730 in debit: what happens and how to pay it without panic

730 in debit: what it means, in plain words

Sabrina is a cashier in a supermarket in viale Padova and at the weekend she lends a hand in a catering kitchen. In May she opened her 730 and found a figure with a minus sign: 640 euro to pay. «I thought the 730 was only there to get money back», she told us the first time she came to the office. It is not always like that.

A 730 in debit means one thing only: the taxes on last year are higher than what you have already paid during the year, through the withholding on your payslip or on your pension. It is not a penalty and you have done nothing wrong: it is a balance to settle. The items involved are IRPEF, the regional and municipal surcharges and, where it applies, the cedolare secca on rented property.

The figure is in the settlement statement, the 730-3 form that arrives together with your return. If you read the word «debit», two things can happen: either your employer, or INPS, takes the amount off your payslip or your pension, or you pay it yourself with the F24 form. In both cases you can ask to split the payment into several instalments.

Why you end up in debit: the most common causes

In Sabrina's case the cause was her two jobs: every employer calculates the tax as if it were the only one, and in the end a part of it is missing. But the reasons are many and almost always innocent.

• two or more incomes in the same year: two jobs, a job and a pension, several part-time contracts
• a change of job during the year: the second employer does not know how much you have already earned
• reliefs you are no longer entitled to, or reliefs granted for too long, for example when the dependent spouse's situation changes
• incomes with no withholding, such as some rents or fees for occasional work
• the IRPEF advance payment for the previous year not paid, or paid only in part
• fewer deductible expenses than the year before: the mortgage instalments have ended, fewer medicines, less interest

Where you see the result

It is all in the 730-3 form. At the bottom you find three possibilities: «credit», and you get money back; «debit», and you pay; neither of the two, and nothing happens. Checking that line before leaving the office is the simplest way to avoid surprises in the payslips that follow.

The good news is that the 730 exists exactly for this: to put the exact balance in black and white, before an assessment notice arrives. A debit found today is sorted out in a few steps; found two years later it costs far more.

How a 730 in debit is paid

It depends on one question only: do you have a withholding agent, that is an employer or INPS that can deduct the amounts, or not? Let us look at the two routes.

With a withholding agent

If you hand your 730 to your employer or to the pension body, the deduction starts with the July payslip. For pensioners the start moves to the August or September payment. You do not have to fill in anything and you do not have to remember any dates: the withholding agent works out the instalments and takes them out automatically, together with your ordinary taxes.

Without a withholding agent: the F24 form

If you have no employer, or you prefer to pay on your own, the payment is made with the F24 form. At the CAF we send it electronically to the Revenue Agency, or we hand you the form already filled in at least ten days before the deadline, so that you can pay it as you prefer: at the bank, at the post office or online from the reserved area by giving your IBAN.

Paying everything at once or in instalments is decided when the return is filed: that is why it is important to say so straight away, during the appointment. At our office in Via privata Atene 6, in the Padova district, we tell you the cost of the paperwork before we start: you know what you pay us and what you pay in taxes, with no surprises at the end of the job. Book your appointment: the first consultation at the office is free.

Paying in instalments: how many and until when

The debit can almost always be split into several monthly payments. Instalments apply to the balance for last year and to this year's first advance payment. The second or only advance payment, the one in November, must instead be paid in one go.

• employees: 2 to 6 instalments, taken from the payslip starting in July
• pensioners: 2 to 5 instalments, on the pension payment from August or September
• without a withholding agent: up to 7 instalments with the F24 form, the last one due on 16 December 2026

The instalments after the first cost little: interest of 0.33% for each month of deferral. The number of instalments goes in box F of the 730 form, line F6; if we prepare the return for you, it is enough to tell us at the counter, and we take care of the rest.

The 2026 dates to mark in your diary

If you pay with the F24 form, that is without a withholding agent, the calendar for the balance and the first advance payment is this:

• 30 June 2026: first instalment, with no interest
• 30 July 2026: first instalment one month later, with a surcharge of 0.40% on the amount
• 16 July, 20 August, 16 September, 16 October, 16 November and 16 December 2026: the following instalments, with interest growing month by month
• 30 November 2026: second or only advance payment, to be paid in one single solution with no option of instalments

If instead the deduction is made by your employer or by INPS, the calendar is theirs: the amounts are closed out with the payslips or with the pension payments of the current year. The debit, in any case, never goes beyond December: it is a balance that closes within the year. If you are not sure which of the two routes is yours, call us and we will check it together at the office, by appointment.

If an instalment is missed: what happens and how to put it right

It happens to everyone: a payslip lighter than expected, a bill waiting for a salary. Better to know in advance what happens, so that you can choose the right road.

The payslip has no room

If the salary is not enough, the employer withholds as much as possible and moves the rest to the next month's payslip, with a small surcharge of 0.40% for each month of delay. It is not a fine: it is the interest for the deferral, and it sorts itself out.

The F24 is not paid

Here things get serious: a missed payment is an omitted payment. If you notice straight away you can use the ravvedimento operoso: you pay at once, with a reduced penalty starting at 0.1% for each day in the first fourteen days, plus statutory interest. After that come the friendly notice and the assessment notice, with much higher figures.

An unpaid debit does not disappear: it stays there and becomes more expensive. Ten minutes on the phone today against months of paperwork tomorrow.

The questions we hear most often at the counter

Here are the five questions that come up most often on this subject. If your case does not fit any of the answers, it is worth talking it through in person: we receive by appointment only, at Via privata Atene 6, 20132 Milano, or write to us on WhatsApp.