What is the codice fiscale?
The codice fiscale is Italy’s tax identification number: a 16-character alphanumeric code that identifies you in every dealing with the Italian state and with most private companies. You need it to sign a rental contract or a job contract, open an Italian bank account, register with the national health service, enrol at a university, buy property, or even activate a SIM card. Unlike tax numbers in most countries, it is not random. It is generated from your personal data (surname, first name, date of birth, sex and place of birth) using a public algorithm, which is why a calculator like this one can work it out in advance. The code is issued by the Agenzia delle Entrate, the Italian Revenue Agency, and only the code they assign is legally valid.
How is the Italian tax code structured?
The 16 characters break down into six blocks. Take a fictional example: Laura Smith, female, born 15 July 1985 in Germany. Her calculated code is SMTLRA85L55Z112E.
| Chars | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 1-3 | Surname: first three consonants, then vowels if needed | SMT |
| 4-6 | First name: consonants; with four or more, the 1st, 3rd and 4th | LRA |
| 7-8 | Last two digits of the birth year | 85 |
| 9 | Birth month as a letter (A = January … T = December) | L (July) |
| 10-11 | Birth day; women add 40, so 41-71 means female | 55 (15 + 40) |
| 12-15 | Code of the Italian town, or the foreign country (starts with Z) | Z112 (Germany) |
| 16 | Check character computed from the previous 15 | E |
The day-plus-40 rule is the detail that surprises most people: a “55” in positions 10 and 11 is not an error, it means a woman born on the 15th. The full character-by-character rules are explained (in Italian) in our main codice fiscale guide.
Born outside Italy? Here is how your country is encoded
If you were born outside Italy, positions 12 to 15 use a country code instead of a town code. These codes always start with Z: Germany is Z112, France Z110, the United Kingdom Z114, the United States Z404, China Z210. This calculator carries the official list of 294 foreign states and territories, including states that no longer exist. If you were born in Yugoslavia or the USSR, you use the code of the state as it was at your birth (Z118 and Z135), not today’s successor country. In the place-of-birth field you can type most country names in English; the tool matches them to the official Italian entries.
How do you officially get a codice fiscale?
The calculated code is enough to fill in forms, but the official attribution comes only from the Agenzia delle Entrate. The right channel depends on your situation:
| Your situation | Where to apply |
|---|---|
| Moving to Italy for employment or family reunification | The immigration one-stop shop (sportello unico per l’immigrazione) assigns the code as part of your entry procedure |
| Applying for or renewing a residence permit | The questura (police headquarters) assigns it with the permit |
| Already in Italy (study, housing, bank account, utilities) | Any local Agenzia delle Entrate office, with form AA4/8 filled in and signed, by appointment or by certified email |
| Still abroad | The Italian consulate for your area; since 2025 many consulates only handle limited cases and advise appointing a delegate in Italy to file form AA4/8 at a local tax office on your behalf |
Getting the code is free of charge at every one of these offices; be wary of websites selling codice fiscale “certificates”. The authoritative sources are the Agenzia delle Entrate page on the codice fiscale and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs page for applications from abroad. EU citizens only need a valid identity document; non-EU citizens also need to show a visa, a residence permit, or a consular attestation, as listed in the official form instructions.
Which documents you need: EU and non-EU applicants
Whichever office you go to, form AA4/8 has to arrive with proof of identity, and this is where EU and non-EU applicants part ways. EU citizens prove who they are; non-EU citizens also have to show that their presence in Italy is regular.
| EU citizens | Non-EU citizens | |
|---|---|---|
| Proof of identity | A valid national ID card or passport | A passport, with a visa where one is required |
| Proof of lawful presence | Not required | Visa, valid residence permit, an attestation with photo from your embassy or consulate in Italy, or an ID card issued by your Italian town of residence |
| Usual route | Walk into any Agenzia delle Entrate office with form AA4/8 | Often automatic: the immigration one-stop shop or the questura assigns the code during your entry or permit procedure |
| Applying from abroad | Italian consulate, or a delegate filing AA4/8 in Italy | Italian consulate, or a delegate filing AA4/8 in Italy |
| Children | A parent applies, showing their own ID plus the child’s ID or birth certificate | |
The full list is in the official AA4/8 instructions (PDF, in Italian). None of these routes costs anything.
Is the code from this calculator official?
No, and the difference matters. This tool applies the public algorithm, and in almost all cases the result matches the real code. It can differ in one situation: when two people have data so similar that the algorithm would give them the same code (a case called omocodia), the Agenzia delle Entrate alters the second person’s code by swapping some digits for letters. No calculator can predict that. So use the calculated code to fill in forms, double-check a code someone typed, or see how your name translates into the format, and treat the code printed on your Italian health card (tessera sanitaria) or issued by the Agenzia as the real one. You can verify any code on the Agenzia delle Entrate website.
Does the code expire, and what if my name changes?
The codice fiscale is assigned once and normally lasts for life: it has no expiry date, and moving house or leaving Italy does not invalidate it. It changes only if the underlying registry data changes, for example after a legal name change, and in that case the Agenzia delle Entrate reissues it. If you lose the paper or card it was printed on, you do not reapply: you ask for a duplicate, or simply keep using the same 16 characters.
My name has accents or an apostrophe. How is it encoded?
Accents, apostrophes, hyphens and spaces are stripped before the letters are counted, and accented letters fall back to their base letter. So Müller is read as MULLER and gives MLL, exactly as Muller would; Nowák gives NWK; O’Brien gives BRN. Compound surnames are treated as one continuous run of letters, so van der Berg gives VND, taking the first three consonants across the whole name. If your registry entry uses a different transliteration from the one you normally write, the code follows the registry, not your usual spelling: that is a common reason a calculated code differs from the one on the card.
Is the codice fiscale the same as the tessera sanitaria?
They are not the same thing, which is why the two names get mixed up. The codice fiscale is the 16-character code itself. The tessera sanitaria is the plastic card issued to people registered with the Italian national health service, and it carries your codice fiscale printed and encoded on it. You can hold a codice fiscale without a tessera sanitaria, for example if you own property in Italy but live abroad and are not enrolled with the health service. When a form asks for your “tessera sanitaria number” for tax purposes, what it usually wants is the 16-character code on the front.
Do I need the code before I arrive in Italy?
Usually not. If you are moving for work or family reunification, the immigration one-stop shop assigns the code as part of your entry procedure, and the questura does the same when you apply for a residence permit. You need it in advance only when something has to be signed before you land: buying property, signing a preliminary contract, enrolling at a university that requires it, or opening a bank account remotely. In those cases the route is the Italian consulate for your area, or a delegate in Italy filing form AA4/8 on your behalf. Calculating the code here does not shorten any of these steps; it only lets you fill in a form correctly while the official attribution is under way.