Contributions
Whether you fall under INPS Traders, Artisans or the Separate scheme, or you pay into a private professional fund, you can run all your simulations here.
How much do you really pay in social security contributions (INPS) as a self-employed person?
It depends on the scheme you fall into: TaxDemocracy identifies it from your ATECO code and calculates contributions, floors and deductibility in one go.
Social security contributions (INPS) and self-employment: the cost many discover too late
Anyone opening a VAT number (partita IVA) thinks first about tax, but for many the heaviest item in the early years is the social security contributions (INPS). A self-employed professional in the Separate scheme pays 26.07% of income in 2026. An artisan or trader, by contrast, pays fixed contributions, around 4,521 € or 4,612 € a year, even with little or no turnover: the minimum income floor on which INPS calculates them is 18,808 €, and it applies regardless of how much you actually collected.
You don't choose the scheme: it depends on the activity you carry out, and therefore on your ATECO code. That's why TaxDemocracy starts there. Enter your code and the tool works out whether you fall into the Separate scheme, Artisans or Traders, then calculates the fixed contributions, the excess over the floor and the deduction you're entitled to on taxable income. Free and without leaving your email.
How the contribution calculation works on TaxDemocracy
- 1
Enter your activity and revenue
You indicate your ATECO code (or search for the activity in Italian) and your expected or actual revenue. It takes a few seconds.
- 2
The tool identifies the right INPS scheme
From the ATECO code, TaxDemocracy works out whether you have to pay into the Separate scheme, the Artisans scheme or the Traders one, with the correct 2026 rates.
- 3
See contributions, tax and net together
The calculation includes the floor, the excess, any 35% reduction for those in the flat-rate scheme and the full deductibility of contributions, so the net you see is the real one.
What you can do with Tax Democracy
The three INPS schemes compared: 2026 rates
In 2026 the rates are these (INPS circulars no. 8 and no. 14 of 2026):
- Separate scheme: 26.07% for professionals with no other pension cover (25% pension share, plus 0.72% for maternity and sickness and 0.35% for the ISCRO). It drops to 24% if you're already covered by another compulsory pension scheme or are a pensioner. It applies to actual income, up to the ceiling of 122,295 €.
- Artisans scheme: 24% on business income, rising to 25% on the part above 56,224 €.
- Traders scheme: 24.48% (the extra 0.48% funds the allowance for those who cease the activity), 25.48% above 56,224 €.
For artisans and traders the income ceiling is 93,707 € for those already registered with a pension scheme before 1996, 122,295 € for everyone else. The most important practical difference, though, isn't in the rates, which are similar, but in how the floor works: the Separate scheme doesn't have one, the other two do.
Where you end up depends on your activity: a consultant, a freelance developer or a graphic designer without a professional fund go into the Separate scheme; a plumber or a hairdresser among the Artisans; someone with a shop or an e-commerce business among the Traders. The dividing line runs through the ATECO code, and that's exactly the detail the tool starts from.
Floors and fixed contributions: why you pay even with low turnover
If you're registered with the Artisans or Traders scheme, INPS assumes you earn at least 18,808 € a year (the 2026 floor). On that figure the contributions are due regardless: 4,521.36 € a year for artisans and 4,611.64 € for traders, split into four fixed instalments. Billed 8,000 €? The instalments stay the same. It's the reason a newly launched artisan or trading activity can end up paying INPS more than it pays in tax.
Above the floor the percentage share kicks in: on the excess you pay 24% or 24.48% together with the balance and advance payments of your tax. In the Separate scheme, by contrast, there's no floor: you pay 26.07% only on the income you've actually produced. With 5,000 € of income you pay 1,303 €, not a flat-rate amount. The only effect of the floor there concerns your pension: below 18,808 € of income a year you're credited with a proportionally reduced contribution period.
Two discounts to know about. Those in the flat-rate scheme registered as artisans and traders can ask for the 35% reduction of all contributions, fixed ones included: the artisan fixed amount thus falls below 3,000 € a year (in exchange the pension credit is also reduced). Those who, on the other hand, registered for the first time with these schemes during 2025 may have requested the 50% reduction of the pension share for 36 months, introduced by the 2025 budget law: it still applies to the contributions due in 2026, but it has not been reopened to this year's new registrations. The two reductions can't be combined.
2026 deadlines and deductibility: when you pay and how much you recover
The four fixed instalments for artisans and traders for 2026 fall due on 18 May, 20 August, 16 November 2026 and 16 February 2027, to be paid with the F24 form. The share on income exceeding the floor, by contrast, follows the tax calendar: balance and first advance by 30 June (or 30 July with the 0.40% surcharge), second advance by 30 November.
For the Separate scheme everything is tied to the tax return: the previous year's balance and first advance in June, the second advance in November. The advances are calculated on 80% of the contributions due for the prior year, so the toughest moment comes in the second year of activity: balance and advance together.
The good news: social security contributions (INPS) are fully deductible from taxable income, even under the flat-rate scheme, where they're effectively the only cost you can offset. Every 1,000 € paid to INPS reduces your tax by 50-150 € depending on the scheme and the rate. It's an effect that changes the final net in no small way, and one that TaxDemocracy applies automatically in the overall calculation of tax and contributions.
Frequently asked questions
How much do I pay in social security contributions (INPS) on 30,000 € of income?
It depends on the scheme. In the Separate scheme you pay 26.07%, that is 7,821 €. As an artisan you pay 4,521 € of fixed contributions plus 24% on the 11,192 € above the floor: around 7,207 € in total. As a trader, around 7,352 €. These are figures before the 35% reduction for those in the flat-rate scheme and before the deduction, which lowers your tax: calculate your contributions with your real numbers.
What's the difference between the Separate scheme and the Artisans or Traders scheme?
The Separate scheme takes in professionals without a category fund and is paid as a percentage of actual income, with no minimum amounts. Artisans and Traders cover business activities and require fixed contributions on a floor of 18,808 €, due even with lower income. You don't choose: it depends on the type of activity, and therefore on the ATECO code. In return the rates are lower (24% and 24.48% against 26.07%), so above a certain income level those registered with the Artisans and Traders schemes pay less.
Do I have to pay contributions even if I've had no turnover?
If you're registered with the Artisans or Traders scheme, yes: the fixed contributions (4,521.36 € or 4,611.64 € in 2026) are due simply because you're registered, even with zero turnover. In the Separate scheme, no: with no income you pay nothing, because the contribution is purely proportional. It's one of the most important differences to weigh up before opening an activity with uncertain margins.
Are there contribution reductions for those starting out or in the flat-rate scheme?
Yes, but only for artisans and traders. Those in the flat-rate scheme can ask INPS for the 35% reduction of all contributions, fixed ones included; in exchange they accrue reduced pension seniority. Those who registered for the first time in 2025 may have opted for the 50% discount on the pension share for 36 months, provided by the 2025 budget law: it still applies to the 2026 contributions, but the window for new requests has not been reopened. The two reliefs are alternatives. For the Separate scheme there are no reductions.
Do the contributions I pay count towards my pension?
Yes, all three schemes are pension provision in every respect and the payments feed your future pension under the contributory method. Watch the crediting, though: to have a full year of contributions recognised you need income of at least 18,808 € (2026). Below that threshold, in the Separate scheme the months credited are reduced proportionally. To understand how much you'll pay and how much you keep, calculate your contributions together with tax and net.