Company Incorporation Guide

Italy company registration from abroad

Applicable country/region: IT - Italy

Published: September 20, 2026Updated: September 26, 2026

Written by our advisory team
Italy rules and requirements
Checked against official sources

Guide overview

The order of decisions before the company exists

Italy company registration runs through an Italian notary. The notary draws up the constitutive act as a notarial public deed (atto pubblico) and files it with the register. A foreign founder can sign in person or through a proxy. Videoconference also works, but only when the capital is contributed in cash. On video, the notary must still ask for presence if identity is doubtful or if capacity or representation rules are breached. The company exists only from its entry in the register. Anyone acting for it before then is liable jointly and without limit. The order runs: the legal form, the notary's checks on the owners, the incorporation filing, the first tax registration, then opening a business in Italy.

COMPANY TYPES

S.r.l. or S.r.l.s.: start with who will own it

Ownership and the need for custom articles settle this choice. The Società a responsabilità limitata semplificata (S.r.l.s.), a simplified limited liability company, must adopt a fixed model set by decree, whose clauses cannot be changed. A parent company as shareholder rules it out. So do tailored clauses on how the company is run, limits on selling a stake or special voting majorities. Those call for the Società a responsabilità limitata (S.r.l.), a limited liability company with its own articles. Share capital alone does not decide it. The simplified form's fee exemption is narrow: it covers the constitutive act and its entry in the register. Later changes go back through a notary and count only once registered.

Reading the company types

Rows cover ownership, shareholder and director rules, capital and notes for each company type.

Basic Information

Italy S.r.l.

Italy S.R.L.S

Ownership:

Consolidated Ownership

Ownership:

Consolidated Ownership

Limited Liability:

Positive

Limited Liability:

Positive

Publicly Participates In Capital Market:

Negative

Publicly Participates In Capital Market:

Negative

Shareholder / Director / Secretary Requirements

Italy S.r.l.

Italy S.R.L.S

Requirements For Shareholders:

At least one; both natural persons and legal entities are allowed to hold shares.

Requirements For Shareholders:

At least one

Requirements For Directors:

At least one

Requirements For Directors:

At least one, named in the constitutive act

Legal Representative Not Mandatory:

Positive

Legal Representative Not Mandatory:

Positive

Local Directors Not Mandatory:

Positive

Local Directors Not Mandatory:

Positive

Local Secretaries Not Mandatory:

Positive

Local Secretaries Not Mandatory:

Positive

Registered Capital Requirement

Italy S.r.l.

Italy S.R.L.S

Minimum Registered Capital Requirement:

1. Not less than 10,000 euros;
2. OR one euro or more but below 10,000 euros where the contributions are made in cash and paid up in full, in which case one fifth of each year's net profit is set aside until the reserve and the capital together reach 10,000 euros.

Minimum Registered Capital Requirement:

1. The minimum registered capital requirement is 1 euro, and must be below 10,000 euros, and can only be held by natural persons;
2. It is recommended to start with a minimum of 2,000 euros for account opening and operation.

Capital Injection Not Required:

Negative

Capital Injection Not Required:

Negative

Capital Injection Requirement:

1. At least 25% of the cash contributions, and the whole amount where there is a single founder, paid to the administrative body named in the constitutive act;
2. The whole amount, in cash, where the capital is set below 10,000 euros.

Capital Injection Requirement:

The whole of the capital, in cash, paid to the administrative body named in the constitutive act.

REQUIRED DOCUMENTS

Why the notary looks at the owners before the deed

A notary who helps form a company is an obliged entity under Legislative Decree 231/2007, Italy's anti-money-laundering law. Before accepting the job, the notary must identify the client and the beneficial owner and map who owns and controls the company. So the documents come first. A corporate shareholder adds to them: the check runs through the parent to the people who own or control it in the end. Identification need not mean a meeting. A public act, an authenticated private deed or a qualified signature certificate can serve. A founder or a parent company's director who signs through a proxy must give that power in the same form as the deed, never in a plain signed letter.

Reading the documents

Rows are document types grouped by who provides them; each entry ends with its process and format.

Natural Person Shareholders & Directors's Required Documents

Italy Company Registration (Traditional SRL)

Italy Company Registration (Simplified SRL)

Power of Attorney:

Power of Attorney (document provided by our company); it must be notarized or its signature authenticated in the issuing country, apostilled there, and then given a sworn Italian translation in Italy; or the shareholder/legal representative can personally go to Italy for certification.