Make sure your stats are accurate when buying residential property in Italy. I did the same thing I got in touch with brokers and lawyers recommended by Global Property Guide but my interest lay on the rental yields found on this table:

http://www.globalpropertyguide.com/country.php?id=95

If the figures are incorrect let me know!

claire

Claire

It is difficult to generalise about house prices. There are areas that in fact, still yield good returns and where prices are continuing to rise.

I had a look at some of the information on the site and found that there are plenty of gaps, especially in the explanation on the house buying process. Some of the information is out of date and some is incomplete and misleading. For example, CGT has been increased and the new government has brought back inheritance tax.

My view is that buyers should seek proper, professional advice. Italian property and fiscal laws are complex and multifarious. They are also constantly changing.

Actually there are too many mistakes on that global property guide to even consider it. For example saying that 'Total transaction costs are very high at 18% - 30% in Italy : Closing costs are high in Italy. Total round-trip transactions costs range from 18% - 30%, of which the buyer pays a total of 16% - 28% with the remaining 2% paid by the seller Is Wrong. Many people would buy their first residency in Itay paying only 3% - Even you secong house is 10% but not on the purchase price but in the catasto value wich is much lower ( evan a third of the true value ) making te actual purchase taxes very minimal.... Only if you buy agricoltural land to use i for other purcpose you pay close to 20% on the land value at the catasto.... Anyay that seem generated by some cold world wide data and not looked upon anybody who knew anything of the Italian marked.

PS I will be bying a small apartment in Rome in the next few months and I can tell you more then.
Ciao
Paolo

Apart from your general travelling expenses and the cost of obtaining a mortgage if you are going down this route, you need to remember that transaction costs associated with buying property in Italy are not only among the highest in Europe, but also that Italy has mêlée of confusing property taxes. These will vary considerably, however, according to the price and location of the property, whether the property is new or old, whether you are buying as a resident or non-resident, via an agent, privately or from a limited company, whether your are buying buildings or just land.

It is not that easy to accurately determine transaction costs a priori. However, the following summary should help:

The imposte consist of indirect real estate taxes and registration fees you pay on top of the purchase price at completion. The Notaio sends these taxes along with the deeds and documents to the land registry to ensure that registration of the transaction is complete. Theyareapplicable either at a fixed, standard or reduced rateand are known as:

Imposta di registro: This tax is applied whenever there is a new registration of title. Transactions will be taxed either at a fixed amount of €168 or as a percentage (7%) of the value declared at the Atto.

Imposta ipotecaria: This tax is applied when applications are made to make changes (cancellations, additions and amendments etc) to the public register and when there is an application to lodge new or to discharge previous mortgages and restrictive covenants etc. Even if you are buying a property without a mortgage for example, the Notaio still has to lodge this information at the public register and so your transaction will be taxed either at the fixed amount of €168 or as a percentage (2%) of the value declared at the Atto.

Imposta catastale: This tax is applicable when applications are made to the Land Registry to transfer existing registered titles. Transactions are again taxed either at a fixed amount of €168 or as a percentage (1%) of the value declared in the Atto.

The imposte are paid either on the full purchase price or the revised valore catastale (cadastral value) of the property. Because the revised cadastral value is much lower than the market value, buyers pay lower taxes if they choose this option. If the parties opt for the revised cadastral value, they still have to declare the full purchase price, however, because the Revenue Agency wants to see the vendors’ income appear on their tax returns.

Failure to indicate the full purchase price will result in the tax liability being applied to the full purchase price rather than on the revised cadastral value. In addition a penalty of 50% to 100% applied on the difference between the tax paid and the tax due.

Land is taxed separately:

Imposta di registro 15%
Imposta ipotecaria 2%
Imposta catastale 1%

The following example should help to provide a guideline indication: asking price 420,000 euro with a valore catastale of 200,000 euro: Iposte @ 10% 20,000 euro ( or 3,336 euro if this is going to be your prima casa)

Value of land say 30,000 euro: Imposte @ 18% = 5400 euro

On top of this there are the bolli and diritti per trascrizione plus the Notary's and real estate agency fees.

IVA (value added tax) is paid when you buy a house directly from the developers or builders within 4 years from when it was finished. The rate is either 10% or 4% (for prima casa).

IVA of 20% is paid on a luxury property purchased directly from builders or developers within 4 years from when it was finished.

If you buy a luxury property either from a private individual, a company, or directly from builders or developers after 4 years from when it was finished, you don’t pay IVA but you do pay the 7%, 2% and 1% for the imposta di registro, imposta ipotecaria and imposta catastale respectively.

There’s no prima casa concession on luxury properties

Apart from your general travelling expenses and the cost of obtaining a mortgage if you are going down this route, you need to remember that transaction costs [COLOR=black]associated with buying property in Italy are not only among the highest in Europe, but also that Italy has mêlée of confusing property taxes.

This is so true Praetor, and thanks to all of you who have responded to my post. Clearly the data that I've read in the global property guide needs a lot of updating, and that's exactly why I went into the forums to find out what I still need to research on. I found your information extremely valuable. I also heard that for Americans transferring their businesses (from the US) to Italy it's almost impossible to get through "unscathed" (if that's the best term to describe all the hassles one has to go through), so discouraging (the laws and taxes) that one may as well forget moving the business there.

I wonder if it's just as difficult for the Brits...

Actually there are too many mistakes on that global property guide to even consider it. For example saying that 'Total transaction costs are very high at 18% - 30% in Italy : Closing costs are high in Italy. Total round-trip transactions costs range from 18% - 30%, of which the buyer pays a total of 16% - 28% with the remaining 2% paid by the seller Is Wrong. Many people would buy their first residency in Itay paying only 3% - Even you secong house is 10% but not on the purchase price but in the catasto value wich is much lower ( evan a third of the true value ) making te actual purchase taxes very minimal.... Only if you buy agricoltural land to use i for other purcpose you pay close to 20% on the land value at the catasto.... Anyay that seem generated by some cold world wide data and not looked upon anybody who knew anything of the Italian marked.

PS I will be bying a small apartment in Rome in the next few months and I can tell you more then.
Ciao
Paolo




My first impression is that the data coming from global property guide is accurate but that they have not been updated for a while. After all, it is never easy to gather data from 130 countries that they cover, especially when it is as detailed as calculating variables such as rental yields and roundtrip costs per country.

But thanks very much for your updating paolo, i needed it bad.

:) ciao :)