Italy sells dreams by the square metre: a stone farmhouse in Le Marche, a flat on a Bologna portico, a seaside apartment in Puglia. The purchase itself is a very ordered process with a notary at its centre. If you follow the order, buying property in Italy is no riskier than at home. If you skip a check, it can be.
Can foreigners buy property in Italy?
EU and EEA citizens can buy as if they were Italian, with no reciprocity check, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Non-EU nationals who are legally resident in Italy on a work, self-employment, family, study or humanitarian permit are treated the same way.
Others fall under a reciprocity condition, assessed country by country. The Ministry's country pages, which it describes as indicative and not legally binding, say for example that Switzerland is recognised for a non-resident buying a holiday or second home of up to 200 square metres of living space on a plot of up to 1,000 square metres, or a purely commercial premises, but not for an investment purchase. For the United Kingdom, the page presents British citizens as treated like Italians under the Withdrawal Agreement, but it has not been updated since the end of the transition period. Ask the notary to check before you sign any preliminary contract.
What are the steps for buying property in Italy?
- Get your codice fiscale (guide). You need it for the contract, the deed and any loan.
- Check the property. Look at the cadastral data and the filed plans, and consult the property registers (ispezione ipotecaria) at the Agenzia delle Entrate to find the real owner and any mortgage or seizure.
- Sign the compromesso. This written preliminary contract binds both sides but does not transfer ownership. It must be registered within 30 days, and the estate agent who closed the deal must have it registered. If the deed is far off, have the notary transcribe the compromesso in the property register, otherwise a seller who sells again or mortgages in the meantime leaves you with a damages claim only.
- Arrange financing, if needed (bank account and mortgages).
- Choose the notary and sign the rogito. In the deed you state the real price and how it was paid, name the agency and its commission, and, if relevant, make the prima casa declarations.
- Move your residence to the new Comune within 18 months if you took the prima casa rate.
The tax column is where the paths split: prima casa or not, VAT or registration tax, cadastral value or price. Checking whether your case qualifies, and which declarations belong in the deed, is exactly the kind of question Moovy, Hello Expat's AI assistant, can help you prepare before you meet the notary, so that your questions are specific.
How much tax will you pay when buying property in Italy?
Taxes depend on who sells and whether it is your prima casa. For 2026, the Agenzia delle Entrate's figures:
| Case | Taxes |
|---|---|
| From a private seller, not prima casa | Registration 9% (min. €1,000), mortgage €50, cadastral €50 |
| From a private seller, prima casa | Registration 2% (min. €1,000), mortgage €50, cadastral €50 |
| From a VAT-registered seller, not prima casa | VAT 10% (22% for luxury categories A/1, A/8, A/9), plus €200 registration, €200 mortgage, €200 cadastral |
| From a VAT-registered seller, prima casa | VAT 4%, plus three fixed taxes of €200 |
Preliminary contracts add a fixed registration tax of €200 plus stamp duty, and 0.5% on a deposit (caparra confirmatoria), later deducted from the deed taxes. When you buy from a private person, you can ask in the deed for the prezzo-valore system, which calculates the tax on the cadastral value rather than on the price, and cuts the notary's fee by 30%. The Agenzia's own example: a cadastral income (rendita catastale) of €900 and a price of €200,000, prima casa, gives €2,079 of tax instead of €4,000.
Notary and agency fees are not fixed in the sources we reviewed. Ask for written quotes from several.
What does the prima casa rate require, and how can you lose it?
The reduced rate is for your main home. In the deed you declare that you will transfer your residence to the Comune within 18 months, that you own no other home in that Comune, and no other prima casa in Italy (or that you will sell it). A home you own in your country of origin does not block the rate, since the condition concerns property in Italy.
You lose the benefit, and pay back the saving with interest and a 30% penalty, if you do not move your residence within 18 months, if you sell or give away the home within five years without buying another main residence within a year, or if your declarations were false. Luxury categories A/1, A/8 and A/9 never qualify. If you realise before 18 months that you cannot settle, ask the Agenzia to recalculate: you pay the difference with interest but not the 30% penalty.
What are the classic traps?
- Paying before a registered compromesso and a registry check. This is how double sales and hidden mortgages happen.
- Under-declaring the price. The taxes are recalculated on the real price, with a fine of 50% to 100% of the tax avoided.
- Signing a "proposta" without reading it. An accepted offer can count as a compromesso if it contains all the elements of the contract.
- Forgetting running costs. Owners pay the IMU property tax on a home that is not the main residence, and the TARI waste tax; ask the notary and the Comune what applies to your property.
Before you decide, test the market by renting: renting in Italy lets you try a neighbourhood first.
What does the notary do, and who chooses one?
The notaio is a public official, not the seller's or the agent's representative, and the buyer normally chooses him or her. The notary drafts and reads the final deed (rogito), checks the registers, and collects the taxes due on the sale, which is why you hand over the tax money together with the fee. The Agenzia delle Entrate's guide says the deed must state the real price and how it was paid (bank transfer, cheque and so on), name the agency and its commission, and cite the cadastral data and the filed plans of the property, with a declaration that the state of the property conforms to them. A deed that omits the cadastral references is null, and a false or incomplete statement about payments or the agency is fined from €500 to €10,000. Insist on seeing the draft a few days before signing, so that you can read the figures calmly and ask about each tax line.
Notary and agency fees are not set in the sources we read, so ask for a written quote from two or three notaries before you commit to a preliminary contract. It is also worth asking the notary to explain what a transcription of the compromesso would cost and protect, if the final deed is months away.
Does owning a home in your own country affect the prima casa?
Not for the tax rate. The prima casa conditions concern property in Italy: no other home in the same Comune, no other prima casa elsewhere in Italy (or an undertaking to sell it). A house you keep abroad does not block the reduced rate, but it can exclude you from the state guarantee of the Fondo prima casa, which requires that you own no other home, including abroad, with limited exceptions. If you already own a prima casa in Italy and buy another, the agency says you must sell the old one within two years for purchases made since 1 January 2025.
For the loan side, read bank account in Italy, which explains the 80% rule, the European information sheet and the seven days to reflect before you accept a mortgage offer. For the lighter-commitment path, renting in Italy comes first.