Single occupant
A reduction for households with only one member, where the regulations provide for it.
Property · Local taxes
TARI waste tax in Turin
The TARI (the municipal waste tax) is the tax with the most errors in circulation, because the Comune (the town council) calculates it on data it was given years ago and that nobody has updated since: wrong square metres, occupants who have long gone, empty properties shown as occupied.
01 · The taxpayer
Who has to pay the TARI waste tax in Turin
The TARI is due from whoever occupies or holds, on any basis, premises and areas capable of producing waste. This is what sets it apart from IMU (the municipal property tax), which falls on the owner instead.
| Situation | Who pays |
|---|---|
| Property lived in by the owner | The owner |
| Property let on a contract of more than six months | The tenant |
| Property let for short periods | The owner |
| Property on a free loan (comodato) | The borrower who occupies it |
| Vacant property with no utilities | Nobody, once notified and proven |
| Commercial premises | Whoever runs the business, with its own calculation criteria |
An empty property is not automatically exempt: the exclusion has to be requested and proven, by showing there is no furniture and no active utilities. The mere fact that nobody lives there is not enough, and the Comune keeps sending the bill until it receives the notice.
02 · The calculation
How the TARI in Turin is worked out
The tariff is made up of a fixed part, linked to floor area, and a variable part, linked to the number of occupants for households or to the business category for non-domestic users.
- Check the square metres shown on the bill: they are the item most often wrong.
- Check the number of occupants: anyone who has left must be removed.
- Check the category assigned to commercial premises: a wrong category makes a big difference.
- Check that no appurtenances are counted that you do not own or have sold.
- Check the period: you pay for the days of actual occupation.
- The relevant floor area is the usable floor area, or the cadastral area, according to the criteria the Comune has adopted.
- The number of occupants for households is normally taken from the civil registry records.
- For non-domestic users the business category sets a coefficient: a bar, an office and a warehouse pay differently for the same square metres.
- Appurtenances (garages, cellars, attics) are added to the floor area of the home.
- The provincial environmental protection levy is added on top, as a percentage.
- Operational outdoor areas count; ancillary ones, as a rule, do not.
03 · The obligations
Notice of occupation, change and closure
These are three separate filings and all of them are the taxpayer's responsibility: the Comune does not make them on its own initiative, and until they arrive the position stays as it is.
Occupation
Filed when you start occupying the property, by the deadline set in the municipal regulations. The obligation runs from then.
Change
For changes in floor area, number of occupants, intended use or business category.
Closure
When you leave the property. It is the one almost nobody files, and without it the TARI keeps coming.
How to file
Through the Comune's channels, in many cases online with a digital identity, or at the counter or through an authorised intermediary.
What to attach to the closure notice
It serves to prove the actual date.
- A copy of the terminated lease or of the notice to quit
- The deed of sale, if you have sold the property
- A dated record of the handover of the keys
- Closure or transfer of the utilities, with the final meter readings
04 · What you can request
Reductions and exemptions
The municipal regulations provide for a series of reductions that are not automatic: they must be requested, with supporting documents, and as a rule they are not backdated.
Seasonal or occasional use
For properties occupied for limited, recurring periods of the year.
Residents abroad
A reduction for people registered with AIRE (the register of Italians resident abroad) who keep a home in Italy, under certain conditions.
Home composting
A reduction for those who compost at home, with a declaration and the possibility of inspection.
Distance from the collection point
A reduction for properties very far from the bins, according to the parameters in the regulations.
Financial hardship
Relief linked to the ISEE (the Italian indicator of household financial situation), with its own calls and application windows.
Almost all reductions run from the date of the application, not from when the conditions were met. Anyone who discovers years later that they were entitled rarely recovers the past: it pays to apply straight away.
05 · Challenges
What to do if the bill is wrong
Errors are frequent and almost always stem from old data. The route depends on what is wrong and how long it has been going on.
- For an obvious error you file a request for correction in autotutela (self-correction by the authority) with the Comune, with supporting documents.
- If you have paid more than was due, you apply for a refund within the set time limit.
- Against an assessment notice the deadline for an appeal is short and strict.
- Before an appeal there may be a complaint or mediation stage, depending on the value thresholds.
- Unpaid instalments end up in a payment injunction or a tax bill: see avviso bonario and cartella.
- Payment by instalments can usually be granted on request, under criteria set by the regulations.
06 · Non-domestic users
TARI for businesses
If you have commercial premises or an office, the TARI is an operating cost, and it has a few particular features.
- The business category assigned sets the coefficient: a reclassification can reduce the amount considerably.
- Areas producing special waste managed independently are excluded, once this is proven.
- The TARI is a deductible cost for the business, under the ordinary accruals rules.
- Closing the business requires a closure notice, separate from closing the partita IVA (Italian VAT number).
- Another business taking over the same premises does not automatically close your position.
- Warehouses and non-operational premises usually have lower coefficients: check how they are classified.
Closing your partita IVA does not close the TARI. They are two different administrations that do not talk to each other: the closure must be notified to the Comune separately, attaching proof that the premises have been handed back.
Frequently asked
The questions that keep coming up
I moved out of the flat I was renting but the TARI keeps arriving.
Because the closure notice is missing. The Comune has no way of knowing you have left the property until you tell it, so it keeps sending the bill.
File the closure notice, attaching the notice ending the lease, the record of the key handover and the closure of the utilities with the final readings. If you have already paid for later periods, you claim a refund within the time limit.
The house is empty. Do I have to pay?
A property with no furniture and no active utilities can be excluded, but the exclusion has to be requested and proven: it does not apply automatically.
A furnished property with active utilities, even if nobody lives there, is considered capable of being occupied and is therefore subject to the tax. Proof that the utilities have been closed is the deciding factor.
The square metres shown are more than the real ones.
It happens often, because the figure goes back to old notices or to the gross cadastral area. You file a request for correction, attaching the cadastral floor plan and the calculation of the usable floor area.
If you have paid on a larger area for years, you can claim a refund of the overpayment within the time limit for refund applications.
Who pays the TARI, the owner or the tenant?
Whoever occupies the property pays. For leases of more than six months the taxpayer is the tenant, who must file their own notice of occupation.
For short lets and holiday rentals, on the other hand, it stays with the owner. It is always wise to state this explicitly in the contract, to avoid disputes.
Let's talk
Nobody files the closure notice, and the TARI bills keep coming
If you have left a home or closed a business without notifying it, the position needs to be closed, and in many cases a refund can be claimed.