Buying in Italy II

(Check out Buying in Italy I, the first part of Life in Italy’s advice session on becoming a property owner in the Bel Paese!)

A “casale” in Tuscany is among the most common dreams of those buying property in Italy
(by Mark Wassell, at flickr.com)

What to do after the purchase

Within 48 hours of the public sale’s act, the seller must present in the relevant county council office or in any police office, a declaration of transfer of the property (anti-mafia provisions) indicating complete information about the buyer.
All of the pre-existing utility services (water, light, gas, telephone) must be transferred from the seller to the buyer. Please note that entering into new contracts is particularly costly, and therefore the transfer of existing contracts is recommended. For this purpose it is important to obtain copies of the previous bills paid by the seller. The purchaser, or whoever is entrusted with the task, should go to the various public utility offices or contact them via the toll free numbers listed in the telephone directory, communicating full name, tax identificationnumber, and address where bills should be sent. In order to obtain reduction benefits for the “Main Home” it is necessary to provide a certificate of residence within 5 months of the request for transfer of the accounts.
Within 30 days the buyer, with a copy of the final purchase act, a photocopy of his/her passport and of the tax identification number, should provide the tax office of the area concerned with:
- The ICI (imposta comunale sugli immobili – it varies from comune to comune) declaration of the value of the property used to determine its tax value. This is the register value as shown in the final sales act prepared by the notary, increased by 5 %.
- The declaration for the removal of household and urban waste.

Please note, for both of the above it is advisable to provide a copy of the payment bills used by the previous owner.

If the purchaser obtains a mortgage for the purchase in many cases the purchaser can detract on his/her income tax return the interest and related charges.

Restoration or construction

Buying in Italy is straightforward, but you need to know procedures well (by Marco Trovò at flickr.com)

In order to proceed with the restoration or the construction of a building, it is necessary to obtain the services of a licensed technician (geometra), or an architect or a civil engineer.

It Italy, all types of construction or restoration works require the presentation of a request for authorization to the comune (the town council) in question, signed by the owner of the property and a licensed technician.

In order to obtain authorization to begin these works, a tax must be paid to the comune; it normally takes 90 working days to receive the authorization from the time the request is presented.

Only in the case of light restoration works (painting, floors, window and door frames and wiring) may the technician present a particular request called DIA, for which it will not be necessary to pay any tax and the works can initiate in a brief time period under the responsibility of the technician.

The above suggestions on how to purchase real estate in Italy are ONLY guidelines, not legal advices