The Italian CU: What Employees Receive at Tax Time and When

If you run payroll in the US, you know the W-2. Italy has a close equivalent. It is called the Certificazione Unica, or CU. Every employee in Italy should receive one after the tax year closes.

This article explains what the CU is, what it shows, and which dates matter. If you hire in Italy through an Employer of Record (EOR), this is a document your team will see and your employees will ask about.

What the CU is  

The CU is the annual statement of income and withholding. The employer issues it. It reports what the employee earned in the previous year and what was withheld on their behalf.

The parallel to the W-2 is real, but not exact. The W-2 is mainly a document for the employee’s own tax return. The CU does that job too. It is also a filing the employer sends to the tax authority, the Agenzia delle Entrate. So the same data goes to two places.

What it contains  

A CU for an employee typically covers:

• The employer’s details and the employee’s details
• Gross employment income for the year
• Income tax withheld at source
• Social security contributions paid by the employee
• Regional and municipal surtaxes withheld
• Certain deductions and tax credits applied during the year

The employee uses these figures to check their position and, where needed, to file a return. Many Italian employees do not file a full return, because the employer already handles withholding and adjustments through payroll. Even so, the CU is the reference document if they do file, or if they need proof of income for a bank, a landlord, or a visa renewal.

The dates that matter  

For the 2026 cycle, a secondary source that tracks the fiscal calendar lists these deadlines:

• March 16, 2026: the CU must be delivered to employees.
• March 16, 2026: the same date applies to sending the CU data to the Agenzia delle Entrate.
• April 30: the later deadline for CUs covering self-employed income.
• October 31: the deadline for CUs covering income that is exempt from tax.

For employment income, one date does most of the work. March 16 is both the delivery date to the employee and the filing date with the tax authority. There is no gap to plan around. Payroll needs to close the prior year cleanly and produce the file in time.

The April 30 and October 31 dates are not about regular employees. They matter if your company also pays freelancers or other types of income in Italy. Those are tracked separately.

Deadlines in Italy can shift. The authorities sometimes adjust them by decree or by calendar rules. Confirm the date with your payroll provider or tax adviser each year before you commit to an internal schedule.

What employers should do  

A few practical points for US founders and finance teams:

Treat it as a year-end close task. The CU depends on correct payroll data for the whole year. Errors in withholding, benefits, or contributions show up here. Review the year before the file is generated, not after.

Expect employee questions. Employees often ask what each box means. A short internal note explaining the CU in plain terms saves time. If you work with an EOR, the provider usually produces and delivers the document for you.

Keep terminations in mind. If someone leaves during the year, they still need a CU for the period they worked. Make sure your process covers former employees, not only current ones.

Do not confuse it with the payslip. The monthly payslip shows each pay period. The CU is the annual summary. They should reconcile, and when they do not, that is a signal to investigate.

What employees should do  

Employees should check that the name, tax code, and income figures are correct when the CU arrives. If something looks wrong, they should contact the employer or payroll provider quickly. A corrected CU is possible, but it is easier to fix before the data is used for a return or another application.

They should also keep the document. Banks, landlords and immigration offices often ask for it as proof of income.

The takeaway  

The CU is Italy’s W-2 equivalent, with one extra role: it is also the employer’s filing to the tax authority. For employees, the key date is March 16, 2026. Other income types follow later dates. Build the year-end close around that, and the process is routine.

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