SPID & Codice Fiscale Digital Access
The codice fiscale opens every door, and SPID is the single login behind Italy’s public services — ISEE, assegno unico, taxes and health records.
Codice fiscale first
The codice fiscale is Italy's tax ID — a 16-character code you need to open a bank account, sign a rental, get paid legally, register with the ASL or request almost any certificate. It is issued free at any Agenzia delle Entrate office with your passport and permesso; the plastic tessera follows by mail, but the printed code works from day one.
What SPID unlocks
SPID is the single digital login for Italian public services, and it replaces a drawer of passwords: INPS (ISEE, contribution records, family benefits), the Agenzia delle Entrate (tax filings, F24 payments, IMU), your fascicolo sanitario elettronico (electronic health records), comune certificates, school enrolment and PagoPA payments to any public body.
For ISEE alone it pays for the hour it takes: the Dichiarazione Sostitutiva Unica, filed online with SPID, is what unlocks the assegno unico child benefit, reduced school-meal and nursery fees, and the bonus stack — and every claim your family makes afterward inherits it.
Getting SPID step by step
Choose an accredited provider — Aruba, InfoCert, Intesa Identity, Namirial, Poste Italiane, Register.it, TIM or Leida — and create the account with your codice fiscale, a valid ID document, an email address and a phone number registered in your own name. Basic-level SPID is free at most providers; the identity check runs by video call or in person, and the credentials arrive the same week.
Keep the recovery codes somewhere safe: losing SPID credentials with an expired phone number means starting the identification over, and every benefit tied to the login waits while you redo it.
Frequently asked questions
Is SPID free?
The basic SPID identity — level 1 and 2 — is free at most providers; some charge small fees for higher security levels or in-person identification. Anything advertised as a paid SPID service by a third party is optional help, not the credential itself.
Why does the phone number need to be in my own name?
The number is the recovery and verification channel — SMS codes reset your password, and providers reject numbers registered under someone else. A prepaid SIM registered with your codice fiscale at the shop works fine.
Can I get SPID while my permesso renewal is pending?
You need a valid identity document. A passport that has not expired plus the kit receipt normally satisfies the providers, but a fully expired passport and permesso together will stall the identification until one is renewed.
SPID, CIE or CNS — which one do I need?
SPID covers nearly everything online and is the one to get first. The CIE (electronic ID card) and CNS are alternatives some services accept, but the SPID ecosystem is the widest — and the only one that reaches ISEE from your kitchen table.
I lost my SPID credentials — what now?
Use the recovery flow on your provider's site with the saved recovery codes and your phone number. If both the codes and the number are gone, the provider cancels the identity and you enrol again — nothing is lost in the public records, only the login.