Taxation is determined in the contract. (By the time the invoice arrives, it is already too late.)

Three things we learned from the WIM Insights webinar on event taxation with Dr. Alessio Paoli. (There are many more.)

In our industry, VAT is often treated as a mere formality: you add it at the bottom of the quote, calculate it on the invoice, and let the accountant deal with it. The October 6th webinar started from the opposite premise. Taxation is a line item in the quote, and within the exact same event—with the same services and the same profit margin—the client can end up paying thousands of euros more or less depending on how it is set up.

We are not talking about tax evasion or tax avoidance. It is about knowing the options provided by law and choosing the right one before signing. Our guest, Dr. Alessio Paoli, a chartered accountant and statutory auditor, has followed WIM since its beginnings and knows the event industry from the inside out. Of the many key takeaways, here are three.

First takeaway: "Non-EU client, no VAT" is a myth

It is a widespread belief, and almost always wrong. Only generic services rendered to a business qualify for exemption from Italian VAT. An American couple, being private clients, pay VAT on everything. And even an American company pays VAT on venue hire, accommodation, catering, and transport, because the law taxes them where the event takes place. According to Alessio, these items represent 70–80% of an event's total cost. Only the planner's fee, design, and photography fall under the general exemption rule.

Second takeaway: deposit and advance payment are not synonyms

In our industry, deposits are collected up to two years before an event. If that deposit is considered an advance payment (acconto), it must be invoiced immediately with VAT. If the event is canceled and the money refunded more than a year later, that VAT can no longer be recovered. However, if it is a confirmatory deposit (caparra confirmatoria), it remains outside the scope of VAT until the event takes place. A single word in the contract can mean tax lost or saved—provided the actual substance matches the wording.

Third takeaway: same event, 4,800 euros difference

An event with €40,000 in catering, €20,000 for the venue, €30,000 in other services, and a €10,000 planning fee costs a private client €117,200 if the planner works on agency mandate and each service retains its specific tax rate. It costs €122,000 if everything is sold as a single package at 22%. The planner's margin is identical: €10,000. The €4,800 difference is purely tax paid by the client, without benefiting any of the vendors.

Everything else

In the webinar, we also covered: why a business registry check isn't enough to invoice a US company without VAT; the "key test" that distinguishes venue rental from a service package; why flowers are taxed at 10% while floral design is at 22%; when general contracting for a non-EU company can be invoiced without VAT (and why it requires "a slight taste for thrill"); what risks a planner faces when collecting guest house rentals; why the key word for foreign bands is "gross"; why cash payments exceeding €5,000 are non-compliant even in installments; and what to do when a bank blocks a client's wire transfer ten days before the event.

The complete in-depth article, ten operational steps, and webinar slides—with all legal references—are available on WIMforPRO, in the Insights Plus section reserved for Silver and Gold network members.

The series continues on October 13th at 11:00 AM with a webinar on the Russian-speaking market with Victoria Kursova. From November 18th to 20th, we will gather in Florence for the WIM Event 2026, with final tickets remaining. The full program is at wimforevents.com.

Now we know the rules. It's up to us to write them into our quotes.

The contents of this article are for informational and educational purposes only and reflect the insights shared during the webinar. They do not constitute tax advice and do not replace professional advice from your accountant on specific cases. From 2027, the entry into force of the new VAT Consolidation Act (Testo unico IVA) will change the article numbering referenced, but not the rules themselves.