From healthcare costs to the first home mortgage to the furniture bonus: here are all the benefits of the 2024 declaration

Education expenses other than university expenses are deductible at the rate of 19 per cent. Article 1, of Law 107/2015 (the so-called Good School Law), changed the deduction of expenses for school attendance, which, as of 2015, have been distinguished from university expenses. The deduction is due for both the expenses for attendance at secondary school and for those at pre-schools and first-cycle schools of the national education system referred to in Article 1 of Law 62/2000, consisting of state schools and private and local authority parity schools. The deduction is granted in relation to expenses for attendance at pre-schools (kindergartens); primary schools and secondary schools (primary and middle schools); secondary schools of the second grade (high schools); both state and private and local authority parish schools.

As regards, for example, interest payable on mortgages, the Agency recalls in the special guide that 'interest payable, accessory charges and revaluation shares paid in connection with mortgages entitle the taxpayer to a 19 per cent deduction from gross tax. The deduction is subject to different limits and conditions depending on the purpose of the loan taken out by the taxpayer'. 'In general,' the document goes on to explain, 'the deduction is due with reference to the interest payable and accessory charges paid during 2023, regardless of the due date of the instalment (cash criterion). The following are excluded from the deduction: property insurance expenses as they do not have the character of necessity with respect to the loan contract; expenses relating to the notary's fee for stipulating the purchase and sale contract; registration taxes, VAT and mortgage and cadastral taxes connected to the transfer of the property; and expenses for the collection of loan instalments. Interest paid as a result of bank credit facilities, salary assignment and, in general, interest deriving from types of financing other than those relating to mortgage contracts, even if secured by a mortgage on real estate, are not deductible. Interest paid on pre-financing taken out to finance a mortgage loan being taken out to purchase a dwelling house is also not eligible for deduction. The deduction is subject to different limits depending on the purpose for which the mortgage was taken out and, sometimes, on the period for which it was taken out. As a general rule, in the case of a mortgage in the name of more than one person, each co-borrower may only benefit from the deduction for his or her share of the interest within the limits provided for by each type, and it is therefore not possible to deduct the share of interest incurred on behalf of family members who are tax dependent. The only exception to this rule concerns loans taken out for the purchase of a property unit to be used as a principal residence.

With regard to the expenses for the furnishing of renovated buildings (furniture bonus), taxpayers who benefit from the deduction provided for by Article 16-bis of the Consolidated Act on Income Tax (Tuir), for building renovation works, are entitled to a deduction, equal to 50 per cent of the expenses incurred, for the purchase of furniture and large household appliances aimed at furnishing the property subject to building renovation works. The deduction, introduced by Decree Law 63/2013, and initially referring to expenses incurred from 6 June to 31 December 2013, was subsequently extended by Law 234 of 2021 (Budget Law 2022). This law provided for the extension of the benefit also to documented expenses incurred in the years 2022, 2023 and 2024 and the reduction of the maximum amount of eligible expenditure, which, for 2023, must not exceed €8.000 euro, and also changed the references in terms of energy classes, providing that, for expenses incurred starting from 1 January 2022, large household appliances must be of class no lower than class A for ovens, class E for washing machines, washer-dryers and dishwashers, class F for refrigerators and freezers, and class F for appliances for which the energy label is provided, aimed at furnishing the property being renovated. Until the 2021 tax period, these large household appliances had to be of class no lower than A+, as well as A for ovens, and for appliances for which the energy label is provided. For the expenses incurred in 2023 for the purchase of furniture and large household appliances, the benefit is granted provided that the purchase was made in connection with building renovation works started on or after 1 January 2022 (the year preceding the purchase). For purchases of furniture made before 2016, there was no time constraint of consequentiality with the execution of the works and, therefore, taxpayers who had incurred expenses for building heritage recovery works on or after 26 June 2012 could benefit from the furniture bonus. The deduction is also available to taxpayers who have incurred only part of the expenses relating to the building work or who have paid only the professional's fee or urbanisation charges. If, for example, only one of the spouses bears the expenses for building renovation work and the other spouse the expenses for furnishing, the furniture bonus for the purchase of furniture and household appliances is not due to either of them.

The deduction for expenses incurred for the energy requalification of existing buildings (the so-called Eco bonus) was introduced by Law 296 of 2006, which outlines the scope of its application with regard to the type of work that can be subsidised, the percentage of the deduction due, and the procedures for making use of the deduction. The law lists the types of interventions that give entitlement to the deduction and, for each of them, the maximum amount of the deduction due. The deductions are currently governed by Decree-Law 63 of 2013, as amended, which raised the deduction rate to 65 per cent with reference to expenses incurred from 6 June 2013, the date on which the decree came into force, to 31 December 2024, and introduced further eligible interventions. Moreover, as from 2018, the deduction is reduced to 50 per cent for certain expenses. For interventions whose commencement date is after 6 October 2020, the provisions and technical requirements set forth in Ministerial Decree of 6 August 2020 (the so-called Requirements Decree) apply. For interventions whose date of commencement of works is prior to 6 October 2020, the provisions of Ministerial Decree of 19 February 2007, as amended, shall apply. The date of commencement of works may be proven, where applicable, by the date of filing with the municipality of the technical report referred to in Legislative Decree 192 of 2005. Article 119 of Decree-Law No. 34 of 2020 introduced new provisions governing the deduction of expenses incurred as of 1 July 2020 for specific interventions aimed at energy efficiency (including the installation of photovoltaic systems and infrastructures for recharging electric vehicles in buildings, the so-called Superbonus). The taxpayer, the Agenzia delle Entrate further explains, may take advantage of the higher deduction provided for by Article 119 of Decree-Law No. 34 of 2020 for expenses incurred as of 1 July 2020, by complying with the fulfilments specifically provided for in relation thereto. For building works started as from 28 May 2022 for a total amount exceeding €70,000, the deduction is due if the deed of assignment of the works, stipulated as from 27 May 2022, indicates that these interventions are carried out by employers who apply the collective agreements of the building sector, national and territorial, stipulated by the employers' associations and trade unions that are comparatively more representative at national level (Budget Law 2022). Failure to indicate the collective agreement in the invoices issued in connection with the execution of the works does not result in the deduction not being recognised, provided that this indication is present in the deed of assignment and the taxpayer is in possession of a substitute statement issued by the company attesting to the collective agreement used in the execution of the construction works related to the invoice issued.