The Italian fiscal code, officially known in Italy as Codice fiscale, is the tax code in Italy, similar to a Social Security Number in the United States or the National Insurance Number issued in the United Kingdom. It is an alphanumeric code of 16 characters. The code serves to identify unambiguously individuals residing in Italy irrespective of residency status. Designed by and for the Italian tax office, it is now used for several other purposes, e.g. uniquely identifying individuals in the health system, or natural persons who act as parties in private contracts. The code is issued by the Italian tax office, the Agenzia delle Entrate. In the past, each person in Italy was handed a plastic card with a magnetic strip, bearing the tax code as well as the surname, given name, sex, place and province of birth, date of birth and date of issue. Today, the fiscal code card has been replaced by a combined Italian health insurance card for qualifying residents which shows an expiration date.
The laws covering the calculation of a fiscal code were put in place by the Ministry of Economy and Finances on December 23, 1976. For natural persons, the fiscal code is made of 16 alphanumeric characters; for legal persons it comprises 11 numeric-only characters. While it is possible to calculate one's tax code, the only official tax code is the one provided by the tax office, which avoids cases of identical tax codes as well as cases where a code is incorrect, but still valid. The algorithm that follows is used to generate natural persons' fiscal codes. ; Surname : the first three consonants of the surname are used. If there is more than one surname, both are considered as if they were one. If the surname has less than three consonants, then vowels will replace the blank spaces, in the same order they appear in the surname. If the whole surname has less than three letters, the blank spaces are replaced with an X. The surname used is always the name that appears in the person's primary identification document: for native Italians, this is the carta d'identità. ; First name : the first three consonants of the name are used. If there is more than one name, both are considered as if they were one. If the name has less than three consonants, then vowels will replace the blank spaces, in the same order they appear in the name. If the whole name has less than three letters, the blank spaces are filled with an X. Some Indian immigrants in Italy are registered with a triple X instead of their first name, since their passport only indicates a single word which is used as a surname by the Italian register office. If the name has more than three consonants, the 2nd is skipped. This second-consonant skipping rule for names that have more than three consonants is only used for first names, not for surnames. ; Birthdate and gender ; Town of birth ; Check character
Examples
Here is the fiscal code of a fictitious Matteo Moretti, born in Milan on 9 April 1925:
