‘Impatriate Workers’ tax regime: Italian Revenue Agency provided some clarification on the minimum period of foreign residence requirement

by Fabrizio Pacchiarotti, Gabriele Angelini

In its answer to tax ruling n. 41/2025, the Italian Revenue Agency, in the context of the "new relief regime in favour of workers relocating to Italy" under art. 5 of Legislative Decree n. 209/2023, has clarified that, in order to determine the minimum period of foreign residence to be admitted to the favorable regime, it is necessary to assess the coincidence of the foreign employer in the tax period prior to the return to Italy with the one engaging the worker following the transfer to Italy.

The case

The case under analysis concerns an Italian citizen, resident in France since 2018, who planned to come back to Italy in 2025 to work for a company with which he had already worked between 2015 and 2016.

Once in Italy, the taxpayer wishes to benefit from the new favorable regime provided for impatriate workers pursuant to art. 5 of Legislative Decree n. 209/2023 if all the requirements provided by the law are met.

The taxpayer had the doubt – and for this reason he asked the Italian Revenue Agency for confirmation – whether working in Italy for the same employer he had in 2025 and 2026 will lead to an increase in the minimum period of residence abroad to be eligible for the special tax regime.

The answer

The tax authority points out that employees who have not been tax resident in Italy for the three tax periods preceding the transfer can benefit from the new regime.
However, if the activity in Italy is carried out for the same entity by which the employee was employed abroad or for an entity belonging to the same group, the minimum period of foreign residence must be equal to: 

  • six tax periods if the employee has not previously been employed in Italy by the same entity or by an entity belonging to the same group as the employee; 
  • seven tax periods if the employee has been employed in Italy by the same entity or by an entity belonging to the same group as the employee prior to the transfer abroad.

According to the tax authority, the decisive element is the coincidence between the employer for whom the employee worked abroad in the tax period prior to his return to Italy and the employer for whom he will work after his return to Italy.

If there is not such coincidence, the minimum period of foreign residence is three years. On the other hand, if there is such a coincidence, the period of foreign residence increases from three to six or seven years, depending on whether the employer is the same as the one for which the employee worked before moving abroad.

Therefore, according to the Italian Revenue Agency "in the present case, the minimum period of residence abroad [...] is six tax periods. This is because [...] there is no coincidence between the employer for whom the employee worked in Italy in the period immediately before moving abroad and the employer for whom he will work after his return to Italy”.

The clarification confirms that the continuity of work immediately before the transfer is decisive for the assessment of the minimum period of residence abroad, which is an important point of reference for workers wishing to benefit from the advantages offered by the legal system.