WOODY130261

Hello everyone, first post so go easy on me.
Bought our beautiful Tuscany property in Nov` this year and looking forward to many happy years to come. At the moment because of work commitments we have to settle for the odd week or two when we can. Our next visit unfortunately isn’t until May 2019, so some time away.
I have a couple of questions and need some advice if possible. We bought our property through an Italian estate agent who basically sorted everything (for a fee of course) and the sale was pretty straight forward. We’ve just received an email from a `branch’ of the agency saying that the IMU tax is due and they would act for us to sort it out as we’re out of country (OOC). The fee is 75 euro which I think is a lot of money for this service (twice a year). I’ve read that it’s free to determine the cadastral value of the property? Is this something I’ll just have to suck up as I’m OOC or is there some way I find the cadastral value and pay the fees from the UK? Seems very complicated and convoluted and seems the onus is on the owner to sort unlike the UK where you are billed and can pay direct debit straight from your bank.
Sorry if I’m going around the buoy again with this one.

Thanks

modicasa

Hi, 75 euros is alot, unless they're paying it out of their pocket and will be reimbursed by you later. Its not that difficult but it depends a bit on your comune if you can pay from outside Italy. Ask at the comune if they have a IBAN for a bank account that you can use. If you pay by bank transfer from abroad you will also need the BIC/SWIFT code. In the reason for payment you will have to write the IMU amount and the TASI amount, with the respective codes.
Come comunes in the north actually send out bills, but they are in the minority.
As to calculating it yourself, its possible - I do loads for my clients (and not for 75 euros a throw!) Bear in mind that to pay late incurs sanctions that are so small as to not worry about -
In your act of sale the property will have its rendita catastale listed - for the house, any garages/stores and land (possibly) - Once you have those you can calculate your IMU, or if you're a newbie you can go to the comune and they will do for you probably. Alternatively, if you speak Italian, and can be bothered to queue you can go to teh CAF (financial assistance) and they will calculate it for about 10 -20 euros.
If you bought with a partner, then you own 50% each.
Basically you bought in November - so you only owe December, (or also Novemebr if you bought in early November) - so you can easily leave it till next year.

WOODY130261

Thanks Modicasa, think you have put my mind at rest. Am I right in saying that the charges for late payment are miniscule, so in my case as we're over in Italy in May I could retrospectively pay then? Could I also pay June's upfront?
Unfortunately I don't speak Italian, but we're learning.
Thanks again,

Geordieborn

You can use this site to calculate the amount due and (I think) any charges if it is late. But obviously you need the rendita catastale mentioned by Modi above and the aliquota for your Comune which should be on their web site (or email them).

modicasa

You can pay the current year and the previous year yourself. If you are more than 2 years in arrears then you have to go to the Comune and let them do it. The late payment fines are miniscule.

WOODY130261

Thanks all, your advice is very much appreciated.
As we're over in May '19 I guess I could pay the two months from 2018 +fine and hopefully pay 2019 for the whole of the year.
Is there a website which lists all the Comunes in Italy? At least I could find out where I need to go upfront.

Geordieborn

Just do a search for "comune" plus its name. However this site will let you drill down from Region to province and Comune. It also has a lot of other useful info.

WOODY130261

Thanks once again

chris120

Modicasa, i thought IMU was only payable on second homes with the exception of 2012, when it was payable on first homes too

modicasa

Yep - prime case are exempt - unless its a castle.

heritagestanley

But if the OP is using the house for only a few weeks a year, for the time being, then surely the comune would say that it isn't his/her prima casa but a holiday home

Capo Boi