定義
Fattura Elettronica is Italy's mandatory e-invoicing regime. Since 1 January 2019, virtually all invoices for domestic transactions between Italian businesses — and since 2022 also for previously exempt flat-rate taxpayers — must be issued as structured XML through the SDI (Sistema di Interscambio), the government's centralised exchange platform.
The workflow: 1. Seller generates an XML in FatturaPA format, signed (for B2G) or identified with codice destinatario (for B2B). 2. Seller submits to SDI directly, or via a certified intermediary / software. 3. SDI validates the XML (schema, VAT numbers, SDI address). 4. SDI routes to buyer's system using their codice destinatario (for tax-paying businesses) or PEC email; for consumers, a copy goes to the SdI and the original to the buyer via email or online portal. 5. Seller and buyer both receive acknowledgement (ricevuta di consegna or scarto).
PDF invoices outside SDI have no legal validity in B2B or B2G. For cross-border transactions, the XML also feeds into the Esterometro regime (now integrated into SDI as well).
Archiving: invoices must be kept in legally compliant digital form for at least 10 years, typically via an Conservazione Sostitutiva service.