The sale of the property also falls within the suspension of obligations prepared by the Covid emergency legislation until the end of 2020. Good news for those who have bought a first home and do not want to lose house bonus, that is the tax breaks in case of property change: now the sale also falls within the suspension of obligations arranged by the legislation on the Covid emergency until the end of 2020.
First home bonus, terms extended
In practice they are The deadlines for the repurchase of a “second first home” have been extended within one year from the sale of the property that has benefited from the favorable conditions: in fact, if the first home is sold in the first five years from the date of purchase, the benefits will lapse, unless it is repurchased, precisely within one year of resale, another property, as long as it is also equipped with the first home requirements.
The benefit is lost if the one already owned and for which the benefit was already used is not sold within one year of the purchase of the new property, for which it is intended to obtain the benefits due for the first home.
The Revenue Agency clarified this by responding to a taxpayer’s request and recalling the provisions of the new one Liquidity Decree establishing that the suspension of the terms also applies to these hypotheses.
The clarification arrived is important because it allows you to postpone the sale of the previous property, or the repurchase of the next one, to 2021 without losing the benefits.
The concessions for the purchase of the first home
The purchase of the first home, to be used as a main residence, enjoys particular advantages from a fiscal point of view: thanks to thereduction of taxes, you get a bonus of a considerable amount, which allows you to save thousands of euros. For those who buy from a private individual or from a company with VAT exemption, in fact, the registration tax is set at 2% (instead of the ordinary 9%) and mortgage and land registry taxes are set at 50 euros each instead of proportional to the value; while if you buy VAT from a manufacturer is 4% instead of the normal 10% and the registration and ipocatastal taxes are equal to 200 euros each.
First home bonus, what are the requirements
The property it doesn’t have to be luxurious and must be located in the Municipality where the buyer already has his residence or will fix it within 18 months following the purchase; in this case the buyer must issue an express declaration to that effect in the deed of sale, otherwise he will lose the benefits. Also, the buyer he must not own any other properties in Italy for which he has already obtained first home benefits in the past (this is a condition established to prevent bonuses from being “accumulated”, perhaps as a result of co-ownership or legal communion of assets with the spouse).
But there is a possibility to circumvent this stringent condition: the concessions are again allowed when the first house that had already benefited from it is sold, within one year from the purchase of the new one. The requirement of establishing one’s residence in this new home always applies.
First home bonus, when the concessions expire
Once the benefits have been obtained, if the requirements are no longer valid (or were falsely declared at the time of purchase) the Revenue Agency will note the forfeiture of the benefits obtained and will recover the taxes due (it has three years to do so, to starting from the date of registration of the deed of purchase), also applying a fine of 30% on the difference between the amount paid with the concessions and the amount calculated on the basis of the ordinary taxation regime on real estate sales.
In particular, those who fail to transfer, within the mandatory term of 18 months following the purchase, lose the benefits their residence in the Municipality where the property is located, and also who resells or donates the house before 5 years have passed from the date of purchase. Then there is the case of those who buy a new property used as their new first home without selling the previous one within a year who had already benefited from the concessions: for him too the forfeiture will trigger.
Therefore, if the first home is sold or donated before 5 years have passed from the date of purchase, the benefits are lost unless, within one year, another property is repurchased, to be used as a main residence (and, if the sale has not yet taken place, in the deed of purchase of the new property under the subsidized regime, the commitment to resell within one year the property already owned).
First home bonus, terms slip
And this is precisely the case affected by the new emergency legislation, the subject of the clarifications provided by the‘Revenue Agency. The taxpayer who contacted the tax authorities was aware of theobligation to sell the property within one year from the new purchase, for which he intended to benefit from the first home benefits, but represented that the fulfillment had been hindered by the Covid-19 pandemic, which had prevented him from reselling the house within this deadline. In this regard, the Agency pointed out that with the Liquidity Decree these terms were suspended in the period between 23 February 2020 and 31 December 2020. During this period, therefore, they do not run and will resume starting from January 1, 2021.
In its response to the taxpayer’s request, the Agency underlined that “the terms subject to suspension include the term of 1 year within which the taxpayer who has purchased a property to be used as a main residence must proceed with the sale of the home still in his possession, provided that the latter was, in turn, purchased by taking advantage of the ‘first home’ benefits “.
In partnership with Adnkronos
– .
