An Italian bill of exchange (cambiale) looks like any other form: a few lines, a signature, a stamp. In practice every line follows a precise rule, set by a law from 1933. One wrong field is enough for the document to stop counting as a cambiale, or for the creditor to lose the fastest way to get paid.
This guide covers how to fill it in, field by field, with a reference to the Italian bills of exchange law (Royal Decree of 14 December 1933, no. 1669) for every rule. It's a practical guide, not legal advice: for a specific case, your lawyer or accountant remains the reference.
Promissory note or draft: which one you're filling in
There are two kinds of cambiale, and the difference is who signs.
- Promissory note (pagherò cambiario, which the law also calls vaglia cambiario): the debtor signs and promises to pay a sum to someone. It's the form normally used in repayment plans.
- Draft (cambiale tratta): the creditor (the drawer) signs and orders another person (the drawee) to pay. The drawee is bound only after accepting, by signing in turn.
The requirements for a draft are in article 1 of the law, those for a promissory note in article 100. This guide follows the promissory note, the most common case; where the draft differs, we say so.
The name of the document («pagherò cambiario», «vaglia cambiario» or «cambiale») is already printed on the form, and it's the first legal requirement. If the form only shows «Pag», the rest of the word has to be completed.
The fields of a cambiale, one by one
Place and date of issue
Where and when you sign: the town and the date. Both are requirements under article 100. If the place of issue is missing, the law takes the place written next to the signer's name (article 101).
The date also matters for a practical reason: in a repayment plan, all the bills usually share the same issue date and have different due dates.
The due date
The day the bill has to be paid. The law allows only four kinds of due date: at sight, at a fixed period after sight, at a fixed period after date, and on a fixed day. A bill with any other due date, or with several successive due dates on the same document, is void (article 38).
That's why a repayment plan isn't made with a single bill: it takes one bill per instalment, each with its own fixed-day due date. If the due date is missing altogether, the promissory note is payable at sight (article 101).
The amount in figures and in words
The sum is written twice, in figures and in words. On Italian bills the amount in words is usually written as one word, with the cents after a slash: 1,250.50 euros becomes MILLEDUECENTOCINQUANTA/50.
This is the field where mistakes happen most, and the law has a precise rule: if the two amounts differ, the amount in words prevails (article 6). A typo in the words doesn't fix itself by looking at the figures: the amount in words is what the debtor owes.
The payee
The name of the person who receives payment, or to whose «order» payment is to be made (article 100). A person or a company, written in full as it appears on their documents.
The debtor and the tax code
On a promissory note the debtor is the signer. Besides name, surname and address, the law requires the place and date of birth or the tax code (codice fiscale) of the issuer: it's requirement 7-bis of article 100, added by Law no. 273 of 12 December 2002. For a company, you enter its tax code.
On a draft the same detail is written for the drawee, that is the person who has to pay (article 1).
The place of payment
Where the bill is to be paid. If it's missing, the place of issue applies (article 101). In practice the bill is almost always «domiciled» at a bank: you write the bank, the branch, the address and the ABI (bank) and CAB (branch) codes. That's where the bill will be presented for payment (article 44).
ABI and CAB aren't legal requirements, but a wrong code sends the bill to a branch where the debtor has no account: the payment fails, and the problem could have been avoided.
The signature
The last requirement of article 100: the signature of whoever issues the document. No signature, no promissory note.
Stamp duty: how much and how to pay
Every bill issued and payable in Italy carries a stamp duty of 12 per mille of the amount (article 6 of the tariff annexed to Presidential Decree no. 642 of 26 October 1972). On a 500-euro bill that's 6 euros, on a 1,000-euro bill it's 12. The same tariff sets a reduced rate for promissory notes to the order of banks and other credit institutions, and another one for bills payable abroad.
In a repayment plan the duty is calculated on each bill, that is on each instalment.
How to pay: the old stamped sheets and bill stamps are no longer used. Today you apply on the form the electronic stamp (contrassegno telematico) issued by an intermediary authorised by the Italian Revenue Agency, such as a tobacconist, or you pay virtually, as article 3 of the same decree provides.
The duty has to be paid right away, when the bill is created. The reason is in the next section.
The mistakes that strip a bill of its value
Not every mistake weighs the same. These are the ones that really matter.
- A requirement is missing. If one of the elements of article 100 is missing, the document doesn't count as a promissory note (article 101). The only exceptions are the due date, the place of payment and the place of issue, which the law can fill in.
- The due date isn't allowed. Several instalments on the same document, or a due date «to be agreed», make the bill void (article 38).
- The stamp duty is missing or insufficient. The bill remains valid, but it's no longer an enforceable title, and the holder can't exercise the rights under the bill without first paying the duty and the penalty (article 104). The Italian Constitutional Court confirmed it in order no. 133 of 2004: to be an enforceable title, the bill must be properly stamped from the outset.
- The amount in words doesn't match the figures. The bill is valid, but the amount in words applies (article 6), even when that's where the mistake is.
What happens if the bill goes unpaid
A cambiale differs from a simple written promise for one reason: if it's in order, it lets the creditor go straight to enforcement without a lawsuit. These are the steps, with the deadlines set by law.
2
working days after the due date to raise the protest
5
years in the register of protests
10
days at least to pay after the payment order
3
years from the due date to act against whoever signed the note
The protest
The protest (protesto) is the act by which a public official records that the bill wasn't paid. It's raised by notaries, court bailiffs and municipal secretaries (Molise Chamber of Commerce). For non-payment it has to be raised on one of the two working days after the due date (article 51 of the law).
The register of protests
The name of whoever is protested goes into the electronic register of protests kept by the Chambers of Commerce, and stays there for five years from the date of entry (Molise Chamber of Commerce). If the debtor pays the bill within twelve months of the protest, with interest and costs, they can ask the Chamber of Commerce that published it to remove it (Riviere di Liguria Chamber of Commerce). After twelve months, a rehabilitation order is needed.
Payment order and seizure
A bill in order is an enforceable title for the principal and ancillary amounts (article 63 of the law and article 474 of the Italian Code of Civil Procedure). The creditor serves a formal payment order (atto di precetto), giving a deadline of no less than ten days to pay (article 480 of the Code); if the debtor doesn't pay, seizure follows.
If the stamp duty wasn't in order from the start, this route closes: the creditor has to apply for an injunction or bring ordinary proceedings, using the bill as proof of the debt (Constitutional Court, order no. 133 of 2004).
How long the creditor has
The action on the bill against whoever signed the promissory note is time-barred three years after the due date: the issuer is bound in the same way as the acceptor of a draft (article 103), and against the acceptor the limit is three years (article 94). After three years the creditor loses the action on the bill, not necessarily the debt, which may survive through the relationship the bill came from.
Filling in a plan of bills with Effetto
Filling in one bill by hand is doable. Filling in twelve, one per instalment, with the same bank, monthly due dates and the amount in words to rewrite every time, is the surest way to get one wrong.
That's why we wrote Effetto, a free program that fills in and prints the bills of a repayment plan on the pre-printed forms you buy at a stationer's or at the bank:
- you enter the debtor, the bank, the instalment amount, the number of bills and the first due date once, and the program works out every due date, monthly or every few months as you choose;
- the amount in words writes itself, and if you correct it by hand the program checks it against the figures and warns you when they don't match;
- before printing it checks the data, tax code, ABI and CAB included, and flags every error under the wrong field;
- the preview shows the bill exactly as it will print, and every plan stays in the archive so you can reprint it or look up the due dates.
It runs on Windows and Mac, with no key and no subscription; you only need the internet to download and update it. The step-by-step guide (in Italian) shows every screen.
The stamp duty, the signature and the handover remain up to you: the program writes the data in the right place, it doesn't replace the electronic stamp or your final check.
Frequently asked questions
Can you fill in a cambiale by hand?
Yes. The law doesn't require it to be printed: it requires all the elements and the issuer's signature. Writing by hand is slower and easier to get wrong, especially the amount in words, but it's valid.
If words and figures differ, which amount applies?
The amount in words applies (article 6 of the law). If the sum is written several times in words, or several times in figures, the smaller amount applies.
Is a cambiale without stamp duty valid?
Yes, it's valid, but it isn't an enforceable title: the creditor can't serve a payment order and has to go through an injunction or a lawsuit. To exercise the rights under the bill, they first have to pay the duty and the penalty (article 104).
Where do you buy the forms?
At a stationer's or at the bank. The stamp duty is added with the electronic stamp, calculated on the amount of that bill.
A cambiale is a few lines that carry a debt for years. Those lines are worth getting right the first time, because a mistake isn't discovered when you sign, it's discovered when the bill goes unpaid. If repayment plans are part of your job, Effetto is free and you can try it today; for questions about the program, write to assistenza@msworks.it.