Here it is! Fruit of our long experience with non-Italian clients striving to understand the ins and outs of their obligations to the Italian authorities: the 3 things all property owners in Italy should know (but don’t know who to ask).
1 – In all probability you should be making a tax return in Italy.
This is because even if you do not rent out your house, you are required to pay tax on the notional value attributed to your property. This is known as your “reddito catastale” and you can find this on your Certificato Catastale. Only if your reddito catastale is under 500 euro will you not be liable to make a return. If you can’t lay your hands on your certificate just now, please see below for how you can get one.
And of course if you have any other Italian income you probably need to be making a return in any event.
2- If you do rent out your property, you should be declaring and paying tax on the rental income in Italy.
This is in addition to any obligation to declare sums made overseas in your domestic tax return. This is the case even if you require the rental monies to be paid to your “home” bank account. Helpfully, there is generally a double tax treaty which will stop you paying the same tax twice. Note however that in most cases the Italian authorities would consider that your rental activities constitute a business, in which case you would also need to be registered for IVA.
3 – No-one will get in touch with you to tell you what your obligations are.
Many is the non-resident who has grown old waiting for the Comune, the Revenue, or the local Chamber of Commerce to contact them. This is not the Italian way. The first you will know is when the heavy thump of an official demand lands on your doorstep asking all sorts of awkward questions about what has been going on – the prelude to a series of princely claims for fines, back interest and the like.
Make sure you are fully informed – if you want to chat about any doubts you have, contact us here
Alternatively, if you want to examine your certificato catastale to see what your reddito is, then we will get one to you.
Just fill in the contact form here with CERTIFICATO in the “message subject” box and your codice fiscale where it says “Enter your message”. We will send you a copy of your certificate for you to peruse at your leisure.