Employer of Record UK for Italian companies: cost and the NI-only route

These are US dollar prices, not euros. Pounds are at HMRC's exchange rate for October 2026, 1.3456 US dollars to the pound, rounded to the nearest pound. Each figure is a platform's own published starting price for its fee; for the price of your own hire, ask the provider. Our full pricing comparison sets the same range beside our direct routes.

An Employer of Record becomes the legal employer and takes on the employer's duties; we run the payroll while you stay the employer, so the fees pay for different things.

Employing the person yourself, with no UK company

An Italian company with no UK place of business has two routes, and on both the company stays the employer. Someone working in the UK for an employer in the EU usually pays UK National Insurance, unless they have a certificate of coverage (an A1) from that country. If your employee already has one, there's no National Insurance scheme to register and no fee for one.

When someone works in the UK for an employer based in the EU and UK National Insurance is due, it is due on both sides, the employee's and the employer's, so the scheme is an NI-only scheme in the employer's name and not a DPNI or DCNI. The employer registers the NI-only scheme in its own name, and can give us authority to act for it. We will ask HMRC for the scheme that fits your facts, and they may suggest a different one once they have the full facts.

Employer's National Insurance is the company's cost

For most employees, UK employer's National Insurance is 15% of pay above £5,000 a year. An employer based in the EU, Gibraltar, the Isle of Man, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein can owe it too, where the employee works in the UK and UK National Insurance is due. It is the employer's cost, not the employee's. Under the UK and EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement, an employer based outside the UK pays these contributions just as if it were based here.

Your employee's income tax on an NI-only scheme

This scheme doesn't take your employee's income tax off their pay. They pay their income tax through their own Self Assessment or, if they'd rather, through a tax-only scheme in their name.

If you provide benefits or expenses

If an employer also provides expenses and benefits, HMRC set its record up as a "P" scheme instead of an NI-only one, because they expect a form P11D(b) and a Class 1A National Insurance charge. It's a different kind of HMRC record, not a different price, and we charge the same either way.

Or run UK PAYE in the company's own name

The other route is for the company to run UK PAYE in its own name. A UK PAYE scheme in the company's own name starts at £225 a month plus £8 per payslip, and setting it up costs £350.

The A1 from INPS, and the older UK and Italy agreement

An A1, the documento portatile A1, is issued by the social security institution of the country whose legislation applies, so for a worker who stays under Italian social security it comes from INPS. For an employee, the employer or its social security adviser asks for it online, through INPS's portal. Only companies registered with INPS can use that procedure, and the request goes to the local INPS office the employer is registered with. INPS sends the A1 to whoever applied, by certified email (PEC) or email.

For the UK, INPS set out the position in its circular no. 71 of 27 April 2021, on the Trade and Cooperation Agreement. Requests for postings to the UK go to its local offices, A1 forms carry on being used to certify which country's legislation applies during a transitional period, and a posting can no longer be extended past the usual 24 months. GOV.UK describes the person this is for as someone coming to work temporarily in the UK for up to two years, employed in an EU country by an EU employer who normally works there. With a certificate, your employee doesn't need to pay National Insurance in the UK, and as an employer your liability follows theirs. If you hire someone to live and work here and they have no A1, the direct route above applies.

The older UK and Italy agreement

The UK and Italy also have an older social security agreement, which HMRC's list of agreements with contribution provisions shows under a 1953 Statutory Instrument, number 884. Nothing on this page depends on it. The answer here comes from the Trade and Cooperation Agreement: HMRC's employer guide for 2026 to 2027 lists Italy among the European Union states, and the EU among the agreements that include employer obligations.

Euros, and a thirteenth or fourteenth month

If the salary is agreed in euros

A salary paid in another currency is still chargeable in the UK, and the amount has to be worked out in pounds sterling. Currency conversion costs and any loss on the exchange can't be deducted. When you send us pay details, please convert them to pounds sterling first, rather than leaving them in another currency.

A tredicesima or quattordicesima

If you pay a thirteenth month, a fourteenth, or both, tell us the months they're paid in. UK National Insurance is worked out on pay when it's paid: HMRC treat an extra payment as part of the total pay at the time it's paid, no matter when it was earned. So the month that carries the extra payment carries more employer's National Insurance, and the other months carry less than they would if the same salary were paid in twelve.

Each payday is worked out against the monthly threshold of £417. Twelve of those make £5,004, not £5,000, so the month-by-month figure comes out 60p below the yearly one. The example assumes the standard rate (employees under 21, apprentices under 25 and veterans can have a 0% employer rate up to an upper threshold) and no A1. Your employee's own National Insurance, any pension and our fee are not included. Figures are indicative, not a quote.

Our fee for the first twelve months

An NI-only scheme costs £157 a month for one employee, and £150 a month plus £7 per payslip for two or more. Setting up is a one-off £750, however many employees the scheme covers, or a one-off £500 if you go ahead within two weeks of your quote. We are not VAT registered, so no VAT is added. We will ask HMRC for the scheme that fits your facts, and they may suggest a different one once they have the full facts.

Italian companies hiring in the UK: common questions

How much does an Employer of Record cost an Italian company in the UK?

Four of the best-known Employer of Record platforms publish starting prices of $399 to $699 per employee per month on their own pricing pages, read 22 October 2026, with $599 the most common. At HMRC's October 2026 rate of 1.3456 dollars to the pound, that is about £297 to £519, and about £445 for $599. These are US dollar prices.

Which HMRC scheme does an Italian employer use?

When someone works in the UK for an employer based in the EU and UK National Insurance is due, it is due on both sides, the employee's and the employer's, so the scheme is an NI-only scheme in the employer's name and not a DPNI or DCNI. We will ask HMRC for the scheme that fits your facts, and they may suggest a different one once they have the full facts.

Who issues the A1 for someone coming from Italy?

INPS, for a worker who stays under Italian social security. The employer applies online, and the request goes to the local INPS office it is registered with. INPS's 2021 circular on the Trade and Cooperation Agreement says A1 forms carry on being used for the UK during a transitional period, and that a posting there can't be extended past the usual 24 months. A certificate confirms that your employee doesn't need to pay National Insurance in the UK.

What happens to a thirteenth month on UK payroll?

HMRC treat an extra payment as part of the total pay at the time it's paid, no matter when it was earned. On a £39,000 salary paid in 13 payments, employer's National Insurance is £387.45 in an ordinary month and £837.45 in the month with the thirteenth payment, about £5,100 over the year.

Can the salary be paid in euros?

A salary paid in another currency is still chargeable in the UK, and the amount has to be worked out in pounds sterling. Currency conversion costs and any loss on the exchange can't be deducted.

What does the direct route cost an Italian company?

An NI-only scheme costs £157 a month for one employee, and £150 a month plus £7 per payslip for two or more. Setting up is a one-off £750, however many employees the scheme covers, or a one-off £500 if you go ahead within two weeks of your quote. A UK PAYE scheme in the company's own name starts at £225 a month plus £8 per payslip, and setting it up costs £350. No VAT is added. We will ask HMRC for the scheme that fits your facts, and they may suggest a different one once they have the full facts.

How long does the direct route take?

We'd allow four to eight weeks for HMRC to set the scheme up, and that's our own estimate, not a figure from HMRC. Nothing goes to HMRC until the engagement is signed and our identity checks are done, so our four to eight weeks starts then, not today.

Read next

• Hiring in the UK from Italy, the two payroll routes, what the employer must do, and timing.
• The NI-only scheme, what it is and who it is for.
• Employer's National Insurance explained, the rates and thresholds behind the worked example.
• Employer of Record pricing in the UK, the published range beside our direct routes.
• Employer of Record UK for Spanish companies, the TGSS A1 and the two pagas extraordinarias.
• Employer of Record UK: the complete guide, every EOR guide in one place.