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Annual Taxes
By admin | August 19, 2008
Just as in any country, once you own a property in Italy you become liable for ongoing taxes. How else can the local authority provide services? Yet many foreigners think that because they are not resident and don’t pay tax on their income to the Italian authorities that they are somehow excused from paying. This is not true and you risk penalties if you do not pay; it may even impede the eventual sale of your property. Things have changed recently and as far as we know the information below is up-to-date. Please add your comments if you have further updates.
ICI - Imposta Comunale sugli Immobili is similar to a council tax on property. Owners of a house have to fill in a form at their local Tax Office before the 31st of July of the year after they bought their house in Italy. If you cannot go and get the form yourself you can also send it by registered mail, but not by email, or ask your accountant. You will not receive it automatically. The rate differs according to the Municipality, from 5,5 per thousand to 7,5 per thousand of the rateable value (valore catastale) of your house. If the house is your prime residence (prima casa) there is nothing to pay unless the property is classified as luxury. ICI Tax can be paid annually in December (before the 20th) or in two instalments, one before June 30th and the other before December 20th. YOU WILL NOT RECEIVE YOUR TAX FORMS AT HOME, YOU HAVE TO OBTAIN THEM YOURSELF!
IRPEF – Income Tax. If you own a house and/or land in Italy you have to declare its value to the Italian fiscal authorities. The value is given in the visura catastale: Reddito catastale is for the house, Reddito Dominicale and Reddito Agrario are for the land. You have to enter these values in your tax declaration form. You need to do this even if you don’t have your fiscal domicile in Italy and if you’re not a resident. Even if the values are so low that you don’t have to pay any taxes you still have to declare it. If you let out your house in Italy you also have to declare the income. At the tax offices you can ask for free help (in Italian) with filling in your tax forms but we recommend that you engage a commercialista ( accountant) to do this for you. They don’t charge a lot for this service and in our opinion it is money well spent. Deadlines for tax declarations are: before the 31st of July of the following year if you fill in the paper form, before the 31st of October of the following year if you send in your declaration on-line. Deadlines to pay your taxes: down-payments for the current year: June 20 and November 20. The remainder for the preceding year: June 20. The tax forms can be purchased as of the end of May in office supply shops like Buffetti, or can be found (if available!) at the local town hall or tax office. YOU WILL NOT RECEIVE YOUR TAX FORMS AT HOME, YOU HAVE TO OBTAIN THEM YOURSELF!
WASTE TAX (Tassa per lo Smaltimento dei Rifiuti Solidi Urbani). This tax is calculated by the Municipality on the basis of the surface area of your house. You have to register at the Municipalità and they will send you the form to enable you to pay. You can pay once a year (before the end of April) or spread it over four payments (see the deadlines - ‘scadenze’ - on each payslip). This tax cannot be paid directly by your bank; you have to pay it in cash at the post office.
Our recommendation to ALL owners is to engage the services of a Commercialista as soon as you have completed your purchase.
Topics: Essential reading, The buying process, Uncategorized |