Partita IVA for personal trainers in Italy: 2026 guide

Do you need a partita IVA to work as a personal trainer in Italy?

If you train clients on a regular basis as a self-employed professional, yes. Most personal trainers in Italy open a partita IVA (the VAT number every self-employed professional needs) and choose the regime forfettario, the flat-rate scheme, which in 2026 applies up to €85,000 in fees received (above €100,000 you leave it immediately). Since 1 January 2024 every forfettario taxpayer must issue electronic invoices through SdI, the state e-invoicing exchange system, with no minimum threshold. Under the ordinary regime, personal training is charged at the 22% VAT rate.

This page lays out what you actually need: which regime, VAT, invoices, working with ASD and SSD sports clubs, contracts, privacy, rates and tools. It is written for trainers working in Italy, including those who moved there from abroad and are meeting these terms for the first time. It is not tax advice: your own situation (social security contributions, ATECO activity code, collaborations) always needs to be checked with a commercialista, the Italian accountant who handles most freelancers' tax affairs.

Forfettario or ordinary regime: the 2026 numbers

The regime you pick decides how much admin you will have and how you set your prices. The thresholds below are the ones reported for 2026 by Fiscoly and Legge in chiaro.

The limit works on a cash basis: what counts is when you get paid, not when you invoice. A trainer who collects payment in December for a block of sessions running in January has to factor that in, especially when close to the threshold.

In terms of classification, personal trainers usually open their partita IVA as self-employed sports instructors, almost always on the forfettario regime, as Taxman explains. The right ATECO code and the INPS social security scheme depend on how you work. Choose them with your accountant before you open, because changing them later costs time.

One practical point for anyone coming from another country: in Italy the partita IVA is not something you only need once you are "big". Even a trainer with a handful of private clients who pay regularly is running a business in the eyes of the tax office, and every payment needs a matching invoice.

22% VAT and the ASD and SSD case

Sports services provided by commercial operators, personal training included, are subject to the standard 22% rate, as Fiscosport reports. Things are different for amateur sports bodies: the ASD (associazione sportiva dilettantistica, an amateur sports association) and the SSD (società sportiva dilettantistica, an amateur sports company).

Under the sports reform (D.Lgs. 36/2021 and the related decrees), from 1 January 2026 many ASD and SSD services move from "outside the scope of VAT" (fuori campo IVA) to "VAT exempt" (esenti IVA), and the exemption can also cover services to third parties, according to TeamSystem. Some industry sources write that these operations now have to be recorded and documented as exempt, with an invoice or a record of daily takings. We did not find a circular from the Agenzia delle Entrate (the Italian Revenue Agency) on this point, so if you work with an association, check with their adviser.

The ASD and SSD world is where most confusion comes from. Many trainers start out coaching for a local association, then add private clients on the side. Those are two different relationships with two different tax treatments, and it is worth having them mapped out on paper before the first invoice goes out.

E-invoicing: how to handle it without losing hours

From 1 July 2022 the obligation applied to forfettario taxpayers above €25,000; from 1 January 2024 it applies to everyone, as Fatture in Cloud explains. In practice, every session, package or month of coaching a client pays for has to be invoiced through the Sistema di Interscambio (SdI).

You have two options: the free service from the Agenzia delle Entrate, or a paid invoicing program. With a few clients the free service is enough. Once you have monthly subscriptions that renew on their own, a program that reminds you who has paid and what you still need to invoice is worth it.

A mistake I see often: the trainer collects online by card and treats the payment provider's receipt as a valid document. It is not. A receipt from Stripe, PayPal or the bank only says the payment happened; the electronic invoice is something you issue yourself.

The habit that keeps this under control is simple. Pick a fixed moment, the end of each day or each week, and invoice every payment received since the last batch. Trainers who leave it to the end of the month are the ones who end up reconstructing payments from bank statements.

Contracts, automatic renewals and privacy

Packages and subscriptions that renew

If you sell fixed-term subscriptions that renew automatically, article 65-bis of the Codice del Consumo (the Italian Consumer Code), introduced by Law 214/2023, requires written notice 30 days before expiry. Without that notice, the client can withdraw at any time without penalty. The rule applies to contracts signed from 15 January 2024, and gyms are cited as an example, as Villa e Associati explains. If you run automatic monthly plans as a PT, it makes sense to set up a reminder before each renewal date.

Client health data

Medical history, injuries, medication, body measurements: this is data concerning health, a special category under article 9 of the GDPR. Collect only what you need to train someone safely, tell the client why you are asking, and keep the data somewhere secure, not in a chat thread on your phone.

If you open a studio one day, remember the Garante decision no. 127 of 29 March 2012: the Italian data protection authority ruled fingerprint access to a gym unlawful because it was disproportionate, given that a badge or card would have done the job. A QR code or a membership card is the safe choice.

Insurance

Professional liability insurance (responsabilità civile professionale) protects you and your client if something goes wrong during a session. If you work with a gym, ask whether they require a policy and with what cover limits. Compare limits and exclusions, especially if you train clients outdoors or in their homes.

What to charge: personal trainer rates in Italy

Before you set your prices, look at the market. The figures below come from platforms that match clients with professionals, so treat them as indicative ranges, not official statistics.

From these numbers, subtract tax, contributions, insurance, software and room rental, and you see what you really keep. Home sessions sit at the top of the range for a reason: travel time is unpaid time. For a wider comparison, read personal trainer prices by city and, if you coach remotely, how much an online personal trainer costs.

Payments and software: where Trainera fits

Let's be clear about the limit first: Trainera does not issue SdI electronic invoices and is not a telematic cash register (registratore telematico). You issue invoices with the free Agenzia delle Entrate service or with your own invoicing software.

Trainera is for the work with clients and for collecting payments:

• training and nutrition plans, check-ins, habits and chat, with a library of 1,800+ exercises with video and 1,100+ recipes;
• intake questionnaires on every plan, including Free, useful for the health history;
• payment models: request only (price agreed outside the app), monthly subscription by card, Apple Pay and Google Pay, plan-based payment and cash payments; PayPal and bank transfer are available too;
• a free client app on iOS and Android, a personal trainer website and the TRAI AI assistant.

Satispay is very popular in Italy (Stripe cites more than 6 million users), but on Stripe it is not supported for subscriptions: for monthly renewals you are left with cards and, with other tools, SEPA direct debit (addebito diretto). Trainera offers neither Satispay nor SEPA direct debit.

Prices are on trainera.fit/pricing for Italy; yearly costs about 10 monthly payments. A workflow that works: the client pays the subscription in Trainera, and once a day or once a week you issue SdI invoices for the payments received. If you want to see how apps with built-in payments compare, there is a guide to the best personal training apps with payments.

Checklist for opening and getting started in the first month

1. Talk to a commercialista: regime, ATECO code, INPS scheme, any relationships with ASDs.
2. Open your partita IVA and set up your e-invoicing channel (free service or software).
3. Take out professional liability insurance.
4. Prepare an intake questionnaire and a clear privacy notice for health data.
5. Set your price list and packages by looking at market ranges and your real costs.
6. If you sell subscriptions that renew automatically, set up the notice 30 days before expiry.
7. Decide how you will get paid (card, cash, bank transfer) and invoice every payment.
8. Keep an eye on your receipts against the €85,000 threshold.

Manage clients, programmes and payments in one app with Trainera's personal trainer software, starting on the free plan.