If you leave Italy and work through a US LLC, you have two things to settle with the Italian tax authorities: your own residence and your company's. Settle only one and the other stays open. One more warning: from 1 January 2027 Italy's income tax code is renumbered.
Two numberings: TUIR until 2026, new consolidated code from 2027
Legislative Decree 19 June 2026 no. 117 enacted a new consolidated income tax code, in force since 4 July 2026 but applying from 1 January 2027, when it repeals articles 1 to 191 of DPR 917/1986 (the TUIR). Tax years up to 2026 follow the TUIR, later years the new code. Foreign-asset reporting moves from article 4 of Decree-Law 167/1990 to article 58 of Legislative Decree 5 August 2026 no. 141 on the same date.
| Topic | Until 2026 | From 2027 |
|---|---|---|
| Residence of individuals | TUIR art. 2 | new code art. 2 |
| Residence of companies | TUIR art. 73 | new code art. 82 |
| Controlled foreign companies (CFC) | TUIR art. 167 | new code art. 186 |
| Exit tax | TUIR art. 166 | new code art. 193 |
| Foreign-asset reporting | D.L. 167/1990 art. 4 | D.Lgs. 141/2026 art. 58 |
When you stop being resident
Since 1 January 2024 (Legislative Decree 209/2023) you are Italian tax resident for a tax year if, for the greater part of the year and counting fractions of a day, you have any one of these in Italy: civil-law residence, domicile or physical presence. One is enough. Domicile now means the place where your personal and family relationships mainly develop.
The Agenzia delle Entrate (Circular 20/E of 4 November 2024) reads "the greater part of the year" as 183 days, or 184 in a leap year, and the days need not be consecutive: they are added up over the calendar year.
The registry and AIRE: deregistering is not enough on its own
Until 2023, being on the resident population register (anagrafe) for most of the year was an absolute presumption of residence. Since 2024 it is a rebuttable presumption: you can overturn it, but you have to prove with objective evidence that for most of the year you had neither civil residence nor domicile in Italy and were not physically present there.
Registering with AIRE, the register of Italians resident abroad, is a duty. If you move your residence abroad you must declare it to the consular office for your new area within 90 days, listing family members who are Italian citizens and enclosing proof of residence. Missing the declaration costs an administrative fine of EUR 200 to 1,000 for every year the omission continues.
But AIRE alone does not end your tax residence. In Circular 20/E the Agenzia describes someone who registers with AIRE and works abroad but keeps a home in Italy with the utilities running and returns there at weekends and on holiday: in the Agenzia's view, that can amount to a domicile in Italy. The data also travels: municipalities report AIRE registrations and cancellations made ex officio to the Agenzia delle Entrate.
Countries on the 1999 list: the burden of proof flips
TUIR article 2(2-bis) treats Italian citizens who are struck off the register and emigrate to a state or territory with a privileged tax regime, named by ministerial decree, as resident unless they prove otherwise. Since 2008 the printed text refers to a white list instead, but the white-list decree was never adopted, as the Minister himself recorded in the Decree of 20 July 2023, so the text in force on 31 December 2007 still applies, with the black list of the Ministerial Decree of 4 May 1999. The 2024 reform did not touch paragraph 2-bis, as Circular 20/E confirms.
The list names states and territories only, among them the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Hong Kong, Monaco, Singapore and Oman. No US state is on it. Two removals matter: San Marino was taken off by the Decree of 12 February 2014, and Switzerland by the Decree of 20 July 2023 with effect from 1 January 2024. According to the Agenzia, the 2023 decree is the list's latest update.
If you move to a listed country, showing that you fail the three article 2 tests is no longer enough. Quoting its Circular 140/1999, the Agenzia requires full proof that you have lost every significant link with Italy and proof of a real and lasting presence in the new country, regardless of any tax filings there. For the Emirates, see United Arab Emirates.
From 2027 the new article 2(3) restates the presumption with the white-list wording. We found no official guidance on how the 1999 list fits the new code from 2027, so if your move straddles 2027, check this point.
Your LLC has to be run from outside Italy
TUIR article 73(3) (from 2027, article 82(3)) treats a company as resident if, for most of the tax year, it has its registered office, its place of effective management or its day-to-day management in Italy. Place of effective management means the continuous and coordinated taking of strategic decisions about the company as a whole; day-to-day management means the continuous and coordinated performance of current management acts. These definitions apply from the 2024 tax year.
In plain terms: a US LLC whose strategic decisions you take while sitting in Italy can be an Italian-resident company. Leave first, then run the LLC from abroad.
How Italy sees a US LLC
Under TUIR article 73(1)(d), non-resident companies and entities of any type, with or without legal personality, are subject to corporate income tax (IRES). Circular 9/E of 5 March 2015 (para. 5.1) applies this to foreign partnerships and companies taxed as transparent abroad, by law or by election: in Italy they are not treated as transparent. The Italian-resident member is taxed only when profits are distributed, as capital income (or as business income if the interest is held in a business), on a cash basis. Foreign taxes the member paid on his share are treated as paid by the company and deducted from the gross distribution.
An important caveat: the circular deals with foreign transparent entities in general and does not mention LLCs. We found no Agenzia document that classifies a single-member US LLC by name, so applying this reading to your LLC is an interpretation, not a position the Agenzia has taken. For the US side, see how the LLC is taxed.
While you are still resident: CFC and asset reporting
The CFC rule in TUIR article 167 (from 2027, article 186) also applies to resident individuals who control a non-resident entity (control under article 2359 of the Civil Code, or more than 50 percent of the profits). It bites when both conditions are met:
- effective foreign taxation below 15 percent;
- more than one third of the entity's income is passive or low-value income, such as interest, royalties, dividends, or low-value-added services with related parties.
It does not apply if you prove that the entity carries on a substantive economic activity with staff, equipment, assets and premises (you can also ask for a ruling). Where it does apply, the entity's income is taxed separately in your hands at your average rate, and never below the ordinary IRES rate.
For the same years, foreign-asset reporting applies: a resident who holds foreign investments or financial assets capable of producing taxable income, even only as beneficial owner, reports them in the annual income tax return. An interest in a US LLC is such an investment. Foreign deposits and current accounts whose combined peak value during the year did not exceed EUR 15,000 are exempt.
Exit tax: what the statute covers
TUIR article 166 (from 2027, article 193) taxes the move abroad of persons carrying on commercial enterprises. That is the scope of the provision as written. Whether your activity counts as a commercial enterprise, and what else your departure means for your assets, has to be checked on your facts rather than inferred from this page.
The right sequence
What goes wrong if you skip a step
- Staying on the resident register: you are presumed resident until you prove otherwise.
- Keeping home and family in Italy: your domicile stays here.
- Spending 183 days or more in Italy: presence alone is enough.
- Running the LLC from Italy: the company risks Italian residence.
- Skipping AIRE: EUR 200 to 1,000 for every year.
Sources
Checked 26 October 2026.
- DPR 917/1986 (TUIR), arts. 2, 73, 166 and 167 as in force until 31-12-2026: normattiva.it, art. 2, art. 73, art. 166, art. 167
- TUIR art. 2(2-bis) as in force on 31-12-2007: normattiva.it
- Legislative Decree 19 June 2026 no. 117, new consolidated income tax code, arts. 2, 82, 186, 193, 376 and 377: normattiva.it
- Ministerial Decree of 4 May 1999: Gazzetta Ufficiale; Decree of 12 February 2014: Gazzetta Ufficiale; Decree of 20 July 2023: Gazzetta Ufficiale
- Agenzia delle Entrate, Circular 20/E of 4 November 2024: agenziaentrate.gov.it
- Agenzia delle Entrate, Circular 9/E of 5 March 2015, para. 5.1: agenziaentrate.gov.it
- Law 470/1988, art. 6: normattiva.it; Law 1228/1954, art. 11: normattiva.it
- Decree-Law 167/1990, art. 4: normattiva.it; Legislative Decree 5 August 2026 no. 141, art. 58: normattiva.it
Your own case
This page is general information, not advice on your case. Your move, your LLC and your deadlines are checked in the consultation, held in English.
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