Piacenza

For 2025 Piacenza applies a four-band municipal IRPEF surcharge, from 0.69% to 0.8%, with an exemption up to 15,000 euros and for large families with a low ISEE. Until 31 March 2027 residents aged 70+ ride SETA city buses free; discounts for under-27s, large families and over-65s. OMI rents and prices are in the data.

Public housing allocations go through the municipality's Progetto casa service; the next public-housing call is expected in February 2027. For 2026 the municipality opened a call for rent-support grants, with online applications only. Rents and prices in the OMI quotations.

Appointments with the registry and civil status offices are booked on the municipal portal. Waste collection is run by Iren Ambiente, with a pay-as-you-throw tariff (TCP) and eco-islands; the municipality has a call for incentives for sorted collection. Reports are made online or with the Municipium app.

To enter with a dog, cat or ferret you need a microchip, an EU pet passport or health certificate and a valid rabies vaccination. Mandatory registration in the regional pet register, lead at all times and a muzzle to hand. Pets allowed on trains under Trenitalia rules and in apartment buildings by law.

Rules depend on who is arriving: EU/EEA/Swiss citizens (no visa, registration with the Comune after three months), non-EU citizens for stays up to 90 days (Schengen rule, type C visa where required) and for long stays (national type D visa and a residence permit within eight working days of arrival).

The historic centre is a ZTL every day from 8:00 to 19:00 and contains an urban pedestrian area (APU) closed to vehicles 24 hours a day and monitored by cameras. Most permits are requested online. Piacenza is 67 km from Milan, on the Via Emilia.

Euro, cards accepted almost everywhere, a legal cash limit. Anyone living in Italy for most of the year is tax resident and taxed on worldwide income under three IRPEF brackets; specific regimes exist for the self-employed (forfettario), inbound workers, foreign pensioners and new residents. Contributions go to INPS; annual return with the 730 or Redditi form.

The city is one of the three districts of the AUSL of Piacenza. The Piacenza hospital, with its main entrance at via Taverna 49, comprises the Nucleo antico, the Polichirurgico and the Specialist Medicine pavilion; the city also has a CAU for non-serious urgencies, normally open 24 hours a day. The out-of-hours service answers on 0523.343000.

Non-EU pensioners enter with the elective residence visa, EU pensioners through free movement; public healthcare is accessible by compulsory or voluntary registration. Optional 7% regime on foreign income for those moving to small southern municipalities. Cheap houses in villages, services concentrated in cities.

In 2024 the employment rate in the province of Piacenza rose to 72.2% and unemployment fell to 5.3%. Among services, growth in employee jobs was driven mainly by transport and warehousing, the logistics sector.

A VAT number (partita IVA) from the Agenzia delle Entrate for freelancers; for businesses the Comunicazione Unica to the Registro delle Imprese, which also notifies the Agenzia, INPS, INAIL and SUAP. Main forms: sole proprietorship, SNC/SAS, SRL and SRLS, SPA. Compulsory PEC, annual chamber fee, e-invoicing. Invitalia incentives; non-EU citizens need a self-employment permit or the investor visa.

Three universities are present: the Università Cattolica with its Piacenza and Cremona campus, the Politecnico di Milano hub (architecture, mechanical and energy engineering) and the University of Parma, which teaches Medicine and Surgery and Nursing in Piacenza.

The municipal statute recalls 18 May 1848, when Carlo Alberto proclaimed Piacenza "Firstborn of the Kingdom of Italy" after the plebiscite for annexation to Piedmont. Coat of arms and banner recognised in 1938, the title of City. An identity as a place of passage between four regions, on the Via Emilia and the Via Francigena.

From 1 October 2026 to 31 March 2027 ordinance no. 704/2026 restricts the most polluting vehicles on weekdays, with 20 ecological Sundays and emergency measures based on the Arpae bulletin. Besurica, Montale and Le Mose are excluded because they lack adequate public transport.

Piazza Cavalli with the Palazzo Gotico and Mochi's Farnese horses, the Cathedral, Palazzo Farnese with the Civic Museums (the Etruscan Liver, Botticelli), the Ricci Oddi Gallery with Klimt's Portrait of a Lady, churches with Pordenone, Guercino and a copy of the Sistine Madonna. Day trips to Grazzano Visconti, Castell'Arquato and Bobbio.

The Teatro Municipale on via Verdi, called a "miniature La Scala", has a season of opera, concerts and dance; the Politeama has its own season from October to May. The Placentia Half Marathon reached its 29th edition in 2026; local food is based on PDO cured meats, Gutturnio wine and tortelli con la coda.