Sell into Italy before you have an Italian entity
No Italian company, no import licence, no VAT number yet? You can still get your stock into Italy and start selling. Our partner acts as your Importer of Record and, if you need it, Merchant of Record, while we fulfil every order from our Italian warehouse.
The wall every non-EU brand hits
If you sell into Italy from outside the EU, one problem stops everything before it starts: with no Italian legal entity, no import licence and no Italian VAT registration, you cannot legally bring your own stock into the country. An Importer of Record removes that wall — so you launch in Italy now, and whether you ever set up your own Italian entity stays a separate decision, made on your own terms.
IoR vs MoR — get the difference right
Importer of Record (IoR)
The entity legally responsible for getting your goods across the border into Italy: customs clearance, paying import duties and import VAT, and taking legal responsibility for a compliant import. It answers one question — how do my goods legally enter Italy?
Merchant of Record (MoR)
The entity that is the legal seller of the transaction to the end consumer: it handles VAT on the sale, payment processing, chargebacks and consumer-facing terms. It answers a different question — who is the legal seller on record, and who handles that sale's tax? It is optional: you only need it if you do not want your own Italian VAT registration.
They are independent. Depending on how you choose to sell into Italy, you may need one, both, or neither — you take only the pieces you need.
Importer of Record: get your stock into Italy now
Who it is for: non-EU brands (Korea, the US, the UK, China and beyond) with no Italian or EU legal entity, import licence or VAT registration.
- A legal importer for your shipments — our partner Based Agency acts as your Importer of Record.
- End-to-end customs clearance.
- Import duties and import VAT paid at the border, then invoiced back to you.
- Goods flow straight into our Fulfilment4Italy warehouse right after clearance.
- The option to register your own Italian VAT (P.IVA), if and when you choose to, handled by our tax partner Taxmen.
Merchant of Record: sell without your own Italian VAT (optional)
Who it is for: brands that choose not to hold their own Italian VAT registration. Running on an MoR or registering your own VAT are two valid long-term strategies, not a sequence — it is a decision, not a waiting room.
- Based Agency acts as seller-of-record for your consumer transactions.
- VAT on the sale handled for you.
- No Italian VAT registration of your own required — for as long as that suits your strategy.
You may not need this at all. If you would rather hold your own Italian VAT number (P.IVA), you do not need an MoR — and we will tell you so. We would rather scope the right setup than sell you a layer you do not need.
Which path do I need?
| Path A — Own VAT | Path B — With MoR | |
|---|---|---|
| VAT registration | You register your own Italian VAT (P.IVA) | Not needed |
| Who sells to the consumer | You sell directly | Our partner sells as seller-of-record |
| Control & margin | Full control | Slightly reduced, offset by simplicity |
| Best for | Brands that want their own Italian VAT and to sell directly | Brands that would rather not hold Italian VAT, short or long term |
| Still need an IoR? | Yes, if importing before your entity is ready | Yes |
| Still need fulfilment? | Yes | Yes |
One package, four partners doing what they do best
Based Agency
Importer & Merchant of Record, plus your e-commerce platform — legal import into Italy, optional seller-of-record for your sales, and your store build and digital setup.
Taxmen
Italian VAT & EU OSS — Italian VAT (P.IVA) registration and EU One Stop Shop (OSS) declarations and payments.
Fulfilment4Italy
Fulfilment — Warehousing, pick and pack, shipping, returns and 100+ marketplace integrations, from our Italian warehouse.
Salesupply
Customer service & European reach — multilingual customer service in every major European language, hybrid support that blends AI and human agents, and a 3PL network across the EU, the UK and the USA.
Tell us where you are starting from
A few questions so we can scope the right setup — Importer of Record, VAT, MoR or none — and come back with a plan and a quote.
Sell into Italy without the entity headache
Send us your starting point and we will map out Importer of Record, fulfilment, VAT and the optional MoR — only what you actually need.