Can I start selling in Italy without hiring employees or opening a local company?

Short answer. In many cases, yes: a foreign company can start selling in Italy without employees or an Italian company, at least while it tests demand. The usual routes are selling directly from abroad, working through distributors or commercial agents, or working with an external local consultant who supports research and first conversations. Each route has different consequences for control of the customer relationship, for cost and for legal and tax exposure. The commercial plan and the legal and tax set-up should therefore be decided together, the second with qualified Italian professionals.

When Italy appears in the plans of a US or UK company, one of the first questions is: do we need to hire a sales team, or open a company, before we can sell there? This guide sets out the main options, what each one involves and where the limits are. It is written for B2B companies that want to test the Italian market in a measured way before committing to a permanent structure.

Separate the commercial question from the legal and tax one

Two different questions tend to get mixed up. The commercial one is: who will find customers or partners in Italy, talk to them, follow up and report back? The legal and tax one is: under which structure will you invoice, ship, hire and sign contracts, and what obligations follow from it? A good commercial plan can create tax problems if it ignores the second question, and a perfect legal structure is useless without anyone selling. The two need to be decided in parallel.

Commercial questions	Legal and tax questions (for Italian professionals)
Is there demand for our product in Italy, and in which segments?	How will we invoice Italian customers, and how does VAT apply?
Who are the right distributors, partners or first customers?	Who imports the goods, and who handles customs?
Who speaks to them, in Italian, and follows up?	Could the people acting for us in Italy create a taxable presence?
How do we measure whether it is working?	Which contract fits: agency, distribution, consultancy, employment?

Five ways to start selling in Italy

1. Selling directly from abroad

Your existing team contacts Italian prospects, and you invoice from your home company. It is the cheapest way to test interest and keeps full control of pricing and customers. The limits are practical: language, time zone, little presence at Italian trade events, and slower follow-up. Before the first sale, check with a tax adviser how invoicing, VAT and, for physical products, import duties and customs will work.

For many cross-border B2B services, the Italian business customer accounts for VAT under the reverse-charge mechanism. Goods, imports and other transactions may follow different rules. An Italian VAT adviser should confirm the correct treatment before sales begin.

2. Distributors and resellers

A distributor buys your products and resells them in Italy under its own name, with its own customers and logistics. It can be the fastest route to coverage, especially where the distributor already serves your target sector. The trade-off is control: the distributor owns the customer relationship, sets resale prices and decides how much attention your brand gets. Distribution agreements in Italy are not governed by a specific statute, so the written contract matters: territory, exclusivity, targets, notice period and what happens at the end of the relationship.

If you retain ownership of inventory stored in Italy, your VAT and customs obligations may differ from those of a company shipping directly from abroad. Depending on the arrangement, Italian VAT identification or a fiscal representative may be required. Review the structure before moving stock into Italy.

3. Commercial agents

An agent promotes your products in an agreed territory and is paid by commission, while you invoice the customer directly. You keep the customer relationship and pricing. Agency remuneration is often commission-based, but the overall cost may also include statutory contributions, contractual obligations and termination-related payments. Agency is, however, a regulated relationship in Italy: the Italian Civil Code (articles 1742–1753, implementing the EU agency directive) sets rules on notice and on an indemnity at the end of the contract, and depending on the set-up, social security contributions to the agents’ fund Enasarco may also apply. An agent who habitually negotiates and concludes contracts on your behalf can also, in some circumstances, create a permanent establishment for tax purposes. Agency works well, but only with a contract drafted under Italian law and reviewed by an Italian lawyer.

4. An external local consultant

Between doing everything from abroad and hiring in Italy there is a middle option: a local consultant who supports you on an agreed scope. Typical activities include market research, building a list of potential distributors or customers, arranging introductory meetings, localising sales material, following up and reporting. Your company keeps the decisions, negotiates the terms and signs the contracts. This keeps fixed costs low and gives you a local point of contact while you learn whether the market responds.

The scope should be written down, including what the consultant will not do. A written scope is useful, but on its own it does not decide how Italian law will treat the relationship: whether an arrangement falls under the rules on commercial agency, or creates a permanent establishment for tax purposes, depends on the whole set-up and on how it works in practice. Have the contract reviewed by an Italian lawyer and tax adviser before work starts.

5. Employees or a local company

Hiring a country manager or sales staff, or setting up an Italian branch or subsidiary, gives you maximum control and visibility. It is also the most expensive and least reversible option: Italian employment carries significant employer costs and protections, and a local company brings accounting, tax and corporate obligations. Some companies use an Employer of Record provider to hire in Italy without their own entity. Employer of Record arrangements require particular care in Italy: depending on how the provider employs and supplies workers, Italian employment, labour-supply or cross-border posting rules may apply. Before choosing a provider, obtain qualified Italian employment-law advice on its legal structure, authorisations and responsibilities. For most B2B companies this step makes sense once there is evidence of demand, not before.

	Customer relationship	Fixed cost	Speed to first meetings	Main things to check
Direct from abroad	Yours	Low	Slow	Invoicing, VAT, customs
Distributor	The distributor’s	Low	Fast, if the partner is right	Contract, exclusivity, exit terms
Commercial agent	Yours	Low (commission)	Medium	Italian agency rules, end-of-contract indemnity, tax presence
External local consultant	Yours	Low to medium	Medium to fast	Written scope, and how the role works in practice
Employees or local company	Yours	High	Slow to set up	Employment law, corporate and tax obligations

What a first phase can look like

A measured entry usually starts small and produces decisions, not just activity:

1. Define the target. Which sectors, regions and company sizes in Italy match your best customers elsewhere.
2. Build a short list. Potential customers, distributors or partners, with the reason each one is relevant.
3. Localise the essentials. A short presentation, an Italian landing page and a clear offer. Italian buyers generally respond better when they are addressed in Italian, even if the meeting itself takes place in English.
4. Run the first conversations. Introductory calls and meetings, with notes on objections, prices and decision makers.
5. Review and decide. After the first round: continue as is, appoint a distributor or agent, or invest in a local structure.

In parallel, ask Italian professionals to confirm the legal and tax set-up for the route you are testing. It is cheaper to check before the first contract than after it.

When it is time to hire or open a company

A few signals suggest that the light set-up has done its job: recurring orders from Italian customers, a pipeline that needs daily attention, partners asking for a permanent local contact, or a need for someone who can legitimately negotiate and sign on your behalf. At that point, hiring a country manager or setting up a local entity is a decision based on evidence rather than a bet.

How Marketing35100 can help

Marketing35100 is a business consulting company based in Padova. We support foreign companies on the commercial side of entering Italy, as consultants:

• market analysis and go-to-market planning;
• identifying potential customers, distributors and partners, and the opportunities worth pursuing first;
• marketing, lead generation and CRM set-up for the Italian market;
• coordinating introductory meetings, with notes and next steps for your team.

We do not act as your legal representative, director or country manager with corporate powers, and we do not negotiate final terms, conclude or sign contracts on your behalf. Meetings and updates are in English. The scope, responsibilities and fees are agreed in writing after a first conversation.

We are not a law firm, an accounting firm or a tax adviser, and we do not replace them. When your project needs legal, tax or corporate advice, we can help you identify independent Italian professionals and coordinate the conversations, while you choose and engage them directly.

B2B lead generation in Italy must respect local privacy and electronic marketing rules. Unsolicited promotional emails generally require the recipient’s prior consent, subject to narrow statutory exceptions; the GDPR’s legitimate-interest basis is not a general alternative to that consent, and business email addresses cannot be used for marketing simply because they are publicly available. Telemarketing is also subject to specific requirements, including the Public Register of Objections where applicable. Prospect research and outreach channels should therefore be assessed before a campaign begins.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need an Italian company to sign contracts with Italian customers?

Not necessarily. Many contracts can be signed by your existing company. Whether that is the right choice for your products, and how VAT and invoicing apply, is a question for a tax adviser before the first sale.

Can a local consultant sign contracts on our behalf?

Marketing35100 does not sign or conclude contracts for its clients: signatures stay with your company. Keeping signatures at home is a sensible precaution, but it does not by itself rule out the Italian rules on commercial agency or the risk of a permanent establishment. What matters is the whole arrangement and how it works in practice, so have it reviewed by an Italian lawyer and tax adviser.

Agent or distributor: which is better?

It depends on how much control you want over customers and prices, and on how your product is sold and delivered. An agent keeps the customer relationship with you; a distributor takes it on, together with stock and logistics. Both need a written contract drafted for Italian law.

Do we need to speak Italian?

Your team does not, but your materials and first contacts should be in Italian. Many Italian managers speak English, but outreach in Italian tends to get a better response, and smaller companies may prefer to work in Italian throughout.

Next step

If you are considering Italy, a 25-minute video call is enough to understand what you sell, where you want to start and whether a light entry route fits. The service is described in detail on our Italy Market Entry page.

Find out whether a light entry route fits your company →

This article provides general business information, not legal or tax advice. Sources: Italian Civil Code, articles 1742–1753 (agency contracts); Council Directive 86/653/EEC on self-employed commercial agents; OECD Model Tax Convention, Article 5 (permanent establishment) and Italian Income Tax Code (TUIR), article 162; CMS Expert Guide to Distribution and Agency – Italy; Italian VAT Decree (Presidential Decree 633/1972), articles 7-ter and 17; Italian Privacy Code (Legislative Decree 196/2003), article 130, and decisions of the Italian Data Protection Authority (Garante per la protezione dei dati personali), including the decision of 14 May 2026 (doc. web no. 10262105) on promotional emails and legitimate interest; Public Register of Objections (Presidential Decree 26/2022); Legislative Decrees 81/2015 and 136/2016 (labour supply and cross-border posting of workers).