I am doing some research into opening an Italian branch of a UK Ltd business. The italian branch will operate locally and employ italians. A new SRL (italian limited company) is 1 obvious option but I am interested to hear if anyone has used ONLY their UK Ltd company corporate structure to operate in Italy and con share their experience about either of the following italian solutions a) opened a “sedi secondarie” a full secondary head office which should be registered in the “Registre Imprese” Camera di Commercio (Italian Chambers of Commerce) OR  b) opened a “unità locali” like a small office which only needs registering at the “REA Repertorio economico e amministrativo” (sub category of “Registre Imprese”).
Please outline :
A: Difference between a) or b).
B: Costs of solution a) or b).
C: Benefits : tax& operational of a) and/or b) compared to the SRL option
Please focus on the corporate structure and tax issues. This is not a question about employment in italy or INPS or INAIL in Italy.