Here’s how to interact with Italian public administration entities whenever you need to pay taxes or stamp duties.
5 min read
You’ve probably heard about it, or you might have already used it—yes, we’re talking about the PagoPA payment interface. But, what exactly is it, and what do you use it for? Read our brief guide to learn more about the “blue logo with an arrow,” often appearing as an online payment option.
What is PagoPA?
PagoPA is an electronic payments system, available throughout Italy and designed for all transactions directed towards Italian public administration entities. However, despite the name, it’s not just a payment portal—PagoPA is also a set of rules, standards and tools defined by the Agenzia per l’Italia Digitale (Agency for a Digital Italy, or AgID) and accepted by the public administration, banks, post offices and other affiliated intermediaries. By selecting the PagoPA method, you can make online payments on the public administration entity’s website or app. Alternatively, you can make in-person and online payments through banks and other affiliated intermediaries.More specifically, the system sets compulsory guidelines which include the generation of a unique payment Identificativo Univoco di Versamento (Payment Identification Code) (IUV), conforming to the required format of the standards established by AgID. This code is generated by the creditor entity and identifies the transactions directed to PagoPA. As it consists of a unique set of characters, each payment has its own IUV code.
Payments via PagoPA
PagoPA allows you to make electronic payments to central and local public administration entities, and other bodies such as public companies, schools, universities and local health authorities. The types of payment available are:
Duties
Taxes
Utilities
Tuition fees
Membership fees
Stamp duties
Initially, the Italian government made PagoPA mandatory for all public administration entities starting from July 1, 2020. This requirement was then postponed to February 28, 2021. From this date onwards, PagoPA is mandatory when making digital payments to public administration entities.
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If you receive a PagoPA payment notification, you can settle the payment in the following ways:
Over the counter at a bank branch
By accessing your profile on your bank’s website (easily recognizable with the CBILL or PagoPA logos)
At authorized ATMs
At the post office
At authorized retail points of other affiliated intermediaries.
To make a payment, you’ll need:
Your personal information
An email address
Your login credentials (for payments on affiliated entities’ websites or home banking payments)
The PagoPA Notice of payment, which includes a IUV code (indicated as Codice Avviso on the PagoPA notice), a QR code (for payments at physical locations or via apps) and the CBILL code (for home banking payments via the CBILL circuit).
How can I make a PagoPA payment?
When you want to pay at a physical location—such as a post office—all you have to do is hand over the notice of payment to the merchant, and pay in cash or by digital forms of payment (by card, etc.).
When you pay at an ATM, make sure your bank activates this function. If this is the case, choose either the Ricariche (top ups) or Pagamenti (payments) option at the ATM, then select the CBILL circuit and the nuovo pagamento (new payment) option. Now, enter the CBILL code you find on the PagoPA notice of payment and the IUV code.
For home banking payments via CBILL, simply access the payments or utility bills section on your bank’s website, and then select the CBILL circuit option (if supported by your bank). The system will recognize the CBILL code you find on the payment slip once you enter it. Then, simply enter the IUV code and the amount to complete the payment.
When paying on a creditor entity website, look for the PagoPA logo and click on it. Enter the codice fiscale (Italian Tax Code) and the Notice Code (IUV) in the popup window. You will be often asked to enter your email address or your SPID digital identity. You can generally pay by credit or debit card.
Payments via the Io app (Italian Department for Digital Transformation app, specifically designed for dealing with public services) require either a SPID digital identity or an electronic identity card, along with either a debit, credit or a prepaid card (the only payment methods available at the moment). You can make a payment through a message—with an QR code from a printed notice of the payment/pdf file, or by entering in the details manually.
Please note that this is a digital payment made to the Italian Public Administration and not to any private operators. Because of this, the intermediaries offering the service may charge a fee.
Is PagoPA safe?
PagoPA complies with the security standards provided by the Payment Card Industry (PCI) and the strong customer authentication requirements of the Revised Payment Services Directive (PSD2). This is a European regulation that disciplines the security and efficiency of digital payments. As a result, all intermediaries participating in the PagoPA system must comply with the security and fraud prevention requirements established by the PSD2.
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