We recently bought a house (September 2011) expecting the tax to be calculated on the catastal value which we were told is always less than the purchase price so worked out a worst case scenario and expected to be a little pleasantly surprised. When the bill came through with projected costs a few days before it was clear the costs were based on the purchase price. No mention of the catastal value at any point. I am still reading frequently that these purchase taxes are based on the catastal value. What are others' experiences of this?

Excuse me but....is it me or is this forum home to some of the most nieve people alive.
If you buy a house in another country, no matter what state it is in do you not ask the relavant questions at the time; like
1) how much tax will I have to pay if...
2) what if I don't live here, what will I pay.....
3) what do I have to declare if....
4) how much will this cost me...
It seems to me either one of two things is happening:

Hello,

HI

I found this site - it's really helpful thanks. I'm looking for a bit of advice please?

At the moment we have a small amount of money transferred from the UK, on a monthly basis, to our Italian joint bank account.
If we were to transfer a one off sum of 3,000 plus euro to this account, would there be a tax implication, and if so, at what rate?
Any advice/comments would be welcome.
Dylano

Dear Fellow Expats,
We recently purchased a small 13th century house near Arezzo and we are having some renovation done.
One of them is heat. We were hoping to connect with anyone in Italy that has any experience with Carbon fiber wire radiators heating systems, not under floor mates. Also for domestic water we using carbon wire boiler

I saw some postings regarding driving to Italy mentioning ferry crossing costs of £60. When I've looked into ferry costs they seem to be hugely more than this...we live in Edinburgh but are often South so could use several port options. Any ideas? I was thinking of driving this Summer as we have bought a house in Italy last year and I could usefully take lots of things to justify the cost!

Does anyone have any ideas for affordable places to buy contemporary bathroom suites, kitchen units and tiles etc. I have done lots of renovation in the UK and love using natural stone etc and have been really shocked at how unavailable affordable stone is in the Lazio area. We have already looked in Leroy Merlin, Ikea etc For example small rectangular brick mosaic travertine in the Uk costs £29 M2. In Rieti this week I was quoted €330 M2 for the same product. I tried a local travertine yard and they too seemed extortionate. Maybe I should be looking further North?