# Semi Retirement in Italy



## jpag (Dec 5, 2010)

If someone can assist with this question it would be greatly appreciated. I am born in the US but (ma) I am eligible for Italian citizenship through my parents. I qualify completely and have the paperwork in front of the Italian Consulate, no worries there. However, upon becoming official will I be able to apply for work in Italy ? Do I need to reside there in order to qualify for my work permit ? My professionalism is security and investigations, I retired from the government here in the US. Are there any jobs in Italy for this line of professionalism, I have expertise with Import and Export; Executive Protection; and legal process. I am working on my language skills, I would like to live in Italy for at least one year to get my skills fluent (again)


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

jpag said:


> If someone can assist with this question it would be greatly appreciated. I am born in the US but (ma) I am eligible for Italian citizenship through my parents. I qualify completely and have the paperwork in front of the Italian Consulate, no worries there. However, upon becoming official will I be able to apply for work in Italy ? Do I need to reside there in order to qualify for my work permit ? My professionalism is security and investigations, I retired from the government here in the US. Are there any jobs in Italy for this line of professionalism, I have expertise with Import and Export; Executive Protection; and legal process. I am working on my language skills, I would like to live in Italy for at least one year to get my skills fluent (again)


If you are given an Italian passport, then you are an Italian citizen and you can live, work, vote, stand for election and do what else you like in Italy - no questions asked. 
Whether you can find a job in your line of work depends largely on your fluency in Italian, written and spoken. Jobs are generally hard to find, there is high unemployment and employers give preference to those with Italian qualification and experience. I suggest your best bet is to network among contacts in Italy, maybe a branch or subsidiary of US firms there. 
Or you can just go with a good amount of savings to better your Italian - there are many good language schools there. You can also work in your spare time, and perhaps you can get a foothold in your specialism. At least you have a chance to see how the land lies and what opportunities (or lack of them) you have.
One thing you may not be eligible, at least to start with, is state health insurance cover and any state benefits, as you haven't contributed anything in Italy. Once you get established there and start making contributions, then more becomes available to you.


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## jpag (Dec 5, 2010)

thank you for your timely response, I greatly appreciate it. You answered some of my concerns very nicely. I have a lot to think about. There is also the tax ramifications of paying the US and Italian governments that I need to get answered. My pension is very good, e.g., $6000 plus per month net after my tax and health care deductions, but I am too young to retire completely.


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

jpag said:


> thank you for your timely response, I greatly appreciate it. You answered some of my concerns very nicely. I have a lot to think about. There is also the tax ramifications of paying the US and Italian governments that I need to get answered. My pension is very good, e.g., $6000 plus per month net after my tax and health care deductions, but I am too young to retire completely.


You won't have to pay taxes to both governments on the same income, thanks to the tax treaties between the US and Italy. But you will have to file returns/declarations with both countries as long as you are resident in Italy. (US taxpayers have to file forever.)

General rule of thumb (always subject to some exceptions) is that you pay tax on your pension to the country the pension comes from. You pay taxes on "earned income" to the country in which you are resident while earning the income. For US tax purposes, you must declare all worldwide income, no matter where you live, but there are various means of adjusting the taxation, the main one being the overseas earned income exclusion.

For more details on the US side of the tax issue, take a look at publication 54 on the US IRS website. I don't know enough about Italian taxation to tell you where to look, but I'm sure the Italian tax authority has a website with most of the information you need - only it's very likely to be in Italian only.
Cheers,
Bev


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## Arturo.c (Aug 15, 2010)

Joppa said:


> One thing you may not be eligible, at least to start with, is state health insurance cover and any state benefits, as you haven't contributed anything in Italy. Once you get established there and start making contributions, then more becomes available to you.


I beg to disagree. Every Italian citizen can sign up with the SSN (Servizio Sanitario Nazionale) regardless of whether he became Italian the day before or if he was born and raised in Italy.

Health care is a constitutional right in Italy, and also some entitlements to benefits (public housing, pensione sociale, etc.) have no connection with contributions.

Only retirement allowances by INPS are calculated on the basis of past deductions from paychecks, and there are international agreements in force that allow persons who worked abroad for some time to reunify their contributions in order to be paid a single monthy retirement benefit in the country of choice.


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