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The building bonuses you could claim in Italy in 2021

The Italian government is stumping up state funds for renovating and improving the safety of property. Here's an overview of what you need to know about accessing the main bonuses currently up for grabs.

Published: 3 April 2021 16:43 CEST
Updated: 7 April 2021 09:01 CEST
The building bonuses you could claim in Italy in 2021
From renovations to furniture, you could claim Italy's house bonuses this year. Photo: Alicia Steels/Unsplash

Homeowners in Italy can benefit from a variety of building bonuses on offer, which have been extended throughout 2021.

There’s even more financial aid you could get your hands on in addition to the widely reported Superbonus scheme, which offers a tax rebate on up to 110 percent of the expenses incurred for certain property restorations.

The Decreto Rilancio (Relaunch Decree), introduced in 2020 in response to the Covid-19 emergency, saw an increase to the state kitty for both the so-called ‘Ecobonus’ and the ‘Sismabonus’ restoration bonuses.

Since almost three-quarters of Italy’s homes are over 50 years’ old, according to the Agenzia delle Entrate (Italian Revenue Agency), there’s an enduring demand for reinvigorating many neglected properties.

But there’s more you could be eligible to claim this year, in conjunction with the above two schemes.

Further to the financial package available for making energy upgrades and reducing seismic risk, there is also a government pot for furniture, refreshing gardens and optimising water consumption.

READ ALSO: Which areas of Italy have the highest risk of earthquakes?

Can anyone with a property in Italy claim these bonuses?

Unlike the ‘Ecobonus’ and the ‘Sismabonus’, most of these bonuses are for people who pay taxes in Italy, as they are mainly tax-deductible schemes.

Therefore, you can offset the taxes on your income if you decide to dip into these government property pots. They’re not all tax deductible, though, and some bonuses are available to residents in Italy and non-residents alike.

Here’s a breakdown of the other major building bonuses, aside from the Superbonus scheme, that you might qualify for.

Note: These are complex and subject to change, so it’s important to get professional advice before buying and renovating.

READ ALSO: How to stay out of trouble when renovating your Italian property

There are different government bonuses you could claim to renovate property. Photo: Henry & Co/Unsplash

The Renovation Bonus

The Bonus Ristrutturazioni was included in the government’s Legge di Bilancio 2021 (Budget Law 2021) once again. Continuing throughout 2021, you can apply for a 50 percent tax reduction on carrying out renovation work in both individual properties and condominiums.

You must be paying Italian income tax, known as ‘IRPEF’, to access this bonus.

There’s a maximum limit on expenses of €96,000 and the 50 percent offset to taxes is divided into annual instalments for 10 years. So that means you can deduct €48,000 over 10 years with this scheme.

There is a raft of allowances for accessing this bonus. These include making repairs on property that has been damaged, building garages or parking spaces, increasing security of the property such as installing gates, security doors and CCTV, removing asbestos and gas detection equipment.

READ ALSO: House prices in Italy rise at fastest rate in a decade

This scheme is available to taxpayers in Italy, including both residents and non-residents. Not only can the owner of the property claim the 50 percent tax deduction, but also tenants, members of cooperatives and people who make an income from partnerships and family businesses.

Condominiums can also take advantage of the bonus for work in common areas.

In a move to increase transparency of tax trails, the government included payment instructions in the Budget Law. Paying for renovation services must be recorded either through bank or postal transfers.

More details on this bonus can be found here.

You could access government funds to spruce up your garden. Photo: Elija Hail/Unsplash

The Green Bonus

The Bonus Verde was also extended in the government’s Budget Law and is available until the end of the year.

You could get state help for landscaping your garden or private outdoor areas of existing property, supplying plants and shrubs, doing work on fences, irrigation systems, building wells, roofs or roof gardens.

There’s a 36 percent tax deduction available for jobs relating to gardens, terraces and green areas in general. Like the renovation bonus, you must be a taxpayer to benefit from this one.

The tax relief applied in the tax return must be divided into 10 annual instalments of equal amounts and must not exceed a maximum expenditure equal to €5,000 for each property.

In other words, the maximum deduction you can claim comes to €1,800, as that’s 36 percent of €5,000.

READ ALSO: How and where to find your dream renovation property in Italy

The bonus can’t be used for shops or offices, but if a residential property is also used for work, you can claim half of the total tax relief available.

People living in condominiums are also eligible to apply for work carried out in communal areas.

You can’t get a cash boost for general upkeep of gardens, though. Excluded from the expenses are routine maintenance, buying gardening tools and any work that isn’t innovative – that means you have to transform a green area rather than just keep it well pruned.

Second-home owners can also claim for this one, as the bonus is available per property, not per homeowner.

More details on the Green Bonus can be found here.

READ ALSO: Italy’s building bonus: Can you really claim back the cost of renovating property?

The Furniture and Appliances Bonus

Believe it or not, there’s even some state aid on hand for buying household appliances – the Bonus Mobili e Elettrodomestici. You could claim a 50 percent tax deduction on expenses of up to a maximum €16,000, as detailed in the Italian Revenue Agency’s updated guide.

The Budget Law 2021 boosted the funds from last year’s €10,000 limit. This scheme applies to household goods of at least A+ class (A for ovens), intended to furnish a property undergoing renovation.

That means this bonus is linked to the Renovation Bonus. To be sure you can access this one, the renovation work must have begun before buying any furniture or appliances – but expenses on restoring the property don’t need to actually be paid beforehand.

Some items covered by the bonus are the following:

  • Ovens
  • Refrigerators
  • Dishwashers
  • Electric hobs
  • Washer-dryers
  • Washing machines

You qualify for this if the items you buy are for a residential property and, like the previous two bonuses mentioned, the deductions must be spread across 10 annual instalments. You must make any purchases by December 31st, 2021 to qualify for the ceiling limit of €16,000 in expenses.

READ ALSO: How will Italy’s property market change in 2021?

The Facades Bonus

Another bonus extended in this year’s Budget Law is the Bonus Facciate. This scheme allows you to deduct 90 percent of the amount incurred for renovating the exterior facades of buildings, with no maximum spending limits.

Everyone can benefit from this bonus. Again, those paying income tax can access it, as well as those holding a partita IVA (VAT number) and even tenants of rented properties. Both Italian residents and non-residents are eligible.

The Facades Bonus is available throughout 2021 and covers a vast amount of work, including restoring external surfaces of existing buildings, balconies and friezes.

You can deduct 90 percent of expenses from gross tax of either personal income tax, ‘IRPEF’ or corporate tax, known as Imposta sul Reddito Sulle Società (IRES).

You can find out more about this bonus here.

The Water Bonus aims to increase water efficiency. Photo: Jos Speetjens/Unsplash

The Water Bonus

The Bonus Idrico was also extended in the Budget Law and provides for a 50 percent discount on €1,000 of works for individuals resident in Italy and up to €5,000 for businesses.

To claim from this national purse, you’ll need to buy water-saving goods, such as toilets, showers, taps and sinks that are water efficient. It’s a bid by the government to promote lower water consumption.

The money is for the supply and installation of ceramic sanitary toilets and related drainage systems, including plumbing and masonry work and the dismantling of pre-existing systems.

How to access the bonus is yet to be defined by a decree of the Minister of the Environment and Protection of Land and Sea. For the latest on this bonus, keep an eye on this site.

READ ALSO:

Next Steps

To check whether you are eligible, speak to a professional and keep checking the Agenzia delle Entrate website before you begin any work on property.

If you’re keen to buy, you may also want to take a look at our guide to the additional costs you might not be expecting, and read up on some of the common mistakes to avoid when buying a house in Italy.

See more in The Local’s Italian property section.

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PROPERTY

Reader question: Has Italy’s ‘superbonus 110’ been scrapped?

The Italian government has announced sweeping changes to the country's popular building superbonus scheme, but does this mean funding is no longer available at all? Here's what you need to know.

Published: 20 February 2023 13:20 CET
Updated: 22 February 2023 10:24 CET
Reader question: Has Italy's 'superbonus 110' been scrapped?

Question: I’m currently renovating my Italian property and plan to use the ‘superbonus 110’ discount from the Italian government. I’ve read in a UK newspaper that Italy has just scrapped the superbonus. Is this true, and if so can I no longer claim it?

This is partially correct – you’re unlikely to be able to begin a new renovation project using the building ‘superbonus’ now, as Italy’s government has just made a major change to the scheme which makes it inaccessible to most people.

Until last week there were three ways of claiming the funding, but following a hastily-approved amendment on Thursday now there’s only one – via a tax deduction (detrazione fiscale), which is only available to those who pay higher rates of income tax (Irpef). This effectively means the superbonus is now only open to the highest-earning Italian taxpayers.

The first thing to know however is that the rule change does not apply retroactively to projects which are already underway.

EXPLAINED: How Italy has changed its building superbonus – again

So you should be able to continue if you’ve already begun your claim for the superbonus under any of the three routes previously available: trading tax credit (cessione del credito), choosing to receive a discount on the invoice (sconto in fattura), or deduction from future income tax bills (detrazione fiscale). You can read a more detailed explanation of how this works here.

However this will depend on exactly what stage you are at with your claim. A qualified geometra (surveyor) or the building firm overseeing your renovation project should be able to confirm whether and how this could change anything in your situation.

So while the superbonus hasn’t been scrapped entirely, it is now so tightly restricted that new claims will be impossible for most.

Builder carrying out renovation work

After undergoing major changes in early January, Italy’s superbonus has been re-modelled once again. Photo by Milivoj Kuhar on Unsplash

There have already been various other recent changes to and problems with the superbonus scheme which stopped many homeowners from either making new claims or completing existing projects in recent months.

The availability of the superbonus was limited from the end of 2022 when long-planned changes came into effect preventing many people who had previously been eligible from claiming, including second-home owners. The maximum amount of funding available was also cut from 110 percent to 90 percent at this point, effectively turning it into the ‘superbonus 90’

While these generous amounts of state funding understandably drew international media attention, in reality many homeowners in Italy using the superbonus found that the maximum amount of funding was only available in rare cases – usually to those paying the highest rates of tax – and everyone else would be more likely to get a deduction of between 50-70 percent.

Still not a deal to be sniffed at, the superbonus proved immensely popular – so popular in fact that it resulted in a building boom leading to a nationwide shortage of building companies available to carry out the work. This plus a shortage of building supplies, which was further exacerbated by the war in Ukraine, meant the cost of labour and materials soared – making many projects unviable even with the hefty rebates.

READ ALSO: How Italy’s building bonuses are delaying the renovation of cheap homes

These shortages also resulted in major delays to many projects, as did another rule change which made it harder for building companies to obtain the credit they needed to begin work. This blocked credit transfers causing delays to projects and uncertainty which, readers tell us, meant they had to cancel their plans or in some cases has not yet been resolved.

So while it was technically available, many people found themselves unable to actually use the building superbonus in 2022.

But if you already have a claim underway, the latest government rule change looks unlikely to cause any further problems on top of those already faced by homeowners.

Please note that The Local cannot advise on individual cases. For more information on claiming Italy’s building bonuses, homeowners are advised to consult a qualified Italian building surveyor or independent financial advisor.

See more in our Italian property section.

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