SdI and FatturaPA: the Italian universal clearance

Italy is the global pioneer of Continuous Transaction Control (CTC). Since 1 January 2019, every B2B and B2G invoice must transit through the Sistema di Interscambio (SdI), in FatturaPA XML format, and be cleared by Agenzia delle Entrate before reaching the recipient. France, Spain, Poland and Greece took inspiration from it.

History: 2014 → 2026

The SdI was deployed in three major waves, turning Italy into the live laboratory of European clearance.

2014 — Mandatory B2G decree. Decreto Ministeriale MEF 55 of 3 April 2013 mandates fatturazione elettronica towards central administrations (ministries, fiscal Agencies, ENPALS, INPS) from 6 June 2014. All other public bodies follow on 31 March 2015.
2015 — Decreto Legislativo 127/2015. Lays the legal foundations of the future B2B mandate and creates the opzione principle for voluntary private e-invoicing from 1 January 2017.
2018 — Provvedimento 89757/2018. Published on 30 April 2018 with the FatturaPA versione 1.5 technical format (B2B), specifies SdI controls, ricevute (acknowledgements) and notification delays.
2019 — B2B universalisation. On 1 January 2019, every B2B invoice between Italian VAT-registered persons must go through the SdI. First EU country to industrialise 100% clearance.
2022 — B2C extension. On 1 January 2022, the SdI becomes the mandatory channel also for B2C invoices once they are issued (B2C e-invoicing is only mandatory upon client request, but if issued, it must go through the SdI).
2024 — Esterometro abolition. The quarterly Esterometro report (declaration of cross-border transactions) is abolished from 1 July 2022; cross-border operations are now transmitted directly via the SdI in XML format.
2025-2026 — ViDA convergence. The SdI prepares its alignment with the European Commission's VAT in the Digital Age (ViDA) proposal: shift to the CEN EN 16931 format (UBL or CII) for intra-EU flows by 2030, while keeping FatturaPA internally.

SdI architecture

The SdI is an XML messaging system operated by SOGEI (AdE IT concessionnaire). It plays five roles simultaneously.

Reception. Accepts signed XML flows from five sending channels (PEC, AdE web, SDIcoop SOAP, SDIftp, SDI web service).
Validation. Technical check (XSD schema, uniqueness, format) then semantic check (existence of partita IVA, valid recipient codes).
Routing. Delivers the invoice to the recipient based on Codice Destinatario or declared PEC, with a guaranteed turnaround of 5 working days.
Notification. Issues a ricevuta (RC = consegna, MC = mancata consegna, NS = scarto, NE = esito) to the issuer for every invoice.
10-year technical archive. The AdE keeps a technical copy for 10 years, for tax audit purposes.

text sdi-flow.txt

┌──────────┐        ┌──────────────┐        ┌──────────────┐
│  Issuer  │ ─────> │      SdI     │ ─────> │  Recipient   │
│ (CP/SP)  │  XML   │ (AdE relay)  │  XML   │   (CC)       │
└──────────┘        └──────────────┘        └──────────────┘
                            │
                            ▼
                ┌──────────────────────────┐
                │ XSD validation + ricevuta│
                │ RC, NS, MC, MT, EC, NE   │
                └──────────────────────────┘

Legal basis

Decreto Legislativo 127/2015 of 5 August 2015 — establishes fatturazione elettronica as a unique optional channel between private parties; gives the MEF the power to mandate the SdI channel via subsequent ministerial decree.
Provvedimento del Direttore dell"Agenzia delle Entrate 89757/2018 of 30 April 2018 — publishes the technical B2B FatturaPA rules, the FPR12 XML format, the sending channels (PEC, SDIcoop, SDIftp), the ricevute and delays.
Legge di Bilancio 2018 (Legge 205/2017 art. 1 commi 909-928) — legal act making B2B fatturazione elettronica mandatory from 1 January 2019.
Legge di Bilancio 2021 (Legge 178/2020) — extends fatturazione elettronica to optional B2C flows and gradually abolishes the Esterometro.
Decreto Ministeriale MEF 55/2013 of 3 April 2013 — foundation of mandatory B2G fatturazione elettronica (June 2014 and March 2015).

Volumes and usage statistics

The SdI publishes an annual activity report (Bilancio Sociale dell'Agenzia delle Entrate). Consolidated 2024 figures:

Indicator	2024 value	Change vs 2023
B2B + B2G + B2C invoices transmitted	~2.4 billion	+5.3%
Active unique issuers	~4.5 million partita IVA	+2.1%
Unique Codice Destinatario in use	~12,000	+3.8%
Cumulative volume since Jan 2019	~6.5 billion	—
Average scarto (rejection) rate	~2.1%	−0.4 pp
Average notification delay	~2 minutes (nominal)	≈ stable

FatturaPA submission flow

A FatturaPA invoice is a signed XML file (XAdES-BES or CAdES-BES, depending on channel), with a FatturaElettronicaHeader and one or more FatturaElettronicaBody blocks.

xml invoice-fpr12.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<p:FatturaElettronica versione="FPR12"
    xmlns:p="http://ivaservizi.agenziaentrate.gov.it/docs/xsd/fatture/v1.2"
    xmlns:ds="http://www.w3.org/2000/09/xmldsig#"
    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
  <FatturaElettronicaHeader>
    <DatiTrasmissione>
      <IdTrasmittente>
        <IdPaese>IT</IdPaese>
        <IdCodice>01234567890</IdCodice>
      </IdTrasmittente>
      <ProgressivoInvio>00001</ProgressivoInvio>
      <FormatoTrasmissione>FPR12</FormatoTrasmissione>
      <CodiceDestinatario>ABCDEF1</CodiceDestinatario>
    </DatiTrasmissione>
    <CedentePrestatore>...</CedentePrestatore>
    <CessionarioCommittente>...</CessionarioCommittente>
  </FatturaElettronicaHeader>
  <FatturaElettronicaBody>
    <DatiGenerali>...</DatiGenerali>
    <DatiBeniServizi>...</DatiBeniServizi>
    <DatiPagamento>...</DatiPagamento>
  </FatturaElettronicaBody>
</p:FatturaElettronica>

The SdI can send back five types of ricevuta:

RC — Ricevuta di Consegna: invoice delivered to the recipient.
MC — Mancata Consegna: invoice made available on the Fatture e Corrispettivi portal (recipient unreachable).
NS — Notifica di Scarto: invoice rejected by the SdI for technical reason.
MT — Mancato recapito: impossible to notify either recipient or intermediary.
EC — Esito Committente: the recipient formally accepts or refuses the invoice (optional).

The Italian CTC model

The SdI is the reference model for pure 3- or 4-corner clearance (depending on whether you count the AdE as a separate corner from the SdI). Several countries took inspiration from it while adapting the design:

France (PPF + PDPs 2026) — 5-corner variant with private PDPs interposed between issuer and recipient, the PPF keeping the directory + e-reporting role. SdI-inspired but more decentralised.
Spain (Verifactu / Sistema Inmediato 2026) — hybrid VeriFactu model with hash chains on the issuer side, no pure centralised clearance; AEAT receives the QR code in near-real-time.
Poland (KSeF) — almost identical SdI model, pending after the postponement to 1 February 2026.
Greece (myDATA + e-Invoicing) — clearance with MARK + UID generation by AADE, similar in spirit but with a deeper pre-declarative fiscal accounting layer.

Foundations

Standards

Flagship messages

Tools