Buying Real Estate In Italy: A Guide For Foreign Investors

• Published date: 12 January 2024
• Subject Matter: Real Estate and Construction, Tax, Real Estate, Inheritance Tax, Capital Gains Tax, Sales Taxes: VAT, GST
• Law Firm: SLCLEX
• Author: Mr Luca Bisconti and Elisabetta De Rosa

Buying real estate in Italy is an attractive form of foreign investment, that leans into the good real estate market still present in the State. However, the process to buy can be quite complex for foreign residents.

This guide will provide the background information on what to expect when willing to buy real estate in Italy, and some advice on the possible taxation. It will then cover the differences in buying as an individual, as a trust or as a company, local or foreign, and some indications on inheritance laws and how to plan for inheritance of a real estate located in Italy.

To buy real estate in Italy it is mandatory, even for foreign individuals, to require and obtain an Italian fiscal code. Moreover, the following requirements are necessary, depending on the personal circumstances:

• For foreign citizens resident in Italy, and related family members, it is necessary to also have a valid resident permit;
• For citizen of the European Union, or countries of the EEA there is no restriction to buy; this is valid also for individual stateless for more than three years.
• At last, for foreign citizens not resident in Italy, the acquiring of real estate is subjected to the presence of an international treaty between Italy and the foreign state of citizenship that sets up reciprocity in acquiring real estate. As such, if the principle of reciprocity is confirmed even without an international treaty, buying real estate should be permitted. To check the reciprocity condition, it can be useful the consultation of the webpage on treaties of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

A) The process to acquire real estate

The process disciplined by Italian law needs three different steps:

Purchase proposal	an irrevocable offer that sets the fundamental terms of the future transactions, already negotiated with the prospected vendor and/or the real estate agent. The terms agreed on that needs to be part of the proposal are the identification of the parties (vendor and buyer), the description and cadastral data of the property, the agreed-on price and payment method, and the amount of deposit.
Stipulation of the preliminary contract	if and when the vendor accepts the purchase proposal, the next needed step is to conclude a preliminary contract. This agreement formally obliges the parties to conclude the definitive sell-and-purchase contract, with which the property of the real estate is transferred, unequivocally, to the purchasing party. Usually, the moment of...