Studio Andrea Matera: Guiding businesses entering the market in Italy

Andrea Matera: Studio Andrea Matera is an internationally recognised professional boutique accounting and business consultancy providing multi-disciplinary tax and advisory services with its offices in Italy and the UK and boasts an extensive professional network of partners and clients in different parts of the globe.  Our dynamic and innovative company carefully considers its clients' needs, ideas and challenges and provides them with customised solutions to bring about their success. Since 2022, Studio Andrea Matera has been listed among the top 100 accounting professionals in Italy, as well as among the top 25 accountants in the field of digital services, by Forbes Italy.

Our services cover:  

• daily follow-up of companies in all respects from incorporation to day-to-day management; 
• daily tax, corporate and business consultancy 
• VAT in e-commerce management of all periodical and annual VAT fulfilments: from identification to tax refunds, periodical and annual returns, as well as the preparation of tax representations. 
• company valuation; 
• transfer pricing issues with excellent results, as we have an in-depth knowledge of the subject and can liaise directly with the various offices of the Inland Revenue Agency (some of the most complex in the world); 
• International tax consultancy; 
• Double taxation; 
• and real estate. 

AM: We take care of clients from different parts of the globe by providing them with a turnkey service. We guide them at every step, remaining inherent to their development in the country- this can begin with setting up their company in Italy, making arrangements with notaries and setting up agreements with banks to open current accounts, and progress to day-to-day management in administrative, tax and accounting areas, while maintaining the highest level of compliance with the various financial administrators.

AM: Italy is undoubtedly a complex country, but with the right guidance it is scalable: after all, even as symbolised in Dante Alighieri's Inferno, without receiving his supreme guidance he would have been lost in the dark forest and may not have reached the stars! We want to pride ourselves on being the Virgil of our clients: helping them through the thicket of complex regulations and laws unscathed. 

Currently, it seems that even the Italian legislature has realised the need to reduce the complexity inherent in its public and judicial apparatus, and this is certainly a positive sign for us and for our clients. We have had years of obscurity and have carried the perceived stigma of a failed economy; certainly, we have been drifting with changes in many Prime Ministers, that has not reflected well on the country’s prestige; having said that, I feel optimistic that the worst is over and that public institutions are able to overcome past hurdles and are making up for lost ground. The tax regulation (new deadlines for taxes and for sending tax returns, relations with the tax authorities made certain, new procedures for tax inspections, new tax rates, revision of tax incentives making them uniform throughout the country) that has been recently passed is certainly about a modernisation of the tax system, as are the new regulations concerning tax litigation and the powers conferred on tax authorities.

AM: Studio Andrea Matera guides its clients by studying the market and the opportunities daily. We periodically provide circulars to our customers, keeping them updated on various topics including: VAT regulations, digitalisation, investments, double taxation, international taxation, local tax. 

This gives them an advantage over their competitors and a rationale that allows them to make strategic decisions in real time, thus creating added value for their businesses.

AM: The main regulations that foreign companies will have to interact with are related to income taxes, which are divided into two types, corporate tax and income tax on individuals and partnerships. Then there are minor regulations, again related to these, which affect them less significantly; I am referring to local taxes, levied by individual municipalities or regions that have their own taxing power, due to the limited fiscal federalism still in place in Italy.  

VAT is another regulation that affects every type of business that wants to invest in Italy. The Italian accounting standards (OIC) are increasingly adapting to international regulations (IRFS/IAS), so those who come to Italy will find an accounting environment that is cohesive with the regulations in other countries, certainly more so than in years past. 

AM: It is fundamental: customs and traditions dictate the demand for goods and services, so if a foreign company enters without studying the market, the chances of its success can be greatly reduced. Studio Andrea Matera assists its clients in market analysis, supporting them in structuring a development strategy for the domestic market. The focus is always on the result the client wants to achieve, the resources they can invest and the time planned to achieve their goal. 

Working side by side with the client is our strength, as we can support clients right from the beginning, medium-term planning through to periodic planning, by steadying the steps to be taken on the basis from the continuous analysis and periodic assessments from data collection and market feedback, and applying quality management controls at each stage. 

AM: In my opinion, the variables to be considered by foreign accounting firms and foreign firms aspiring to enter Italy in order to choose a local partner are to be found in the speed of response, in giving certain and precise answers to the questions posed, the degree of digitalisation of the firm, the level of IT security, and last but not least, the degree of relationships that the firm has managed to develop with the various administrative institutions. 

At Studio Andrea Matera, we strive to excel in all these variables by constantly investing in the most innovative technologies, programmes, IT security and relations with colleges and public administrations.

For 2024 and beyond, I expect an international strengthening of the country as well as new and keen attention from foreigners into the Italian real estate sector, where there are several opportunities opening up in the market of which I am sure, many will take advantage. In terms of taxation, I think Italy is becoming attractive - both for companies and for individuals - even with some incentives for individuals having been reduced and homogenised across the country.

AM: Studio Andrea Matera with its clients all over Italy, boasts an extensive network of contacts with the country's main institutions, namely and including Agenzia delle Entrate and the Chambers of Commerce, INPS and INAIL. Finally, there are 7,896 municipalities in Italy. On the basis of the activity that the foreign client wishes to develop, Studio Andrea Matera is able to reach every single municipality to activate the required compliance with it, guaranteeing its quality.

AM: Over the years, we have assisted countless foreign companies that had VAT credits stranded in their collections: we understood why, we interfaced with the respective tax administration offices, and we completed the job to the client's utmost satisfaction, who recovered what they were entitled to. 

We have followed several clients in their tax defence by interacting with the public administrators and cancelling the tax claims against the clients. We have assisted several foreign companies with their corporate structuring in Italy and continue to track and support them with their brand development objectives in their market. 

Each new challenge presented to us is the stuff of Studio Andrea Matera’s lifeblood: it stimulates us to find new solutions and to improve our services and client solutions every day. As I see it, a satisfied client’s testimonial is our ‘talking business card’; just read what some of what our clients are saying about us on Trustpilot!