A foreign company entering Italy has three common routes. They differ in liability, in tax exposure and in what they require by way of an address.
Subsidiary
A new Italian company — usually an SRL — owned by the foreign parent. It is a separate legal person with its own liability, its own accounts and its own registered office, which must be in Italy and is written into the incorporation deed.
This is the cleanest structure for most groups, because it ring-fences the Italian operation. It is also the one where the address decision is most consequential, since it is permanent from day one and visible in the register thereafter.
Branch
Not a separate company but an extension of the foreign one, registered in Italy as a secondary establishment. The parent remains liable for what the branch does. A branch is registered at an Italian address and generally constitutes a permanent establishment for tax purposes, with the filing obligations that follow.
Groups choose it when they want an Italian presence without a new legal entity. It is administratively lighter to set up than a subsidiary and heavier to explain to counterparties, who often prefer contracting with an Italian company.
Representative office
The lightest form: a presence limited to promotion, market research and liaison, with no commercial activity and no revenue. Because it does not trade, it is generally not treated as a permanent establishment — but that protection depends entirely on staying inside the limits. A representative office that starts negotiating and concluding contracts stops being one, whatever the paperwork says.
Where the address comes in
All three need an Italian address, and in all three cases the address must be real, contactable and documented by a title to use it. What differs is the weight of what happens there.
A domiciliation suits a subsidiary or a representative office comfortably. For a branch carrying out substantial operations with staff on the ground, an address alone is unlikely to be the whole answer — you will probably need actual premises for the activity, with the registered address being a separate matter.
Which structure fits depends on liability appetite, tax position and how you intend to sell. That is a conversation for your advisors. Once decided, the terms of our address service are straightforward. Italian readers can consult sede legale a Milano.
Written by Luca Pacini, bank rating analyst and credit advisor at Broker Associati, Milan. Questions: legale@brokerassociati.it or +39 348 303 9844.