Renovated houses, purchase relief valid until the end of the year

Sale or assignment

The sale or assignment of the real estate must take place within eighteen months from the date of completion of the works. The deduction is calculated on a lump sum equal to 25 % of the sale or assignment price of the real estate, resulting from the deed of purchase. The deductible amount is recouped over 10 years, at the time of the tax return and, if the planning permission for the works was submitted before 17 February 2023, it is possible to opt for the discount on the invoice or the transfer of the credit after payment, which does not necessarily have to be by bank or postal transfer.

Price and deduction

The price on which the deduction is calculated also includes VAT. The maximum limit of deductible expenditure, to be divided among the purchasers, is €96,000. For example, if the house is sold at a price of €300,000, the deduction amount is €37,5000, i.e. 50% of €75,000 (25% of the purchase price is the maximum deductible ceiling). Conversely, if the sale price is €500,000, the deduction is 50% of €96,000 (25% of the consideration is more than €96,000). In the case of a single deed of purchase relating to a flat and appurtenance, the deduction can be claimed on the total cost within the established limit of expenditure. It is also possible to benefit from the deduction if the deed was signed before the completion of the works on the entire building. However, in that case, the deduction applies from the tax year in which the works were completed (in the tax return for the year in which the works were completed, the purchaser deducts the first of the 10 instalments into which the deduction is divided). However, the taxpayer must be in possession of the deed of purchase showing compliance with the terms indicated above. If these deeds do not show the date of completion of the works, or do not indicate that the building is part of a building that has been entirely renovated, the taxpayer must ask the building company or building cooperative for a declaration, even after the deed has been signed, certifying the conditions required to obtain the allowance. If down payments are made, they are deductible with reference to the year of payment, but on condition that the preliminary sale agreement is registered by the date of submission of the tax return in which the deduction is intended to be used. If the down payments are paid in a year other than the year in which the deed is signed, the taxpayer has the option of claiming the deduction of the amounts paid on account, either in the tax year in which they were paid or in the tax year in which he signed the deed. In the case of the purchase of bare ownership and the simultaneous constitution of the right of usufruct, the deduction must be apportioned in proportion to the value of the two real rights. For purchases made before 31 December 2024, the buyer is also entitled to the furniture bonus (50% deduction of €5,000).

At the end of 2024, all the building bonuses currently in force will expire, with the sole exception of the superbonus, which continues to apply until 31 December 2025, with the rate reduced to 65% from 1 January next year, and the 75% bonus for the elimination of architectural barriers, in force until 31 December 2025, but only for interventions aimed at eliminating architectural barriers involving stairs, ramps, lifts, stair lifts and elevator platforms.

Restructuring bonus

The renovation bonus also remains in force, but as of 1 January 2025 it is reduced from 50% of €96,000 to 36% of €48,000. The 50% furniture bonus of €5,000 and the ordinary ecobonus (Irpef/Ires deduction at rates of 50%-65%), which applies until 31 December 2024 for energy requalification work on existing buildings, will cease. Also due to expire in 2024 is the Irpef/Ires deduction of the expenses incurred for static safety work on the structural parts of homes and buildings for productive use, located in areas of high seismic hazard, with deduction rates ranging from 50% to 85% of €96,000, for each property unit, in the presence of a static improvement of the building or a reduction in the building's seismic class (1 or 2 classes).

The extension to 2024 also involves the discipline of the so-called Sismabonus purchases. This is the deduction of 75% or 85%, depending on the seismic improvement carried out, to be applied on the purchase price of earthquake-resistant property, up to a maximum of €96,000. The deduction applies to the purchaser as long as the deed is signed by 31 December 2024, even if the structural works are completed and not the finishes. The property units purchased must be part of entire buildings that have been demolished and rebuilt and the sale must be made by construction companies no later than 30 months after the end of the works.

Ecobonus

Until 31 December 2024, the 'enhanced formula' of the 70-75% 'ecobonus' for work on common condominium parts and the combined ecobonus for work on the common parts of condominium buildings, aimed jointly at reducing the seismic risk and energy requalification, remains applicable to a single extent of 80%, where the work results in the transition to a lower seismic risk class; 85% where the work results in the transition to two lower seismic risk classes, up to a maximum amount of €136,000.000 for each unit.

Credit assignment

With regard to the possibility of opting for the assignment of the credit, as an alternative to the deduction in the income tax return (again over 10 years for expenses incurred from 2024), two separate measures (Laws 38/2023 and 67/2024) introduced a general prohibition to opt for the assignment of the credit and the discount on the invoice for works commenced on or after 17 February 2023. For the purposes of the Superbonus and the other building bonuses, it is, however, still possible to opt for the assignment of the credit and the invoice discount, if the urban planning measure authorising the works (cilas or other) has been submitted prior to 17 February 2023 and expenses documented by invoices for works carried out have been incurred by 30 March 2024. The latter requirement is not required for seismic purchases, for which the submission of the planning permission prior to 17 February 2023 is sufficient, and for the architectural barriers bonus, for which the submission of the planning measure on 30 March 2024 is sufficient.

Until 31 December 2024, the 50% deduction, up to a maximum amount of €96,000 (maximum deduction of €48,000), also applies to the expenses incurred for the construction or purchase of a garage appurtenant to a dwelling, newly built (and not subject to renovation work), as well as for renovation work carried out on the appurtenant garage already owned. Unless extended, from 1 January 2025, the deduction, which is recovered in 10 constant instalments in the tax return, will apply at a rate of 36% of a maximum amount of €48,000 (maximum deduction of €17,280). The allowance is recognised for the construction, on areas already owned, of parking spaces (garages or parking spaces, also under common ownership), provided that there is or is created a link of pertinence with a residential property unit, limited to the construction expenses that are documented by the payment made by bank or postal transfer. The commissioning owner, also in order to produce it in the event of an inspection, must be in possession of the following documentation: authorisation provision for the works (e.g. cila), showing the pertinency link with the dwelling, and bank or postal transfer for the payments made.

In the event of purchase

The 50% bonus also applies in the case of the purchase of a garage, if the following conditions are met if the deed is signed by 31 December 2024 (from 1 January at 36% rate), there is an appurtenant bond with a residential unit owned by the taxpayer or, if the garage is under construction, there is an obligation to create an appurtenant bond with a residential unit upon completion of the work; the costs attributable solely to the construction of the parking spaces are documented by the construction company, with a special certificate, and must be kept separate from those relating to accessory costs, which are not eligible for the tax benefit. For example, the sale price can be taken net of the value of the area, as well as the general site costs and the business profit. In the hypothesis of a purchase made together with the house, the deduction also applies to payments made before the notarial deed but after the duly registered preliminary agreement indicating the appurtenant bond of the garage.

The deduction

In the absence of a registered preliminary, in any case, the deduction is conditional on the creation of the lien in the purchase contract entered into prior to the submission of the tax return in which the purchaser deducts the first portion of the 10 in which the deductible amount is divided. For the purchase of the box (and not also for the construction under contract), it is possible to benefit from the deduction even if the payment is made by means other than by bank transfer, provided that such payment is made in the presence of the notary and provided that the transferring company issues a declaration in lieu of a notarial deed certifying that the amounts credited to it have been included in the company's accounts for the purposes of their concurrence in the correct determination of the percipient's income. This is the documentation required to exercise the right to the deduction: purchase deed or registered preliminary sale deed, from which the pertinence with the house is inferred; declaration of the builder indicating the construction costs attributable to the box; bank or postal transfer for payments made. The bank transfer must be made by the beneficiary of the deduction who is also entitled to the cohabiting family member, or de facto cohabitee, who has actually incurred the expense, provided that the invoice notes the percentage of the expense incurred by the latter.

House in co-ownership

In the case of a jointly-owned house, the deduction for the purchase of the garage is due, even in full, to the person who actually incurred the expenditure, provided that the percentage of expenditure incurred by the latter is noted on the invoice. In essence, the box may also be purchased by only one of the two persons co-owning the property to which the box is attached, who is entitled to the deduction in full. As in the case of the sale of the refurbished building, also in the case of the sale of the appurtenant box for which the deduction has been claimed, the owner of the main property (residential property unit) may continue to benefit from the deduction for the construction/purchase of the box provided that he expressly indicates this in the deed of sale. In the absence of such an indication in the deed, the purchaser of the garage may benefit from the residual portion of the deduction provided that the deed of purchase indicates the garage's pertinential link to another property unit for residential use.