What is Italy's PEC?
PEC (pronounced “peque”) means Certified mail, or Certified Electronic Mail.
Basically, it's an email account that gives you confirmation that your message was sent.
Messages sent between PEC accounts are certified with a timestamp to show when you sent them and when they were received, with an automatic receipt record sent via email as an attachment. In Italy, the PEC has the same legal value as a registered letter.
As of 2022, according to Italian government statistics, there were around 14,4 million PEC addresses and over 430 million messages exchanged via PEC.
Who needs a PEC?
Anyone over 18 living in Italy can obtain a PEC, as can Italian citizens living abroad.
For some people it is mandatory. Since October 2020, all companies registered in Italy are legally required to have a PEC account, including self-employed professionals and individual companies (Individual microentrepreneur) — basically anyone with a partita IVA, or VAT number.
Even if this does not apply to you, you can choose to obtain a PEC to carry out more Italian administrative procedures online. For example, if you need to send important documents or an official request, for example to change your registered address or register a contract, you can do so through PEC from home, without having to print forms or go to the post office.
In some cases, a PEC may be the only way to send something online. For example, if you are writing to a PEC address, messages from a regular email account will generally not be delivered. (You can configure your PEC to receive messages from regular email accounts, and you can always write from a PEC address to a regular one, but in either case the messages will not be certified.)
If you only need to use the PEC occasionally and don't think it's worth opening your own account, ask someone with a PEC — such as a friend, your employer, accountant or lawyer — to send the message on your behalf: they don't necessarily need to come from an account in your own name.
Sending an email is a simple task, but when it comes to sending an official email in Italy, a little more care is needed. This is where the PEC comes in (Posta Elettronica Certificata), a secure and legally recognized way to send and receive official emails in Italy.
When sending a PEC email, it is important to remember that you should receive an automatic response confirming receipt. If you don't receive it, it could mean that your email was not delivered and this could cause you problems, as one of our reporters found out the hard way.
How to get a PEC account?
PEC accounts are managed by government-approved private providers such as Poste Italiane, Aruba e InfoCert (Legalmail) among the most used.
find one full list of authorized PEC providers here. You can find details of services, as well as how to sign up, on each company's website.
The exact procedure for opening an account varies depending on the company you choose, but most providers allow you to do everything online. It usually involves entering your personal information (including your tax codeChoose a username and password, sign a contract, and submit a copy of your identity document or passport (a Brazilian one is acceptable).
You will usually also have to pay for a PEC account, with fees generally charged annually.
How much does a PEC account cost?
This varies depending on the company and level of service you choose: Aruba's basic package starts at €5 (about R$26) plus VAT per year, increasing to €40 plus VAT for an option "Premium" with more storage and an option to receive notifications via SMS.
Poste Italiane charges €5,50 for one year, €9 for two years and €10,50 for three years (not including VAT), with the option to add storage for an extra fee.
It's worth shopping around to find the best deal for you, especially as providers regularly run promotions offering discounts or free trials.
You may also find that a PEC account is included free of charge with certain bank accounts, especially business accounts.
FOLLOW-US
