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Selling an app in Italy, the details

What I found in October 2026. The sources are at the bottom.

What it takes in Italy

35 €more or less in fees to open, plus the accountant

300 €or more a year for the accountant, up to 1.200 €

Monthlyan e-invoice to each store

To start

Open a partita IVA as a ditta individuale, because selling your own app counts as a commercial activity (ATECO 58.29.00). About 35 € ^[1][2]
Register with the Registro Imprese through ComUnica. You need a PEC address and a digital signature. ^[3]
Ask INPS for the exemption as a full-time employee, or there is a fixed yearly contribution. You have to declare it yourself. ^[4]
Register in VIES, because you sell to Apple and Google in Ireland. ^[5]
Pick a tax regime. The simple one (forfettario) is not allowed if you earned more than 35.000 € as an employee the year before. ^[6][7]

Every month or quarter

An e-invoice through SdI to Apple and Google, usually one for each monthly payout. ^[8]
A 2 € stamp duty on the invoices above 77,47 €. ^[9]
INTRA lists for the services you sell to EU companies, every quarter. ^[10]

Every year, even with no sales

Accountant, from 300 to 1.200 € ^[11]
Chamber of Commerce fee, from 44 to 53 € ^[12]
PEC and digital signature, about 30 to 50 € ^[13]
Tax return and payments in June and November.

In the stores

Your address and phone number become public. With the EU Digital Services Act, paid apps show the seller's address, phone and email on the store page. ^[14][15]

It can be done, and many people do it. The forfettario tax is low (5% for the first five years, then 15%), and as a full-time employee I probably wouldn't pay the fixed INPS contribution, which is 4.611,64 € a year for those who have to ^[16]. A few occasional sales can even be declared without a partita IVA, but an app that is on sale all year is hard to call occasional ^[17].

What stops me is the number of small fixed tasks, which are the same whether you sell three copies or three thousand.

How it works in other countries

The same case: an employee who sells a small app in their free time.

Country	To start	Fixed yearly cost	Simple threshold
Italy	Partita IVA, Registro Imprese, PEC, digital signature, VIES	Accountant and Chamber fee, plus INPS 4.611,64 € if not exempt	None, invoices from the first euro
USA	Nothing, you sell in your own name	None	Self-employment tax only above $400 of profit ^[18]
UK	Nothing below the allowance, then Self Assessment	None	The first £1,000 a year is tax-free ^[19]
Germany	Gewerbeanmeldung (about 15 to 65 €) and a form on ELSTER	None for a small side business	No VAT up to 25.000 € a year ^[20]
France	Micro-entrepreneur, online	None, no revenue means no contributions	No VAT up to 37.500 € for services ^[21]
Spain	Register as autónomo	About 200 € a month (80 € the first year)	Lower rates for employees ^[22]

Spain is about as heavy as Italy, so it's not only us. I don't think anyone designed this against small developers. The rules were written for shops and professionals, and a hobby with a few sales ends up in the same box.

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I'm not an accountant, and rules and amounts change. If you want to sell an app, talk to a commercialista first. Views are my own.

Selling an app in Italy, the details

What it takes in Italy

How it works in other countries

Sources