Generate an F24 tax form in SamBooks

How an F24 is born in SamBooks: from a VAT settlement, withholdings or the flat-rate scheme, or built line by line, with the checks made before creating it.

What this is for

The F24 is the form Italian businesses use to pay taxes: periodic VAT, withholdings, the flat-rate scheme's substitute tax and social-security contributions, and in general any tax covered by the form's six sections (Treasury, INPS, Regions, Local taxes, INAIL, Other bodies). In SamBooks you don't fill it in from a blank sheet: you generate it from data your company already has — a computed VAT settlement, payments with withholding already applied — or you build it line by line when a tax doesn't fit any of those cases.

Every F24 you generate is created directly in "Generated" status, with its payment due date automatically linked in the payables schedule. From there the path continues with the payment itself, covered in the companion guide Register an F24 payment and cancel it in SamBooks. This guide only covers how the form is born: what to choose and what SamBooks checks before creating it.

Before you start

• Role: only a Manager or Administrative user can generate an F24. A Viewer sees the list but can't get a real result from the generators; a Logistics user doesn't see the Finance area at all.
• From a VAT settlement: the settlement for the period you want to pay must already be computed (VAT Settlements page, or ask Sam). If it isn't, SamBooks tells you and generates nothing.
• From withholdings: there must be payments with withholding applied in that month that aren't already included in another F24.
• Flat-rate scheme (RF19): the "Substitute tax" and "INPS contributions" entries only show up in the menu if the company's tax regime is set to RF19; contributions also need the social-security details configured in the Tax profile.

Step by step

1. Open the F24 page

From the sidebar, go to Finance → F24 (/f24). You'll see every F24 generated so far, with columns for Period, Type, Payment date, Due date, Balance and Status (Draft, Generated, Paid, Cancelled). You can filter by Type, Payment status, Due-date range and free-text reference period (e.g. "2026-05" or "2026-T2").

2. Click "Generate F24"

Top right, the "Generate F24" button opens a dropdown menu grouped by category.

• VAT: From VAT settlement · December VAT advance · Late VAT voluntary correction
• Withholdings: Monthly withholdings payment
• Flat-rate (RF19) — only shown for companies on the flat-rate scheme: Substitute tax · INPS contributions
• Advanced: Compose F24 manually…

3. Pick the right entry and fill in the fields

Each entry opens a dedicated dialog with only the fields it needs — they're listed one by one below, in "The seven ways to generate an F24".

4. If there's a preview, check it before confirming

For the December VAT advance and for monthly withholdings, SamBooks shows a preview before writing anything: for the advance, a side-by-side comparison of the three calculation methods; for withholdings, the list of payments pending settlement, invoices still awaiting payment, and recurring suppliers whose invoice for the month hasn't arrived yet.

5. Confirm

The dialog's confirm button creates the F24. It appears right away in the /f24 list, already in "Generated" status, with its payment due date linked in the payables schedule — visible there too, tagged with an "F24" badge.

The seven ways to generate an F24

From a VAT settlement

Fields: Reference year and Period (month 1-12 or quarter 1-4, depending on the company's VAT periodicity). Generates the payment F24 for an already-computed settlement: the tax code is derived from the periodicity and the period, so you don't need to know it by heart. For quarterly settlements, SamBooks automatically adds the 1% surcharge (quarterly interest) to the amount, and notes it in the row description ("incl. 1% interest").

Cases where nothing gets generated, with a message explaining why:

• the settlement for the period hasn't been computed yet → you're pointed to compute it first (VAT Settlements page, or ask Sam);
• the settlement is a credit or zero balance → there's nothing to pay;
• you picked the 4th quarter → the 4th quarter of quarterly filers doesn't get paid on its own: it flows into the annual VAT balance (tax code 6099, due March 16th), which requires the annual VAT return first and is generated through a different path than this dialog;
• an F24 for that period already exists → SamBooks won't duplicate it, it tells you one is already there.

December VAT advance

Fields: Year and Calculation method, with three options compared side by side in the preview before you generate:

• Historical — 88% of the VAT paid in December/4th quarter of the previous year. The simplest, needs no other input.
• Estimated — 88% of the VAT you expect to owe in the last period of the year (you provide the estimated amount): risky if you underestimate, since a penalty applies to the shortfall.
• Analytical — 100% of the actual VAT computed on December 20th from the transactions actually recorded.

Below €103.29 the advance isn't due: SamBooks generates nothing and tells you so explicitly — that's not an error.

Late VAT voluntary correction (ravvedimento)

Fields: Year, Period and Actual payment date (required, must be later than the original due date — it's the date SamBooks uses to compute the penalty and interest). Generates three Treasury rows in the same F24: the original tax, the reduced penalty, and the legal interest, under a reference period distinct from the ordinary one (with a "-RAV" suffix) so the two settlements don't get mixed up in the list.

Monthly withholdings payment

Fields: Year and Month. Before generating, the preview shows three lists: payments with withholding pending settlement for the month, invoices still awaiting payment (whose withholding therefore isn't payable yet), and recurring suppliers whose invoice for the month hasn't arrived yet. This is the only generator that writes a closing accounting entry to the journal immediately, at generation time — every other generator only writes one when the payment is registered (see the companion guide).

Substitute tax (flat-rate scheme only, RF19)

Only shown for companies on the flat-rate scheme. Fields: Amount and Payment type — Balance (code 1792), 1st advance instalment (code 1790), 2nd advance instalment or single instalment (code 1791).

INPS contributions (flat-rate scheme only, RF19)

Fields: Amount and Contribution item — Fixed contributions (on the minimum threshold) or Excess (on income above the minimum threshold). The payment reason is derived from the social-security scheme set in the Tax profile: if it isn't configured yet, the dialog flags it with a direct link to "configure social-security details".

Compose F24 manually

For everything the other six automatic generators don't cover: IMU and other local taxes, other social-security bodies, special cases. Open it from "Compose F24 manually…" in the Advanced group:

• Header: Form type, Reference year, Period, Payment date, Co-obligated tax code (optional), Identification code (optional).
• "Add row" for each tax to pay: pick the Section — Treasury, INPS, Regions, Local taxes (ICI/IMU), INAIL, Other bodies — and the fields change accordingly (for local taxes, for example, you get Region code, Municipality/body code, Deduction, Voluntary correction, Changed properties; for INPS, Contribution reason, Registration number, Period from/to). Then the Tax code, with a field that suggests codes from the official catalog as you type: if the code you need isn't in the catalog you can still use it, with a non-blocking notice, not an error. Finally a Debit or credit amount — never both on the same row: that's the horizontal offsetting between different taxes in the same form.
• At the bottom, the offsetting summary shows Total debit, Total credit and Final balance, updated with every row you add. If the final balance is negative, the confirm button stays disabled: "The offset credit exceeds the debit: the excess carries over to the next period or is claimed as a refund, it isn't collected through an F24."
• "Generate F24" at the bottom of the dialog creates the form (it's the same label as the button that opens the menu — here, though, it's the confirm button, not the one that opens the choice).

Tax codes

Every F24 row carries a tax code — for example 6099 for the annual VAT balance, 1001/1040 for withholdings, 1790-1792 for the flat-rate substitute tax: it's the number that tells the Revenue Agency what the payment refers to. In the six automatic generators, SamBooks picks it for you based on what you're paying — you don't need to know it. Only when composing an F24 manually do you choose it yourself, helped by a search field over the official tax-code catalog, which still accepts a free-text code if your tax isn't in the catalog.

If something goes wrong

• "The VAT settlement for period … hasn't been computed yet" — go compute it first (VAT Settlements page, or ask Sam), then come back and generate the F24.
• "…is a credit or zero…" — there's nothing to pay for that period: no F24 to generate.
• "The 4th quarter doesn't get paid on its own" — it flows into the annual VAT balance, through a different path than this dialog.
• F24 already present for the period — not an error: SamBooks doesn't duplicate, it tells you one already exists.
• "The offset credit exceeds the debit" (manual composition) — the final balance is negative: fix the row amounts before confirming.
• A row with no debit or credit amount, or with both filled in (manual composition) — submit stays disabled until you pick one of the two.
• Social-security details not configured (flat-rate INPS contributions) — complete the Tax profile before generating.
• Taxes for excise duties, monopolies, ELIDE, or social-security bodies other than INPS/INAIL have no dedicated generator: if you need one, compose the F24 manually.

Ask Sam

Every generator has its chat equivalent: you can tell Sam, for example, "generate the F24 for June's VAT settlement" or "generate the F24 for July's withholdings", and Sam will use the exact same service as the button — same preview when there is one, same result, same checks. "Compose F24 manually" also has a chat equivalent, tax by tax. The two paths — form and chat — are equivalent: use whichever you prefer, and you can even start one way and check the result the other way.

Frequently asked questions

How do I generate the F24 for this month's VAT? From /f24, click "Generate F24" → VAT group → "From VAT settlement", enter year and period: if that period's settlement is already computed, the F24 is created right away. If it isn't, compute the settlement first from the VAT Settlements page.

Can I generate the withholdings F24 before paying the fees? No: only withholding tied to a payment already recorded for the month enters the preview. If the fee hasn't been paid yet, its withholding stays "awaiting payment" and isn't payable yet.

What happens if I generate the F24 for the same period twice? Nothing wrong: SamBooks doesn't create a duplicate, it warns you that an F24 for that period already exists.

Where do I generate the annual VAT balance F24 (4th quarter)? Not from "From VAT settlement": the 4th quarter flows into the annual balance (tax code 6099), which requires the annual VAT return first.

Can I add a tax that isn't among the seven menu entries? Yes, with "Compose F24 manually": pick the right section and tax code, even if it isn't in the official catalog.

Who in the company can generate an F24? Only Manager and Administrative roles. Viewer and Logistics can't generate new ones.

Does the flat-rate scheme see the same options as other companies? The flat-rate sidebar is reduced, but Finance and F24 stay visible; in addition, only for flat-rate companies, the "Substitute tax" and "INPS contributions" entries appear in the generation menu.

Related guides

• Register an F24 payment and cancel it in SamBooks — the F24's lifecycle after it's generated: registering the payment, linking it to a bank transaction, cancelling it, accounting effects.
• Payables schedule in SamBooks — where you find the payment due date created alongside every F24.
• Register a receipt or a payment in SamBooks — the generic path for settling open items.