Spouses in community of property
If the purchase falls under the legal community of property, it is enough for one of the two to meet the requirements for the benefit to apply to the whole.
Property · Buying
First home tax benefits
It is the largest tax saving most people come across in their lifetime, and it is decided in a few minutes in front of the notary. It is worth arriving knowing exactly which requirements you are declaring, because losing the benefit is paid for years later, with interest.
01 · The conditions
The three requirements, and none is optional
You obtain the benefit by declaring in the deed that you meet three conditions. They can be checked in advance, and it pays to do so: a false declaration, even in good faith, means losing the benefit.
Location and residence
The property must be in the Municipality where you are resident, or where you undertake to move your residence within eighteen months of the rogito (the notarial deed of sale). Alternatively, in the Municipality where you work.
No other first home
You must not own, even in part, another home bought with the same benefit anywhere in Italy.
No home in the same Municipality
You must not own another home, however acquired, in the Municipality where you are buying.
Cadastral category
The property must not fall into the categories classed as luxury. It is an objective fact read from the land registry extract, not a judgement.
You can buy with the benefit even if you already own a first home, provided you dispose of the previous one within the period set by law. It is a real window but with a strict deadline: missing it means losing the benefit on the new purchase.
02 · The benefit
First home tax benefits: what changes in practice
The saving concerns the taxes due on the deed, and it differs depending on whether you buy from a private seller or from a business.
| Tax | Buying from a private seller | Buying from a business with VAT |
|---|---|---|
| Registration tax | Reduced rate on the cadastral value | Fixed amount |
| VAT | Not due | Reduced rate on the price |
| Mortgage tax | Fixed amount | Fixed amount |
| Cadastral tax | Fixed amount | Fixed amount |
| Taxable base | The cadastral value, if you request the prezzo-valore rule | The agreed price |
When buying from a private seller it almost always pays to request the prezzo-valore rule: tax is calculated on the cadastral value instead of the price, and the cadastral value is normally much lower. It must be requested expressly in the deed; it is not automatic.
03 · The risks
What makes you lose the benefit
Losing the benefit means paying back the difference in tax, plus a penalty and interest. It arrives years later, when the purchase is a distant memory.
- Residence not moved to the Municipality within eighteen months of the deed.
- An untrue declaration in the deed on one of the requirements, even by mistake.
- Selling within five years of purchase, without buying another first home within one year.
- Failure to dispose of the previous first home within the set period, when you bought relying on that option.
- Gifting within five years: this has the same effect as selling.
If you realise you will lose it
There is a way out, but only if you take it in time.
- If you realise you cannot meet the deadline, you can declare it voluntarily to the Agenzia delle Entrate (the Italian Revenue Agency)
- You pay the difference in tax and the interest, but no penalty applies
- The notification must be made before the deadline expires, not after
- Waiting for an assessment costs the full penalty
04 · If you buy again
The tax credit when you buy again
It is the least known benefit and one of the most useful. If you sell a first home and buy another with the same benefit within one year, you earn a tax credit equal to the tax paid on the first purchase.
- The credit is used to reduce the registration tax due on the new deed, directly through the notary.
- Alternatively it can be used for offsetting or to reduce income taxes.
- It must be expressly requested in the deed for the new purchase: if you do not ask for it, you lose it.
- The credit cannot exceed the tax due on the new purchase.
- It also applies if the new purchase comes before the sale, within the set time limits.
This is the case where a visit to the accountant before the deed pays for itself: many notaries apply it as a matter of course, but you cannot count on anyone reconstructing the tax paid on a purchase twenty years ago unless you bring it to them.
05 · Common situations
Situations that come up often
These are the cases that raise the most questions, and where intuition often leads you astray.
Inherited share
Owning a share of another home in the same Municipality rules out the benefit, even if the share is tiny and you do not live there.
Property needing renovation
The benefit applies even if the home is not immediately habitable, provided the cadastral category is not a luxury one.
Appurtenances
Garage, cellar and parking space follow the benefit, but only one appurtenance for each cadastral category.
Residents abroad
People registered with AIRE (the register of Italians resident abroad) have their own conditions, with residence requirements different from the ordinary ones.
Inheritance and gifts
First home benefits also apply to mortgage and cadastral taxes on property received by inheritance or gift.
06 · What to bring
What to check before the deed
Three documents and one question settle almost every doubt in advance.
- Search by owner: it shows every property in your name, including inherited shares that nobody remembers.
- Land registry extract for the property you are buying: the cadastral category decides whether the benefit is possible.
- Deed of your previous purchase, if you have already bought with the benefit: it is needed for the tax credit.
- The question: can you really move your residence within eighteen months? If the answer is uncertain, the notary must be told beforehand, not afterwards.
Frequently asked
The questions that keep coming up
I own 10% of my grandmother's house in the same Municipality. Can I buy with the benefit?
Owning another home in the same Municipality rules out the benefit, and the law sets no minimum share.
The practical route is to dispose of the share before the deed, or to check whether the property falls into a special situation. This is exactly the kind of check to make with a land registry extract in hand, before signing the preliminary contract.
I have to sell before five years are up. Do I lose everything?
Only if you do not buy another home to use as your first home within one year of the sale.
If you buy again within the time limit, not only do you keep the benefit, you also earn the tax credit on the tax paid on the first purchase. It must, however, be requested in the deed.
I am buying with my husband but putting the house in my name only. Do his properties count?
It depends on your matrimonial property regime. Under the legal community of property the purchase belongs to both of you even if the deed is in one name only, and both positions matter.
Under separation of property only the buyer's position counts. It is a check to make beforehand, because it changes the outcome completely.
I cannot move my residence in time. What should I do?
If you realise before the eighteen months are up, you can declare it voluntarily to the Agenzia delle Entrate: you pay the difference in tax and the interest, but not the penalty.
If you wait for an assessment, the full penalty is added to the difference. The gap between the two routes is substantial and depends only on timing.
Let's talk
The requirements are checked before the deed, not in front of the notary
We need your residence, the position of any property you already own and the cadastral category of the one you are buying. Three facts, and the answer is certain.