that the selected business operation was legal to operate in Italy. The client’s medical certificate from America gave the client several options one was registering the Italian company and the client as a consultant. This enabled the client to have a medical office and as for the employees working on commission and renting out the salon chair stations they were all licensed in Italy which did not create a legal matter or conflict with Italian labor laws. I had a similar client who was a Canadian Doctor that performs hair transplants; he first started out as a hairstylist and expanded his business into Europe. He rented villas and set them up to perform hair transplants offering a relaxing spa resort ambience but hired local licensed hairstylists on commission or profit sharing contracts to work under his umbrella. The client had no medical education certificates from Italy only the proper business license from reregistering his company thru the Italian Canadian Lawyer. The only decision the client had to make was where he wanted to file his income taxes... in Italy or back home in Canada? The client was young and had his old age security pension contributions established in Canada and was advised by the Lawyer to keep his income filings back in Canada. The commercial Lawyer directed the client and provided the best tax plan for his financial situation. There are many foreign companies with offices working in Italy.

2. The Teacher and Musician Client business setup was similar to each others business, they rented a commercial apartment studio where they both could live and work. They received their registered company P.IVA business license number thru the Italian English Commercial Lawyer. They spent very little money to setup the commercial space. They started and brought five laptops with headsets and had all their cd teaching video programs from back home. They then placed a table counter all around the exterior walls of the small commercial space. They purchased comfortable stools for client students to study and write notes. The computers were all on a wireless system which cost them only 29 Euros a month. The client owners had one teachers desk positioned in the far end of the commercial space and a chalk board behind the desk chair which they used periodically for lectures. With all the students using head sets it was as quite as a library and they also made extra income on days they were closed by renting out the space for poetry readings and placed two profit sharing vending machines for beverages, sandwiches and espresso coffee. They both found a location near the major University that turned out to be very rewarding. Amazing they accomplish a place to live and created employment for themselves by renting a studio apartment and registering a legal company business to operate in Italy. Again their only big decision was establishing a proper tax plan with their Commercial Lawyer.

It's all very interesting and helpful. Makes me think I need to think more creatively...thanks for all of that. I will probably have more questions for you down the road..
What about my idea to start a spa "house call" service, including offering Jet Lag Recovery spa treatments to clients of the many hotels in Siena? I'm wondering if my U.S. Esthetician Certification would be accepted/legal, etc. Any comments or ideas about that Frank, or anyone?

I suggest you always first speak with a Commercial Italian American Lawyer and get the facts regarding opening and operating a business in Italy. Explain what your intentions for example: “Spa” which will offer these types of beauty & health services. You are certified in America but this should not prevent you from operating this type of business in Italy. I don’t think there are specific Italian laws that restrict you from giving a client medical consultation on foot disorders or a foot massage as treatment in a Spa. The most common businesses opened by Foreigners in Italy are Spa resorts & B&B businesses. Your strengths are that you have Italian citizenship and by preplanning to register a business company from America will speed up the process when you find the right location. Yes...there are legal restrictions on licensed professions with non issued certificates in Italy but only the Commercial Lawyer can provide a list of businesses and professions that can not operate in Italy under these credential circumstances.
My most important point in the overall “work and seeking employment” issue in Italy is that you can operate a business in Italy as a foreign company and have an office or commercial locations. So those that do not have a large amount of money for investing can rent a studio apartment and think about operating a business from the same location from where they live. If licenses or certificates prevent you from performing a specific type of service, hire or take advantages of established networks such as local Italians in your type of business industry to work for you under your company umbrella on commission or profit sharing contracts.
Speak with the commercial lawyer with regards to these issues and to also suggest the best tax plan for your company business and personal financial position. Do you want the revenues in Italy recorded and filed in Italy or back home in America or wherever your permanent residence is located too file your personal income taxes?

How can a foreigner without Italian Citizenship have access to living and working in Italy?

Another avenue to help speed up the process of working and living in Italy is thru business.

Business Partners
For a non-Italian, one of the easiest ways to open doors to the business community in Italy is to have at least one Italian business partner.

From a legal standpoint, it is infinitely easier to set up a company if at least one of the partners is an Italian citizen.

I know several American business people in Italy who have Italian “silent” partners. These partners are involved in the business only in that they lend their citizenship and all legal privileges that come with it in exchange for a minor percentage of the profits. This arrangement benefits both: the non-Italian has a much easier time of it in the legal set-up of a company and may also receive certain tax benefits by having an Italian partner, while Italian partner receives money for essentially doing nothing. A word of warning here: the terms and roles of each partner’s participation, both financial and otherwise, should be clearly delineated at the outset in order to avoid resentments later on.
If a silent partner is an unappealing prospect for a non-Italian entrepreneur, one could always seek out a business partner that would be active in the development of the business.
Your Commerical Italian American Lawyer back home can setup a partnership company to protect your self interests or you can use The “Commercialista” located in the town of your business.

The Commercialista is a cross between an accountant, lawyer and business consultant, a commercialista will often take on the role of all three in the process of setting up a legal business in Italy. He or she will take care of the company’s book-keeping, drafting of legal documents,


liaising with lawyers and government officials if necessary, filing all the necessary paperwork at the various and elusive government agencies, and generally making sure that you and your company are in compliance with the necessary laws. This is essential, because the government is aware of the Italian national pastime of tax evasion.

A commercialista can also enlist the services of other professionals if necessary. For example, to set up the Italian equivalent of a limited liability company (“S.r.l.”) or a corporation (S.p.a), the services of additional professionals are needed. A good (and well-connected) commercialista can make the difference between a smooth, relatively painless set-up and a nerve-wracking, hair-raising ordeal.

Something to think about for those foriegners that do not have Italian or dual citizenship in Italy.