The envelope comes from the Agenzia delle Entrate, the Italian Revenue Agency, or from the municipality, and inside is a form that is already full: codes, amounts, due date. It is a pre-filled F24, the F24 predeterminato. The person who receives it has one job left, paying it without changing anything, and that sounds simple until online banking shows no option with that name.
This guide follows the form from top to bottom: what it contains, how it differs from the ordinary and the simplified F24, which fields need copying with the most care. Then it moves on to the payment channels, one by one, from the counter to online.
In short:
- The pre-filled F24 is a payment form completed by the authority that requests the payment: whoever receives it changes neither codes nor amounts.
- It is sent by the Agenzia delle Entrate, by municipalities and by other bodies, for notices, formal acts and local taxes.
- It is not a third format: the form can be ordinary or simplified, what matters is who filled it in.
- The codice ufficio and codice atto link the payment to the act and must be copied exactly.
- It can be paid at a bank, at the post office, through the Agenzia’s online services or through online banking; VAT-number holders pay online only.
What the pre-filled F24 form is
The pre-filled F24 is a payment form that the creditor authority completes before sending it. It reaches the taxpayer with every detail in place: tax code, tax payment codes, reference year, amounts and, where needed, the references of the act the sum comes from. For anyone wondering what a pre-filled F24 is, this is the starting point: it is an ordinary F24, except that someone else has already done the filling in.
One rule follows from this, and it is the only one that matters. The details are copied exactly, with no corrections, because the form exists precisely to stop a handwritten code from sending the payment to the wrong tax. An amount that looks wrong is clarified with the office that issued it, before the due date.
Who sends the pre-filled F24 and in which cases
The most frequent senders are three. The Agenzia delle Entrate attaches it to the letters that follow the check of a tax return, to assessment notices and to notices of penalties. Municipalities use it for IMU and TARI, often together with the payment notice. Other tax authorities send it for their own taxes. The list stays open: the form suits any sum the authority can calculate on its own.
How to recognise a pre-filled F24
The pre-filled F24 is recognisable at a glance, because it arrives printed rather than blank. At the top, the personal details are already written in. In the Erario (State) section the codice ufficio and codice atto spaces are filled in, while on a self-prepared form they are almost always empty. The amounts are calculated to the cent, often with tax, penalties and interest on separate lines. In the local-tax section there may also be an identificativo operazione.
Pre-filled, ordinary and simplified F24: the differences
Three names for the same payment system are confusing, but they answer different questions. Ordinary and simplified describe the layout of the form: the first has six sections, one for each recipient, the second a single section on one side, in use since 2012. The comparison between the two layouts has a guide of its own, ordinary or simplified F24. Pre-filled, on the other hand, says who completed the form. So the difference between the ordinary and the pre-filled F24 is not in the boxes: an ordinary form filled in by the authority is, to all intents and purposes, a pre-filled one.
| Criterion | Ordinary F24 | Simplified F24 | Pre-filled F24 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who fills it in | The taxpayer or an intermediary | The taxpayer or an intermediary | The authority requesting the payment |
| What can be changed | Every field | Every field | Nothing: it is copied as printed |
| Layout | Six sections | Single section, one side | Ordinary or simplified |
| When it is used | Taxes, contributions, premiums, local taxes, excise duties | State, regional and local taxes | Notices, acts and taxes calculated by the authority |
Are the pre-filled and the simplified F24 the same thing?
No, and the mix-up comes from the fact that both look easier than the ordinary form. The simplified F24 is a short form that anyone can fill in for IMU, IRPEF or the local surcharges. The pre-filled one can use exactly that layout, or the ordinary one: what makes it pre-filled is the authority doing the filling in. Asking pre-filled or simplified F24 is a bit like comparing who wrote a letter with the paper it is written on. The pre-filled and the simplified F24 are the same thing only when the authority chooses the short form.
Is the pre-filled F24 ordinary or simplified?
Counting the boxes is enough to tell. One side with a single table and a “sezione” column filled in with the codes ER, RG or EL is the simplified layout; separate boxes for Erario, INPS, Regioni and local taxes mean the ordinary one. Knowing whether a pre-filled F24 is ordinary or simplified pays off when it is time to pay online. Online banking asks for the form type before opening the fields, and the details of a simplified form do not fit the ordinary one’s screen. When in doubt between simplified or pre-filled F24, the rule above applies: the layout is read off the form.
The rule of thumb: ordinary and simplified describe the layout of the form, pre-filled describes who completed it. Faced with a form that is already full, the only thing to work out is which layout it uses, so as to open the right screen at payment time.
The fields to know before paying
A pre-filled F24 form is paid by copying it, and copying it well means knowing what is being read. Every line has a precise job, and one misplaced digit changes where the money goes. There are five groups of details to copy.
Codice ufficio and codice atto
The codice ufficio on a pre-filled F24 is a three-character code identifying the office that issued the act. The codice atto, an eleven-digit number, identifies the act itself: the notice, the letter, the assessment. Together they tell the Agenzia which file the payment belongs to. For tax codes linked to an act, the form’s instructions leave no room: both must be filled in. A code left out or copied wrongly leaves the payment detached from the file, which does not close on its own. In a voluntary correction, the ravvedimento operoso, the codice ufficio stays empty instead.
Identificativo operazione and fields reserved for the office
The identificativo operazione, the transaction identifier, lives in the IMU and other local taxes section. The municipality enters it when it wants to match the payment to a specific position, a TARI notice for example, and it is copied character by character. Some forms also carry wording reserved for the office, the authority’s internal references. These are copied as printed when the payment screen has the matching field.
How a pre-filled F24 is paid
How a pre-filled F24 is paid depends on who is paying and with which means. There are four channels: a bank or post-office counter, an authorised tobacconist, the Agenzia delle Entrate’s online services and online banking. VAT-number holders have one route only, the electronic one, while everyone else can choose. Paying a pre-filled F24 still follows one fixed rule: amounts and codes stay as printed by the authority. The channel changes the form of the receipt, not the content of the payment order.
What you need before paying
Anyone asking how to pay a pre-filled F24 without a hitch will get there faster with four things ready before starting.
Where to pay the pre-filled F24
Where is a pre-filled F24 paid? In the same places as any other F24. Bank counters, post offices and collection agents accept the paper form, authorised tobacconists take it through their own networks, and online there are the Agenzia’s services and online banking. Where to pay a pre-filled F24, though, also depends on the profile of the payer. VAT-number holders are bound to the electronic channel, and the same goes for anyone who wants to use credits to offset the amount.
| Channel | Who can use it | How payment is made |
|---|---|---|
| Bank or post office | Payers with no VAT number, no offsetting | Cash, card, cheque or account debit |
| Authorised tobacconist | Payers with no VAT number, no offsetting | Cash or card, depending on the network |
| The Agenzia’s online services | Everyone, offsetting included | Debit from an account at a bank or at Poste with an agreement |
| Online banking | Everyone, no offsetting | Debit from your own account |
At the bank and at the post office
For people without a VAT number looking for where to pay a pre-filled F24 without using a computer, the counter is the most direct route. Bringing the form is enough. At the bank and at the post office payment is made in cash, with a PagoBANCOMAT or Postamat card, by cheque or by account debit, and the clerk hands back a stamped receipt. That receipt is the proof of payment: it is kept together with the act.
At a tobacconist
Many people look for it as the option round the corner, and in part it is. Tobacconists authorised for payment services accept the F24 through private networks, as a rule for taxpayers without a VAT number and without credits to offset. Accepted forms, maximum amount and fee differ from network to network, and they have changed several times over the years: it is best to ask the shop before turning up. Besides the form, a health insurance card and an identity document are needed.
With the Agenzia delle Entrate’s online services
For a pre-filled F24 from the Agenzia delle Entrate, how is it paid on the Agenzia’s own website? You log in to the reserved area with SPID, CIE or CNS and choose one of the F24 payment services, F24 web or F24 online. The details are copied from the form, including the two act codes in the Erario section, then you enter the IBAN to be debited, which must belong to an account at a bank or at Poste with an agreement with the Agenzia. The receipt stays in the reserved area. Payment orders with credits to offset go through here only.
How to pay the pre-filled F24 online
A pre-filled F24 can be paid online, and for many it is the most convenient option: no queues, a receipt available straight away, a debit from your own account. There are three routes: the bank’s website, its app and the Agenzia’s electronic services. VAT-number holders pay this way only. Paying the pre-filled F24 online does ask for a step that the clerk takes care of at the counter: the details are copied by hand, field by field, into the right screen.
Paying through online banking, step by step
Interfaces change from bank to bank, the path much less. Here is how to pay a pre-filled F24 through online banking in five steps, which hold for most banks and for the Poste Italiane website.
The five steps in online banking
Log in with your credentials and the confirmation the bank asks for, from the app or with a code.
It sits under payments, taxes or tax obligations. There you choose the ordinary or the simplified form, the same layout as the form received.
Tax code, section, tax payment code, reference year and amounts, then the codice ufficio and codice atto if the form shows them.
The total on screen must match the printed balance to the cent. Then you confirm with the security code.
The PDF receipt stays in the online-banking archive: downloading it straight away means it can sit next to the act.
If the bank has no “predeterminato” option
Many banks offer no dedicated option, and this is where the question of how to pay the pre-filled F24 usually comes up. The most common solution is the standard form. You open the ordinary F24, or the simplified one if the form uses that layout, and copy every detail, including the codice atto and codice ufficio in the Erario section. Not every screen shows every field, though. If there is no space for a reference printed on the form, the safest route leads to the Agenzia’s services, where the payment order is complete.
Paying from the bank’s app
On how a pre-filled F24 form is paid from a smartphone there is little to add: the logic is that of the website, on a smaller screen. The F24 option is almost always under payments. Before confirming it is worth enlarging the summary and rereading the codice atto and the reference year, the two lines that slip past most easily. Some apps leave the F24 to the web version only: in that case the path starts again from the computer.
Who has to pay online
For VAT-number holders the answer is clear-cut. All holders of a VAT number submit the F24 by electronic means only, and the rule applies even when the form arrives already filled in: paying the pre-filled F24 at the counter is not possible for them. The routes are the Agenzia’s services, the internet banking of banks and Poste with an agreement, and authorised intermediaries such as the accountant. Taxpayers without a VAT number are free to choose between the counter and online. One rule applies to everyone: with credits to offset, the payment order always takes the Agenzia delle Entrate’s electronic channel.
Common mistakes and how to put them right
The slip-ups tend to repeat, and nearly all of them are sorted out with a request to the right office.
For taxes managed by the Agenzia delle Entrate, a correction of the payment-order details is requested online through the CIVIS service or at an office, quoting the details on the receipt. For a difference in the amount or a payment past the deadline, the act itself points the way: the letter sets out the instructions for regularising, and the office that issued it confirms them. Acting early keeps the correction simple.
The payment does not show in the cassetto fiscale
The cassetto fiscale, the online tax drawer, records F24 payments, but not in real time: a few days normally pass between the payment and its appearance in the payments section. Until then the proof is the receipt from the bank, the post office or the Agenzia. If after some weeks the payment still does not show, the next step is to contact the office with the receipt in hand, because the check starts from the payment details.
The pre-filled F24 for businesses and freelancers
In a business the pre-filled F24 arrives alongside the recurring deadlines for VAT, withholding tax and contributions, and it deserves the same method. Three habits count: noting the due date as soon as the act arrives, having the funds in the account on the day of the debit, filing the receipt with the bookkeeping. With a Vivid business account, sub-accounts with their own IBAN open straight from the app and set aside the share for taxes.
Anyone working for themselves finds the same logic in the account for freelancers, where outgoings to the tax authorities stay separate from personal ones and visible on the statement.
From the Vivid Web App, F24 forms are filled in and sent with the sections of the ordinary form. The confirmation arrives straight away, and the official receipt from the tax authority is attached to the transaction automatically. Online F24 payments are included in every plan, and the accountant can prepare them with the Assistant or Admin role.
The takeaway: the pre-filled F24 is a form already completed by the authority, and it is paid by copying it exactly. The layout decides which screen to open, the two act codes tie the payment to the file, and the receipt is the proof to keep.
A business account for F24 deadlines
With Vivid Business, F24 payments go out from the Web App and sub-accounts with their own IBAN set aside what the taxes will need.
Frequently asked questions
What does a pre-filled F24 form mean?
It means the form has already been completed by the authority requesting the payment, with codes, amounts and the references of the act. Whoever receives it does not change it: they pay it by copying the details exactly as printed.
What is the difference between the simplified and the pre-filled F24?
The simplified F24 is a layout, the short form with a single section. Pre-filled says who completed the form, namely the authority. That is why a pre-filled F24 can use either the simplified or the ordinary layout.
Can a pre-filled F24 be paid without a current account?
Yes, for people without a VAT number. At the counters of banks, post offices and collection agents it can be paid in cash too, and authorised tobacconists accept cash or card. The Agenzia’s electronic channels, on the other hand, require an account at a bank or at Poste with an agreement with the Agenzia.
Can offsetting be used with a pre-filled F24?
Where the act allows it, available credits are entered in the payment order. In that case the F24 goes through the Agenzia delle Entrate’s electronic services only, with or without a VAT number. Sums excluded from offsetting are stated in the letter received.
How do you know the payment went through?
The first proof is the receipt issued by the bank, the post office or the Agenzia, on paper or as a PDF. After a few days the payment also appears in the cassetto fiscale, in the section for F24 payments.
What happens if a detail is wrong in the payment?
A mistake in the codes or the year can be corrected. For Agenzia delle Entrate taxes this is done through the CIVIS service or at the counter, quoting the payment details. For a difference in the amount, the point of reference is the office that issued the act, with the receipt in hand.
Note: the contents of this blog are for information purposes and do not constitute legal, financial, tax or investment advice. For filling in and paying the F24, the form received, the instructions of the authority that issued it and the guidance published by the Agenzia delle Entrate are what counts. Before acting on this information, consult qualified professionals.
