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Working remotely from Italy. Yes, it’s possible!
Whether you’re from the UK, New Zealand, Australia or the US, working remotely from Italy is possible.
However, the length of your stay will be greatly determined by your nationality. So your best bet would be to consult the Italian embassy website in your country to find out the specific visas that are available for your nationality.
From there you can normally decide how long you can go to Italy for and work remotely.
But if you work remotely for a company in your home country or you are a freelancer or you even have your own business, you can literally work remotely from any place in Italy.
The only question again, is time. If you are from the US, Australia, New Zealand etc . You can normally stay in Italy on a tourist visa for up to 3 months.
Let’s not forget that Italy is also part of the Schengen zone which means if you spend your entire three months in Italy, you will not be able to go to any other Schengen zone country after your 3 month stay in Italy is over.
In addition, Italy not only has certain visas for education, like if you want to study Italian, but if you are of Italian descent you may qualify for a certain residency permit or even an Italian passport.
Therefore, you do have various options to work remotely from Italy.
Can I work remotely for myself from Italy?
If you work for a US company, or are a freelancer working for yourself and all your clients are US based or your employer is US based.
Even if you have non US based clients in other countries outside of Italy and you perform all of your work remotely online, then technically you should be able to work remotely for yourself from Italy.
This is of course, if you were there on the tourist 90-day visa-free scheme.
However, I would not advertise the fact to any immigration officer regardless of legality that you will be working remotely online for anyone including a US-based employer.
Immigration officers aren’t so flexible and may interpret your status differently than you do. They may even deny you entry or you might have to consult with an Italian attorney and all that involves costs.
When dealing with immigration officers a good rule of thumb is, the less you say, the better.
I’m not suggesting you evade any questions, break the law or deceive anyone. But you also don’t need to volunteer any unnecessary information, especially if it isn’t asked for.
Do I need a remote work Visa for Italy?
Italy does not have a specific remote work Visa. However, if you are staying longer than 90 days you will need some sort of visa.
Please consult the Italian embassy for a list of visas that you may be able to be eligible for and apply accordingly.
Working remotely from Italy. Are there any tax issues?
If you are staying in Italy longer than 90 days, then there may be tax issues, even if you are working remotely from Italy online.
In fact, if you stay longer than 180 days, Italy will consider you a tax resident.
In addition, if you have dual citizenship, i.e. Italian citizenship and American citizenship, you may be liable for both countries taxes.
Always see is an accountant who specializes in Expat tax issues in Italy if you are staying longer than 90 days.
Where can I live while working remotely from Italy?
Northern Italy is considered the most expensive part of Italy in general. There are exceptions of course, especially in the more provincial towns and cities as well as the rural areas.
But as a rule the further south you go, the cheaper Italy becomes.
The southern part of Italy especially, tends to be the least expensive part of Italy. From there, you can either live and work remotely from a major city, smaller provincial city or town.
You can even work remotely from an Italian village or smaller Italian town.
They all have their pros and cons. If you’re working from a major city, then your cost on things like accommodations, meals etc. are going to be much higher than if you were to work remotely from a provincial city or town.
However, the infrastructure in smaller towns or cities, especially in villages tend to be less developed than they are in the major cities.
Your costs will be lower however, as a result. But you may have to sacrifice convenience and choice while living there.
Also, internet connections and speeds tend to be less reliable in smaller towns and villages than they are in the major cities.
Though, if you equip yourself with a good local 4G data plan with your cell phone, you should be able to mitigate these lapses in convenience, if for example, your internet connection cuts out.
If you are from the US and you’re going to spend a considerable amount of time online in Italy, even if it’s for a few weeks or a month, it will be worth it to you to get a local cell phone plan instead of using your US roaming.
International roaming on any US provider will be a lot more expensive than if you were just to get a temporary local cell phone plan while you’re in Italy.
Working remotely from Italy, summary.
How well working remotely from Italy will work out for you will depend on a couple factors.
First, how long do you plan on spending in Italy working remotely? If you’re there for the customary 3 month visa free tourist stay, then you shouldn’t have any issues.
However, if you plan on working remotely from Italy and staying longer than 3 months, you will need the appropriate visa.
In addition, many countries will consider you as a tax resident, if you’re there longer than 180 days.
This is regardless of citizenship. If you are a dual citizen Italian/American, Italy considers you a tax resident the minute you set foot on Italian soil regardless of residency.
Therefore, any issues regarding taxation where you’re in Italy longer than the customary visa free, 3 month stay, I would immediately consult an Italian accountant specializing in “American Expat” tax and residency issues.
The next thing you want to consider is where you plan on setting up. Italy is a beautiful and diverse country.
If you set up in a city, things like accommodations, restaurants, cafes, Wi-Fi as well as internet connections and speeds should be like they are in any other city in the modern Western world.
But, if you want to save money, be in a more rural or scenic location, you may have to sacrifice the choice in accommodations as well as internet connectivity and speeds.
However, if you do settle in a more rural or scenic location, you will be saving money on things like accommodations, food etc. In addition, you may or may not need a car depending on where you are located.
As for internet connectivity issues, if you have problems with speed or connectivity in general, always have a cell phone plan with a generous 4G data plan to use for backup. This alone will help mitigate those.
In general, Italy is a great location for digital nomads as well as remote workers who want to take a month or two off, away from their home country, the US in particular.
My personal advice would be to simply go for less than three months and then move on. However, if you have stronger ties to Italy or would like to stay longer, you may need to inquire about residency permits as well as an Italian accountant for your tax issues.
Don’t forget as a US citizen you are only permitted to stay in Italy as a tourist, visa free for 90 days.
Not only can you not stay longer than 90 days in Italy on this visa free scheme, since Italy is part of the European Union and the Schengen zone in particular, you have to leave the entire Schengen zone for 90 days before returning.
This includes countries like France, Austria even Switzerland, which although is not a part of the European Union, is a part of the Schengen zone.