Concept
Italy appears to be an open market, but for buyers from outside the EU without Italian residence permits, the reciprocity condition—condizione di reciprocità—applies. The notary is obliged to verify whether an Italian citizen can purchase real estate in the buyer's country on comparable terms. For Russian citizens, the answer is positive: the position of the Italian notariat relies on the existing Italy-Russia investment protection agreement of 1996, and EU sanctions do not prohibit property purchases as such. Holders of permesso di soggiorno do not need a reciprocity check at all.
The second feature of Italian transactions is a pleasant one. The registration tax on the secondary market is calculated not from the price, but from the cadastral value, and this mechanism—prezzo-valore—is enshrined in law, not grey practice. The cadastral base in Italy is archaic and usually several times lower than the market price, so the nominal nine percent in practice often turns into two to four percent of the transaction amount. Among large European markets, this is the cheapest entry.
How the Transaction Works
The first step is the codice fiscale, the tax code. It is free, issued by the tax service or Italian consulate within a few days, and without it you cannot sign any transaction document. An Italian bank account is not mandatory: the price can be transferred by international wire to the notary's deposit account, and for a non-resident this is also the cleanest payment route—the money is checked once and held by the notary until registration.
The transaction then proceeds in two acts. First, the preliminary contract—preliminare, also called compromesso—with a deposit of ten to twenty percent. The deposit here is structured strictly, Roman-style: a buyer who changes their mind loses it entirely, and a seller who changes their mind returns it in double. Then come checks—title and encumbrance extracts, urban planning conformity, often a report from an independent geometra—and after one to three months, the notarial deed, rogito. Closing the transaction remotely by apostilled power of attorney is common practice.
Entry Taxes
On the secondary market from a private seller, the buyer pays a registration tax of nine percent of the cadastral base plus two fixed fees of fifty euros each. New construction from a developer is taxed differently: VAT at ten percent of the full price, and for luxury housing categories—twenty-two percent. The reduced prima casa rate of two percent is practically inaccessible to non-residents—it requires relocation to the municipality of the property within eighteen months.
Associated costs: the notary typically costs two and a half to seven thousand euros depending on the transaction, the agency charges around three percent plus VAT—and in Italy the commission is paid by both parties, including the buyer.
What the Purchase Provides
Status—none. The Italian investor visa accepts government bonds, company shares, and startups, but not square meters. The working route for those who want to live in Italy is residenza elettiva: a visa for the financially independent with passive income of thirty-one to thirty-two thousand euros per year per person and no right to work. Consulates often want to see more than the formal minimum. Owning an apartment satisfies the housing requirement and significantly strengthens the dossier—but it does not replace income.
For those relocating with substantial capital, there is a nearby regime of fixed tax on foreign income—two hundred thousand euros per year for those who moved after August 2024; for new relocations from 2026, an increase to three hundred thousand was discussed, so the figure should be checked as of the relocation date. Without a visa, the standard Schengen regime applies: ninety days out of one hundred eighty.
Ownership and Rental
The annual IMU on second homes is calculated from the same low cadastral base, so in absolute figures it is usually moderate—the base rate is 0.86%, municipalities move it within a range up to approximately 1.06%. There is no wealth tax for a non-resident owner of an Italian apartment: IVIE, which is often asked about, is a mirror tax for Italian residents on their foreign real estate.
You can rent under the cedolare secca regime—a flat twenty-one percent on rental income instead of a progressive scale, and it is available to non-residents. Short-term rental is seriously regulated: a national CIN code is mandatory, from 2026 rates are structured in tiers—twenty-one percent for the first property, twenty-six for the second, thirty thereafter—and renting three or more apartments is considered entrepreneurial activity with all the consequences.
Structures and Techniques
Italy is a country of personal ownership. Holding residential property through a company is disadvantageous: a passive company falls under the società di comodo regime with imputed income, and most importantly—the prezzo-valore benefit is lost, which only works for individuals. Trusts are rare and tax-inefficient. The classic local technique for inheritance is title splitting: parents buy the usufruct, children buy bare ownership (nuda proprietà). The usufruct expires upon death and is not included in the estate—children become full owners automatically, without procedure and almost without tax.
Exit and Inheritance
The five-year rule is the main thing to know about exit. A sale before five years of ownership is subject to capital gains tax, and it is most convenient to choose the substitute twenty-six percent, which the notary withholds directly in the deed. After five years, the gain is not taxed at all. For properties renovated under the Superbonus program, the period is extended to ten years.
Inheritance tax is one of the mildest in Europe: four percent for spouse and children, with each heir having a personal deduction of one million euros; six to eight percent for others—and all this again on cadastral values, plus three percent mortgage-cadastral fees on real estate. The applicable law of succession is determined by Regulation 650/2012: for an apartment owned by someone living in Russia, the Italian forced heirship does not automatically apply, but the choice of law should be formalized in a will. More details in the analysis of succession under Italian law.
This material is for reference purposes and does not constitute individual legal advice.