A FEW THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE TAX CODE

It is crucial to have the tax code updated online, because starting from 2017/2018 second semester,
the students’ cards are issued only in presence of the official tax code in the system. What does this
mean? The request for the card is done automatically upon enrollment from the system only if the
tax code is detected, and it usually takes from three to four weeks before the card is available to be
collected by the student. The missing tax code in the system does nothing but slow down the process
of getting the card, because the request keeps being delayed until the tax code is online.

If we consider that having the card is fundamental in order to enter laboratories, libraries, and even
to open bank accounts, it is easy to understand why it is important to have it as soon as possible,
therefore all the students should make sure their official tax code is online before the enrollment.

In case the tax code has been obtained from the Italian Representative abroad or during a previous
trip to Italy, it is not necessary to obtain a new one, although it is mandatory to update the OnLine
Services with both the tax code sequence and the pdf related. Also, changing the passport (because
it is expired) is totally irrelevant, as far as the calculation of the tax code is concerned, since it is
based on each student’s personal details, not on the passport number.

Timing: The International Students Office, almost every month, extracts from the system the list of
students with both passport uploaded and administrative fee paid, and sends this list to the Tax
Agency for the tax code to be calculated. It usually takes at least one month (sometimes even more)
to receive the codes from the Agency and put them in the system.

Tax code (calculated): The tax code (calculated) that can be found in the student’s pre-application
is NOT the official tax code (although it is likely to be identical to the official one). It is just a code
calculated by the system in order to allow the student to carry on payments and complete the
enrollment procedures. If necessary, it can also be used to apply for the DSU scholarship. Students
are not supposed to put that code in other sections of their OnLine Services. Once the official tax
code is issued and is in the system, the caption “calculated” automatically disappears.

Errors detected by the system while trying to update the tax code: This is probably due to the fact
that a. the tax code was wrongly calculated (in this case it is necessary to obtain a new one), or b.
the tax code is actually correct, but the personal data in the system are wrong (second name
omitted, day and month inverted, wrong gender, wrong place of birth). In this case, the student
must contact the International Students Office and ask to fix such errors, then it will be possible to
put the tax code.

Tax code not in the system: Among the tax codes that the International Students Office receives
from the Tax Agency, there is always a small percentage of wrongly calculated ones. Sometimes the
International Students Office can send this list of errors to the Tax Agency afterwards and get them
fixed, while in some other cases, this is not possible, and the student is therefore invited to go
personally to the Tax Agency and get the code, once in Italy.
The main reason why the code is not in the system, though, is that the student forgets to upload
the passport or to pay the administrative fee within the deadline. In this case, again, he/she is invited
to go personally to the Tax Agency and get him/herself the code, once in Italy.

Composition of the tax code: The tax code is generated on the basis of the following algorithm:

• Three letters for the SURNAME (further surnames are also considered in the calculation);
• Three letters for the NAME (further names are also considered in the calculation);
• Last two year of birth digits, followed by a letter representing the month of birth, and two
digits for the day of birth (for women, 40 is added to this number);
• A code referred to the country of birth, always starting with the letter Z, followed by three
numbers (i.e. Z404 for the US). It is important to notice that this is one of the most common
mistakes made by the Tax Agency when calculating the tax code, especially when someone
is born in a country which is different from the one he/she has the nationality of;
• Finally a check digit (one letter), which is added in case of homonymy.