When buying a property in Italy the sale is generally made with the assistance of a surveyor or an estate agent and a solicitor (official representative of the Italian Government). At the moment of the Solicitor contract the buyer has to pay (directly to the Solicitor) some government taxes and the Solicitor.
TAXATION (Only one of the taxation bands listed below will apply, depending on which category the property buyer falls into):
- 3% on the price declared for the main building if it will be used as first residence in Italy (the buyer has to take the residence in Italy and he has 18 months starting from the purchase act to do that);
- 10% on the price declared for all the buildings where is not possible take the residence;
- 4% V.A.T. on the price declared for the main building if the seller is a company (the buyer has to take the residence in Italy and he has 18 months starting from the purchase act to do that);
- 10% V.A.T. on the price declared for the main building if the seller is a company and the buyer doesn't take the residence and for all the other buildings;
- 18% on the declared price for the agricultural land if the buyer is a private;
- 20% on the declared price for the purchase if the seller is a company that hasn’t in its object the properties purchase/sale;
- 11% on the declared price for the agricultural land if the buyer is a agricultural businessman(he has three years starting form the Solicitor contract to show that is an agricultural businessman);
- 4% on the declared price for the agricultural land if the buyer is a farmer who's cultivating the land by himself for all the year long;
- If the property is owned by a limited company, it is possible to transfer to the buyer the quotas or shares of the company and therefore there is an high saving and all the buyer has to pay is a fixed tax of around 1,000.00 euro.
To clarify better we can make some examples considering a property with a main house, one outbuilding and some land:
1) THE BUYER AND THE SELLER ARE TWO FISICAL PEOPLE:
A) Taking the residence the buyer has to pay:
- 3% on the price declared for the main house;
- 10% on the price declared for the outbuilding;
- 18% on the price declared for the land.
B) Without taking the residence the buyer has to pay:
- 10% on the price declared for the main house;
- 10% on the price declared for the outbuilding:
- 18% on the price declared for the land.
2) THE BUYER IS A NORMAL PERSON AND THE SELLER IS A COMPANY:
A) Taking the residence the buyer has to pay:
- 4% V.A.T. on the price declared for the main house;
- 10% V.A.T. on the price declared for the outbuilding;
- 18% V.A.T. on the price declared for the land.
- 20% V.A.T. on the purchase price if the company hasn’t on its object the properties purchase/sale
B) Without taking the residence the buyer has to pay:
- 10% V.A.T. on the price declared for the main house;
- 10% V.A.T. on the price declared for the outbuilding;
- 18% V.A.T. on the price declared for the land.
- 20% V.A.T. on the purchase price if the company hasn’t on its object the properties purchase/sale
3) THE BUYER IS AN AGRICOLTURAL BUSINESSMAN:
A) Taking the residence the buyer has to pay:
- 4% on the price declared for the main house;
- 10% on the price declared for the outbuilding;
- 11% on the price declared for the land.
B) Without taking the residence the buyer has to pay:
- 10% on the price declared for the main house;
- 10% on the price declared for the outbuilding;
- 11% on the price declared for the land.
4) THE BUYER IS A FARMER:
- 4% on the price declared for the main house;
- 10% on the price declared for the outbuilding;
- 1% on the price declared for the land.
- 10% on the price declared for the main house;
- 10% on the price declared for the outbuilding;
- 1% on the price declared for the land.
The fore-mentioned dates can be changed by the Italian Government