Rubbish Tax Bagni Di LuccaHello, we

If the property was not declared uninhabitable to the comune, then you will have liability.   When you bought the property did it say in the act of purchase that it was uninhabitable? 

Hello ModicasaThe first agent put a form in to say it was uninhabitable I think, so did the second.  But the third one didn’t pay any bills for us at all and I have an email from her to say she was going to the Commune to put a form in to say it’s habitable, she didn’t.  We didn’t know this though, we waited over a year to pay her and kept asking for her invoice to see what’s going on.  However agent no 2 who was very good with paperwork (best of all of them but we’ve not met her) put in a form to say it’s habitable last October and the Commune have gone back to when we bought it and ignored the first forms.The property required, a new garage roof, a main roof, retiring, new boiler, walls moved, then a flood.  The walls were black with mildew.  Lots of vermin droppings, no kitchen and a house full of belongings the estate agent (agent 1) promised they would be removed.the form the agent submitted says ‘vi preghiamo applicare tariffa uso domestico non residente inoure vi preghiamo di sperire  gu avvise di pagamento’.  I will have to look at the Deeds about habitation but the property was unused for many years, although that means nothing in Italy.  Thank you for replying Modicasa. 

Unfortunately, I think you will find it is your personal responsibility to ensure the house tax situation is in order. If at all possible, I would suggest you go and see the commune in person and find out what they are charging for, what period and why. Take someone with you if language is a problem. It is likely any delay in payment will result in further charges, but the papers you have should tell you how long you have. Good luck.

Most comunes apply a discount for non residents of about 30%,   I agree with Steve - go to the comune and do the know nothing foreigner and hope they will take pity on you. 

Hello there, Any rennovation work on a property has to be authorised by the Comune, so you will no doubt have copies of what is called a SCIA (certificate of commencement of works). No rubbish fee is applicable while work is in course. When building works terminate then the Comune give you an end of works certificate and from then on you are liable to pay the Tari rates. Secondly does the house have a certificato di abitabilità? This is also proof of whether or not the house was / is habitable. Next you need photographic evidence of the condition of the property to take with you. To prove that the house was not habitable for a period then you need to have a technical survey done by an architect or geometra. I'm sure that if you speak a little Italian and go the 'tributi office in the comune with all this doc you can sort it out. Another important note is that you declare only the minimum 1 person in the house as many comuni apply a standard of 2 as being resident.Unless obviously more than one person officially reside in the house.I hope you have sorted your property tax 'IMU' , because that is also essential.Good luck

HelloThank you for all your help.  We have had two major renovations with the Commune included, certificates, permissions etc. (no paperwork given to us though by the agent) so I don’t know why they have made these two years when the garage roof was replaced, it had collapsed, then the main roof in 2016 and the house was painted, were so high.  They are by the road so required scaffolding with extra permissions.   These major renovation years have been taxed at over €600 each where the Commune would have issued the paperwork.The previous agent handled everything as they were doing the work in the last renovations but their paperwork was lacking and we paid them €50 per month, we were just told to come in when over there, but the office was always closed.  I only found the bill problems out when I realised the water hadn’t been paid for a year, nor the Mountain Tax two years.  I managed to sort these ok.  The rubbish tax, she was waiting for a bill to arrive when I asked but then I found out that she hadn’t given the paperwork in but made a point of saying she would put it in when we took her on.  The IMUs were from our bank account luckily so that’s ok.  We’ve changed agents and the poor lady received all these bills when she submitted the rubbish tax form.   I believe she has a gentleman who will go to the Commune on our behalf.  I have pictures so can give them these.  We just can’t get away due to work but might have to somehow before the end of the month where it doubles.I’m just hoping there’s nothing more to come.  Thank you all again.  Hopefully now we can enjoy the house and village and our worries are over as it’s beautiful there.Babs

Just a quick update, we’ve paid over €2,000 for Rubbish Tax.  The agents we have now have sorted it for us, they are an excellent company.  We were allowed discounts as this could have tripled without this company’s intervention.  Such a learning curve.  We have no Council Tax here so paying nearly €2,000 for this as well as the Rubbish Tax was quite a shock, should have looked into it more, our fault.  Still all has ended well and we look forward to our holidays in the lovely Tuscany area again.

I'm glad to hear you have got it all sorted and can now enjoy your new home.