Buying in Italy
Imposta di registro, prima casa or not
The tax on the deed when a private person sells: 2% for a prima casa, 9% otherwise, never below €1.000, and usually on the catasto value rather than the price. From a builder it is IVA instead.
In euro, as the deed will state it.
Euro a year, on the visura catastale. Leave it empty if you do not have it yet.
On top of the price
Type a price to see the figures.
Not in the figure, because no rule sizes it
- The notaio’s fee for the deed and for the mortgage. Ask for a written estimate before the preliminare.
- The bank’s istruttoria and perizia. They are in the PIES the bank must give you, free, before you are bound.
- Fire and explosion insurance, required on a mortgage. You may buy an equivalent policy elsewhere.
- A geometra or architetto to check the flat against the catasto and the building titles.
This is arithmetic over national rules, not advice. The notaio applies the tax and can confirm every line; the bank’s own PIES is what the mortgage costs.
DPR 131/1986 Tariffa I art. 1; D.Lgs. 23/2011 art. 10; L. 266/2005 art. 1 c. 497; DPR 633/1972 Tabella A; DPR 601/1973 art. 18; DPR 917/1986 art. 15; Banca d’Italia, Il mutuo ipotecario in parole semplici (2026).
How the imposta di registro is worked out
When a private person sells, or a company whose sale is exempt from IVA, you pay the imposta di registro: 2% if you declare a prima casa, 9% otherwise, never less than €1.000. The ipotecaria and catastale come on top, fixed at €50 each (DPR 131/1986, Tariffa I art. 1; D.Lgs. 23/2011 art. 10).
If you buy as a person, the base is the catasto value rather than the price: rendita × 1,05 × 110 for a prima casa, × 120 for any other home (L. 266/2005 art. 1 c. 497). The deed still states the full price. The rendita is on the visura catastale.
When you pay IVA instead
If a builder, or a company that renovated the flat, sells, usually within five years of finishing the works, the sale pays IVA: 4% on a prima casa, 10% on other homes, 22% in categories A/1, A/8 and A/9. Then registro, ipotecaria and catastale are fixed at €200 each.
Questions people ask
- How much is the imposta di registro on a prima casa?
- 2% of the catasto value if you buy from a private seller as a person, never less than €1.000. Plus €50 of ipotecaria and €50 of catastale. With a rendita of €800 that is €1.848 of registro.
- And on a second home?
- 9%, still on the catasto value if you buy as a person, with the coefficient 120 rather than 110, and the same €1.000 minimum. With a rendita of €800 that is €9.072.
- Who can declare a prima casa?
- You live in the comune or move your residence there within 18 months (or you work there), you own no other home in the same comune and no home anywhere in Italy bought with the benefit, or you sell it within two years of the new purchase (L. 207/2024). Sell within five years without buying another main home within one, and the ordinary taxes are due plus a 30% surcharge.
- Can a luxury home have the prima casa rate?
- No: catasto categories A/1, A/8 and A/9 are excluded from every prima casa benefit.