In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
Hi.
Excuse my ignorance - I've only had my house in Umbria for 1 yr - but I thought that CGT had been completely abolished in Italy? I read this on several websites & property magazines prior to purchasing & confirmed it verbally with my (Italian) Estate Agent.
Perhaps it isn't applied retrospectively to houses purchased prior to the law change? but that would be very unfair!!
From what you say, I presume that CGT still applies, but either Tapers to zero (or reaches some minimum % level) after 5 years?
Any clarification appreciated ...
Re your own questions:
1) having your partner live in the house & declare it as main residence would (I think) be difficult - from my reading of the IR CGT guide the IR would only consider CGT exemption from the point that full time residency began, which kind of defeats the point as most of your CG would have taken place prior to then
2) I would certainly declare only the "official" sale price when filing UK IR return - that is what has officially been paid and the Italian buyer/notary etc. and paperwork won't contradict this. As long as any additional amount is paid in cash and with the notary's eyes turned away, it effectively doesn't exist. If you bank this extra cash in Italy then transfer to UK, I'd be surprised if you were ever challenged - but if you were, you could simply state that you won the money in a casino etc. ... though I suppose that depends on how much your house is worth!
Graeme
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
Can I tag onto this thread to make sure that I understand the situation?
We live and work in the UK and have a holiday property in Italy. We have no intention of living permanently or even semi permanently in Italy. Am I correct in thinking that provided we own the house for a minimum 5 years, if we sell the house for more than we paid for it (plus allowable improvement/renovation costs) :
(a) there will be no Italian CGT, and
(b) there will be no UK CGT
tax website
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 04/16/2005 - 10:19In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
I was also led to believe, by the company I bought property through, that there was no capital gains in Italy, one of the reasons for buying out there. I have now read around the subject after reading these postings and am now having to rethink my development out in Tuscany.
Thanks for making me aware of the truth!
I did find a good site about CGT in Italy though -
[url]http://www.fiscoetasse.com/guide/Finanziaria_2005.php[/url]
You might want to speak to a solictor in the UK that deals with Italian law - there is John Howell (I am not recommending them - but there documentation - just to read through is quite thorough)) but you can also get a list of Solicitors from the Italian Consulate (they cant recommend you one - but that can give you contact details of ones you can contact - mostly in London)
[url]http://www.embitaly.org.uk/[/url]