Who qualifies: employees, pensioners — and why freelancers get nothing
Sicily's refund only covers employment income, assimilated income and pensions. Self-employed and business income generates zero. Here's what that means for remote workers, retirees and freelancers.
Most coverage of Sicily’s new-resident refund says “move to Sicily, get half your tax back”. That’s true for some people and completely false for others, and the difference comes down to a single line in the decree.
Article 2 limits the refund to holders of employment income, income assimilated to employment, and pensions under article 49 of the Italian income tax code, taxable in Italy. If your income doesn’t fall into those categories, it doesn’t generate a refund — no matter how much tax you pay.
Remote employees: the best fit
If you’re on a payroll — whether the employer is Italian or foreign — and you become an Italian tax resident, your employment income is taxable in Italy and generates the refund in full.
There are no qualification requirements, no minimum salary, no restriction on which comune you live in. That last point matters more than it sounds: the competing impatriati regime requires you to be “highly qualified or specialised”, and the 7% flat tax is only for pensioners in small southern towns. A mid-career remote employee who fails both tests can still claim this one.
Worth knowing: if you keep working for a foreign employer after moving, that employer may need to register for Italian payroll or use an employer-of-record. That’s an administrative problem, not a tax-eligibility one.
Pensioners: eligible, but check the alternative first
Foreign pensions become taxable in Italy once you’re resident here, and pensions are explicitly named in the decree. So the refund applies — including in Palermo, Catania or Messina, where the competing 7% regime does not reach.
But if you were planning to settle in a small town anyway, run the comparison before you decide. The 7% flat tax charges seven per cent on all your foreign income — pension, dividends, rent, capital gains — for nine tax periods. Three years of a 50–60% refund rarely beats that: on a €40,000 pension, the flat tax is worth close to four times as much over its lifetime.
The Sicilian refund wins for pensioners in three situations: when you want to live in a city or a town above the 7% regime’s 30,000-resident threshold; when you’ve been non-resident for fewer than five tax periods, which disqualifies you from the 7% regime but not from this one; or when your income isn’t foreign-sourced in the way that regime requires.
Freelancers: zero, and it’s worth being blunt about it
If your income comes from self-employment, a profession or a business — an Italian partita IVA, a foreign sole proprietorship, consulting invoices — it generates no refund at all. Not a reduced rate. Zero.
This is the single biggest misunderstanding about the scheme, and it’s why the “Sicily is paying digital nomads to move there” headlines are misleading. A freelance developer earning €80,000 through invoices pays the same Italian tax as anyone else and receives nothing back.
There’s a second sting. If you have mixed income — say a salary plus some consulting on the side — the refund still only covers the qualifying part, and the presence of business income drags your whole application into a heavier regime: EU de minimis state-aid limits, a DURC contributions check, anti-mafia documentation covering your adult household members, and the exclusions in the national incentives code.
What freelancers can actually consider
- Becoming an employee. If your work realistically fits an employment relationship — one main client, or your own company — payroll employment (including through an employer-of-record) produces qualifying income. This has to be genuine: the decree explicitly polices arrangements constructed purely to manufacture eligibility, and the Region checks at least 10% of beneficiaries.
- The impatriati regime instead. Notably, impatriati does cover self-employment income for qualifying professionals, for five years. For many freelancers it’s simply the better route.
- Nothing at all. Sometimes the honest answer is that this particular scheme isn’t for you, and moving to Sicily is still a fine idea for reasons that have nothing to do with tax.
Quick reference
| Your income | Refund? | Better alternative to check |
|---|---|---|
| Employment (foreign or Italian employer) | Yes, 50–60% | Impatriati, if highly qualified |
| Pension from abroad | Yes, 50–60% | 7% flat tax, if in a town ≤30,000 |
| Company director’s fees, co.co.co. | Yes (assimilated income) | — |
| Freelance / professional invoices | No | Impatriati |
| Business / company profits | No | Impatriati |
| Rental or investment income | No | — |
Everyone also has to clear the two structural conditions: moving from abroad within the 2026–2028 window, and buying or renovating a property within twelve months. Renting disqualifies you regardless of what you earn.
Compare all three regimes for your own numbers →
This guide is information, not advice. Employment structuring in particular has consequences well beyond this refund — talk to a licensed commercialista.