Remaining instalments for building work
Renovation deductions are spread over ten years. Instalments from earlier years often do not appear and have to be carried over by hand from your records.
CAF services · Income tax return
The pre-filled tax return
The Agenzia delle Entrate (the Italian Revenue Agency) makes available a return already filled in with the data it has collected. It contains a lot, but not everything: accepting it without looking means also accepting whatever it leaves out.
01 · The pre-loaded data
What the Revenue Agency already knows about you
The pre-filled return is built by cross-referencing the information that public bodies and businesses send every year to the Anagrafe tributaria (the national tax registry). The body of information is large and grows every year, but by its nature it remains partial.
- Employment and pension income, from the Certificazioni Uniche (annual income statements) sent by the sostituti d'imposta (withholding agents, such as employers).
- Medical expenses reported to the Sistema Tessera Sanitaria (the national health card system) by pharmacies, healthcare facilities and accredited professionals.
- Mortgage interest, reported by banks.
- Insurance premiums for life, accident and long-term care policies.
- Social security and welfare contributions, including those for domestic work paid through INPS (the Italian social security institute).
- Supplementary pension contributions, from pension funds.
- University and nursery fees, from the bodies that collected them.
- Bank transfers for renovations and energy-saving work, from banks and ENEA (the national energy agency).
- Land registry data on properties, and registered rental contracts.
The pre-filled return is available in the personal area of the Agenzia delle Entrate website from the end of April, and you log in with SPID, CIE or CNS (the Italian digital identity, electronic identity card or national services card).
02 · The recurring gaps
The items that are almost always left out
This is the part that decides whether accepting the pre-filled return as it stands is a good idea or an expensive mistake. The gaps are not random: they arise because nobody sends certain data.
Medical expenses not reported
Services from providers not accredited with the Sistema Tessera Sanitaria, or paid abroad, do not appear.
Expenses for dependent family members
If the family link does not appear in the Anagrafe tributaria, expenses paid for your spouse or children are not attributed.
Children's sporting activities
Receipts from sports clubs and gyms are not reported: they have to be entered manually.
Donations
Many donations to third-sector bodies do not appear, even though they can be deducted from tax or from income.
Rent deduction
The contract shows as registered, but the deduction for the tenant is not applied automatically.
The most expensive case
Building bonuses. If you renovated five years ago, you still have five instalments to deduct, and each one can be worth hundreds or thousands of euros.
- The remaining instalments do not always appear pre-loaded
- Changing professional without handing over your records breaks the sequence
- Recovering lost years requires amended returns
- The documentation must be kept for the whole deduction period and beyond
03 · The choice
What changes between accepting and editing
The rules offer a specific incentive for accepting the return without changes: if it is filed exactly as proposed by the Revenue Agency, no formal check is carried out on the data for expenses reported by third parties.
If, on the other hand, the return is edited, a formal check remains possible on the expenses that were changed or added. This does not mean an edited return is "at risk": it means the supporting documents must be kept, which should be done anyway.
There is also an important point when the return is filed through a CAF (an authorised tax assistance centre) or an authorised professional: the visto di conformità (the compliance check on the return) shifts to the CAF the responsibility for errors in checking the data against the documents shown.
| Method | Formal check | Responsibility |
|---|---|---|
| Accepted without changes, on your own | Excluded for expenses reported by third parties | Yours, for data not reported |
| Edited on your own | Possible on expenses changed or added | Yours |
| Filed through a CAF with the visto | Possible, but with the visto di conformità | The CAF's, for checking the documents shown |
The exclusion from the formal check covers expenses reported by third parties, not the whole return. Checks on other items remain possible, such as whether you are entitled to deductions for dependent family members.
04 · The checklist
Checks to make before accepting the pre-filled tax return
The check takes half an hour if your documents are in order. It takes longer when the receipts have to be tracked down, which is why it is worth collecting them during the year rather than in June.
- Are all the Certificazioni Uniche there? With several jobs during the year, you need one for each.
- Are your dependent family members correct and up to date? A child whose income has gone over the threshold is no longer a dependant.
- Do the medical expenses match those you actually paid? Compare them with the receipts and invoices you have kept.
- Are all the remaining instalments of building bonuses carried over, with the correct instalment number?
- Are the properties listed the ones you own, with the right percentages and periods?
- Are your active rental contracts there, both as landlord and as tenant?
- Have your children's school and sports expenses been entered?
- Do the contributions paid for domestic workers and carers appear among the deductible expenses?
- Are the donations you made included?
05 · When it is not needed
Who does not have to file a return
Among others, taxpayers are exempt from the obligation to file if they have only employment or pension income paid by a single withholding agent that applied the withholding tax, their main home and its appurtenances, and other income within the set thresholds.
The exemption, however, concerns the obligation, not whether filing pays. If you have deductible expenses and do not file a return, you recover nothing: that money simply stays with the Treasury.
Checking whether it pays takes a few minutes, comparing the potential deductions with the tax withheld. If there is nothing to recover, you skip the formality; if there is, you file.
Watch out for the opposite case: if you had two or more withholding agents during the year without asking for a final adjustment, you are not exempt, and you almost always end up owing tax. Not filing a return in that case produces an avviso bonario (an informal tax notice) the following year.
Frequently asked
The questions that keep coming up
If I accept the pre-filled return without changes, will they no longer check me?
Accepting without changes excludes the formal check on expenses reported by third parties. It does not exclude every check: other items can still be verified, such as whether you are entitled to deductions for dependent family members.
The benefit is real but limited, and it should be weighed against what you lose by not entering the missing expenses.
Is it better to do it myself or through a CAF?
If your position is simple, the pre-loaded data is complete and there are no expenses to add, accepting the pre-filled return on your own works well.
A CAF makes sense when there are expenses to add, multi-year instalments to carry over, properties, rental contracts, or dependent family members in more complex situations. It also makes sense for the visto di conformità, which shifts the responsibility for checking the documents.
When does it become available?
Normally from the end of April, in the personal area of the Agenzia delle Entrate website, which you access with SPID, CIE or CNS.
The exact dates for opening, editing and sending are set each year by a decision of the Revenue Agency and may vary.
Can I have the pre-filled return checked without filing it through you?
The check is part of the work of preparing the return: we check the pre-filled return, add what is missing and file the resulting form.
If the check shows that the pre-filled return is already complete and there is nothing to add, we tell you: in that case, accepting it on your own is the simplest choice.
I accepted the pre-filled return and then found an expense. Can I put it right?
Yes. If the error is in your favour, meaning you forgot a deductible expense, an amended return is filed and the higher refund is granted.
For the 730 (the Italian tax return for employees and pensioners) there is the amended form within the set deadline; after that deadline, a corrective or amended Redditi return is used, with longer refund times but the same result.
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Accepting the pre-filled return is convenient. Checking it pays
The difference between the two is the expenses the Revenue Agency never received and that nobody will enter on your behalf.