Imu, for concordats 25% state discount combined with reduced rate
For contracts with agreed rents, the Imu law provides for a 25% tax reduction (Article 1, paragraph 760, Law 160/2019). It is a reduction that is ope legis, on which the municipality therefore has no power to intervene. The reduction - obviously also valid for the advance payment on 16 June next - applies on the rate 'established by the municipality', even if it is a reduced rate.
The instructions for completing the Imu declaration state that, for the purposes of the 25% reduction, there is no need to submit the annual report, since this is data that is within the knowledge of the municipalities, through the tax registry. In fact, the rule is that it is not necessary to declare what is in the knowledge of local authorities. To this end, the instructions to the ministerial model indicate the cases in which the obligation exists and these do not include, precisely, the hypothesis of the unit rented at an agreed rent. We would like to remind you that according to the Ministerial Decree of 16 January 2017, for the recognition of the tax benefits in general, the agreed rental contract must be asseverated by one of the tenants' or landlords' trade unions that have signed the relevant territorial agreement, if the contract has been stipulated without the assistance of one of them.
If the contract complies with the rules of the law and the territorial agreements, no further conditions may be imposed by the municipality for the application of the 25% reduction, such as, for example, the subjective requirements of the tenant's principal residence. The situation may change if the local authority has decided on a specific reduced rate, making it conditional on the possession of certain requirements. In this case, it is in principle permissible for the administration to make the application of the reduced rate conditional on the fulfilment of certain requirements, such as the submission of a specific report containing the information necessary to verify the entitlement. It is understood that the 25% reduction arises downstream of the resolution on the rate: therefore, where the taxpayer has accrued the right to the discounted rate, the 25% reduction will be calculated on the latter. On this issue, however, there is the orientation of the Court of Cassation, reaffirmed in Ordinance 26921/2025, on the subject of building areas, according to which, even in the hypothesis of concessions granted at the local level, the Municipality cannot subordinate their application to the submission of the tax return, whenever the authority is in possession of the required information. This applies, with all evidence, also in the hypothesis of the reduced rates adopted for the agreed fee.
If the taxpayer is not entitled to the local 'discount' but has nevertheless entered into an agreed rental agreement, then, and only then, will the 25 per cent abatement be settled on the ordinary rate.
