Italy's payroll calendar: the dates US finance teams need

US finance teams plan around a familiar year-end rhythm. Italy has its own. The names are different and some deadlines fall at other times. If you hire in Italy, you need to know which dates matter and what each one asks of you.

This article covers the 2026 dates we have confirmed from a published source. It also tells you which date we have not confirmed, so you do not plan around a guess.

A note on how we checked these dates  

Both dates below come from a secondary source, an Italian tax news site. We have not yet matched them against an official notice. Treat them as a strong guide, not as final. Before you commit to a close calendar, ask your payroll provider or Italian accountant to confirm each one.

March 16, 2026: employee tax certificates  

The first date is March 16, 2026. This is the deadline for the Certificazione Unica for employees, known as the CU.

The CU is the annual statement of what an employee earned and what was withheld during the year. A US team can think of it as the Italian counterpart to the year-end wage and tax statement you give US staff. Each employee receives one. The tax authority receives the data as well.

What this means for your team:

• Payroll data for the prior year must be final well before the deadline.
• Any corrections to pay, benefits or withholding need to be settled early.
• The people who prepare the CU need clean records from you.

If your Italian hires are on payroll through a local provider, the provider usually prepares the CU. Your job is to make sure the inputs are right and to ask for confirmation that the certificates went out on time.

November 2, 2026: the Modello 770  

The second date is the Modello 770. The nominal deadline is October 31, 2026. That day is a Saturday, so the filing moves to November 2, 2026.

The Modello 770 is an annual return filed by the party that withholds tax. It reports the withholding taxes applied during the year. In practice it ties back to the same payroll records behind the CU. If those records do not agree, you will find out at this stage.

Two points for finance teams:

• The shift from a Saturday to the next working day is a standard rule for Italian deadlines. Do not assume it applies in every case, and confirm with your accountant.
• The 770 should match what you reported on the CU. Reconcile the two before filing.

One date we cannot confirm: the workplace insurance settlement  

Italy’s workplace injury insurer, INAIL, runs an annual settlement of premiums. A date for it circulates online for 2026. We could not verify it against any source. For that reason we are not printing it here.

Do not put an unconfirmed date in your close calendar. Ask your provider for the exact date. Then add it yourself once you have it in writing.

How to use this in your calendar  

A simple approach works well.

• Add the CU date and the Modello 770 date to your finance calendar now.
• Set internal reminders ahead of each date, so data review is not left to the last day.
• Assign one owner on your side who talks to the Italian payroll provider.
• Ask the provider to confirm every date in writing, including the insurance settlement.
• Keep a record of what was filed and when.

Why the calendar matters for a US team  

Most US founders and finance leads are used to a single payroll system and a few federal and state dates. Italy adds its own certificates, its own returns and its own rules about what happens when a deadline falls on a weekend. None of this is hard once it is on a calendar. The risk comes from learning about a date after it has passed.

The two confirmed dates give you a base. March 16, 2026 sits early in the year. November 2, 2026 sits near the end. Add the confirmed insurance date once you have it, and you have the core of an Italian payroll calendar.

If you want to see what an Italian hire costs before you plan the year, use our cost calculator.