Professional activities the sector with the highest number of openings (19%). Followed by trade and construction
Approximately 2022 new VAT numbers were opened in 501.500 with a decrease of 8,7% compared to 2021, the year in which there was a high number of openings following the easing of restrictions related to the Covid-19 emergency .
This is what emerges from the update of the Observatory data on VAT numbers published by the Ministry of Economy and Finance.
The distribution by legal nature shows that 70% of VAT numbers were opened by natural persons, 22,3% by corporations and only 3,3% by partnerships. Compared to 2021, the decrease in goodwill is generalized: from partnerships (-8,1%), to joint-stock companies (-5,9%) up to natural persons (-4,9%). Furthermore, we note the drop in VAT numbers initiated by non-residents (-51,3%), which the year before had, on the other hand, marked a significant increase due to the increase in online sales during the pandemic period.
With regard to the geographical breakdown, 46,5% of the new openings are located in the North, 22,3% in the Center and around 31% in the South and Islands. The comparison with the previous year shows that almost all Regions show a decrease in goodwill, in particular Friuli-Venezia Giulia (-25,3%), Veneto (-19,4%) and Molise (-16,9%) . In contrast only Valle d'Aosta (+2,8%) and Liguria (+0,3%).
The classification by productive sector shows that, for the first time, professional activities recorded the highest number of openings for VAT numbers (about 19% of the total), followed by commerce (18,3%) and construction (11 %). Among the main productive sectors, those that have recorded the greatest declines compared to 2021 are agriculture (-31%), commerce (-26,6%) and information services (-8,5%). On the other hand, the new VAT numbers increased in the education sectors (+24,2%), transport (+11,8%) and artistic and sporting activities (+11,7%).
As far as natural persons are concerned, the breakdown by gender is relatively stable, with 60,9% of openings by male subjects in 2022. 49,6% of new VAT numbers were initiated by young people up to 35 years and 30,5% from subjects aged between 36 and 50 years. The comparison with the previous year shows a growing decrease in openings as the age of the applicants increases (from -2,6% of the youngest class to -13,6% of the oldest). The distribution of new VAT registrations based on the country of birth shows that around 20% of starters were born abroad (a slight increase compared to 18% in 2021).
In 2022, 239.131 subjects joined the flat-rate regime (instead of the ordinary tax regime), a figure essentially identical to the previous year. These memberships represent 47,7% of the total number of new VAT registrations.
On the other hand, with regard to the details of the data relating to the fourth quarter of 2022 alone, the number of new VAT numbers that have been opened is 91.216 (-14,3% compared to the same period of the previous year).