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The short answer
TFR (trattamento di fine rapporto) is owed to an employee in Italy whenever the employment ends, for any reason, under article 2120 of the Codice civile, so resigning and moving to Nigeria does not cancel it. Each year adds a quota of that year's pay divided by 13.5, revalued every 31 December at 1.5% plus 75% of ISTAT consumer inflation. What you must manage is the paperwork: final pay, any pension-fund portion and where the money lands once you have left.
What TFR is and why leaving Italy does not cancel it
TFR is a deferred sum your employer sets aside for you during every year of an Italian employment contract and pays when that contract ends. Article 2120 of the Codice civile opens with the words "In ogni caso di cessazione del rapporto di lavoro subordinato": in every case where an employment relationship ends, the worker is entitled to it. Resignation, dismissal, the end of a fixed-term contract and retirement all count. Nothing in the article ties the payment to nationality, to the type of residence permit you hold or to whether you stay in Italy afterwards.
So the question for a Nigerian planning to move home is not whether the TFR is owed, but how to make sure it is calculated correctly, paid before or after you leave, and received into an account you can still use. The article itself sets no payment deadline; the timing usually follows your collective agreement (CCNL) and the employer's payroll cycle, so ask HR in writing when your final settlement will be paid.
How the amount is worked out
The calculation in article 2120 has two parts: a yearly quota and a yearly revaluation.
- Yearly quota: the pay for the year divided by 13.5. Part-years are pro-rated, and a fraction of a month of 15 days or more counts as a full month.
- Pay base: unless the collective agreement says otherwise, all non-occasional sums paid because of the job, plus benefits in kind; expense reimbursements are excluded. Periods of sick leave, maternity leave or wage-supplement schemes count as if you had worked normally.
- Revaluation: the TFR already accrued (not the current year's quota) is revalued every 31 December at a fixed 1.5% plus 75% of the rise in the ISTAT consumer price index over the previous December.
A worked example
Example only: you earn €24,000 a year for five years. Each year's quota is €24,000 ÷ 13.5 = €1,777.78, so five quotas come to €8,888.89 before revaluation. If inflation in a given year were 2%, the revaluation rate for that year would be 1.5% + (75% × 2%) = 3%, applied to the TFR accrued up to the previous year. Your payslip (busta paga) or the employer's annual TFR statement shows the real running total; compare it with the final settlement figure.
Advances, pension funds and other things to check
Advances before you leave
If you have worked at least eight years for the same employer, article 2120 allows one advance of up to 70% of the TFR you would receive if the job ended that day. The permitted purposes are extraordinary medical costs recognised by public facilities, or buying a first home for yourself or your children, documented by a notarial deed. Employers must meet requests only up to 10% of eligible staff and 4% of total staff each year. The advance is deducted from the final sum. A house in Nigeria may not fit the notarial-deed condition easily, so ask your employer or a patronato before relying on it.
If your TFR went to a pension fund
Many workers chose, or were defaulted, to send future TFR to a supplementary pension fund (fondo pensione) instead of leaving it with the employer. That portion is no longer paid by the employer when you leave: it follows the fund's own rules on redemption (riscatto). Those rules sit outside article 2120 and differ by fund, so request the fund's regulations and ask in writing what happens if you stop working in Italy and move abroad. Our guide on a fondo pensione when leaving for Nigeria covers that side.
What to check first: a leaving checklist
- Give notice as your CCNL requires, so you are not charged an indemnity for short notice that is offset against the TFR.
- Ask HR for the final settlement (busta paga di fine rapporto) showing TFR accrued, revaluation, tax withheld and net amount.
- Find out whether part of your TFR sits with a pension fund, and request that fund's redemption rules separately.
- Keep an Italian IBAN open, or give HR account details in your name that can receive a euro transfer after you have left.
- Collect your certificazione unica for the year; you may need it for your Italian tax position and to show the source of the money later.
- Keep copies of every payslip and the contract. If the employer does not pay, the provincial labour inspectorate and the unions can help; see our guide on unpaid wages in Italy.
Receiving the money once you are in Nigeria
Italian employers normally pay by bank transfer in euros. If you close every Italian account before the TFR arrives, you will need to give HR an account that can receive a euro SEPA transfer in your own name. Another route is a euro domiciliary account at a Nigerian bank: GTBank's domiciliary page, for example, lists accounts in USD, GBP and EUR and the documents needed to open one (ID, passport photo, two reference forms and a recent utility bill). Converting the whole sum to naira on the day it arrives is a choice, not a requirement; the rate you get depends on when and how you convert. Nigerian banks and regulators may ask where a large incoming sum came from, so the final payslip and the employer's letter are worth keeping with your bank records. The Nigeria library explains what to do with Nigerian accounts around a move.
Where Pryme fits
A Pryme Personal Account can be opened from Italy and holds euros, naira, dollars and pounds, each with its own account details, so a TFR transfer can arrive in euros and stay in euros until you choose to convert with Swap, where the rate and fee are shown before you approve. See multicurrency accounts for how the euro details work.
Questions people ask
Will I lose my TFR if I resign and go back to Nigeria?
No. Article 2120 of the Codice civile says TFR is owed on any termination of employment. Leaving Italy afterwards does not change that; the issue is making sure it is paid into an account you can still use.
How do I calculate my TFR in Italy?
Each year's pay divided by 13.5 gives that year's quota, and the accrued total is revalued every 31 December at 1.5% plus 75% of ISTAT inflation. Your employer's TFR statement shows the actual figure.
Can I take my TFR before leaving my job?
Only as an advance: after eight years with the same employer, up to 70%, once, for recognised medical costs or buying a first home documented by a notarial deed.
What if my TFR was paid into a fondo pensione?
That part follows the pension fund's redemption rules, not the employer's settlement. Ask the fund in writing what happens when you stop working in Italy and move abroad.
Sources
- Brocardi: Codice civile art. 2120, trattamento di fine rapporto, updated 12 Aug 2026 · accessed Oct 2026
- GTBank: Domiciliary Accounts (USD, GBP, EUR) · accessed Oct 2026
This article is general information, not financial, legal or tax advice. Products described are provided under the terms on this site and are subject to regulation and eligibility.