IRES (Imposta sul Reddito delle Societa) is Italy's corporate income tax, charged on the taxable profit of companies such as SpA and Srl, cooperatives and other resident entities. Non-resident companies pay IRES only on income arising in Italy. It is the corporate counterpart to IRPEF, which taxes individuals.
For 2025 and 2026 the standard IRES rate is a flat 24% on net taxable profit, calculated by adjusting the statutory accounting result for non-deductible costs, tax depreciation and other fiscal variations. A reduced rate can apply where a company reinvests profits and increases employment under specific incentive rules.
Take a company with EUR 500,000 of taxable profit: IRES is 24% x EUR 500,000 = EUR 120,000. Most trading companies also owe IRAP on their net production value, so the combined corporate burden is higher than the 24% headline suggests.
At 24%, Italy sits close to the UK main corporation tax rate of 25% and below the German combined corporate rate of roughly 30%, while the US federal rate is 21% before state taxes. See how jurisdictions stack up in our tax comparison by country.