Non-professional investors who are looking for a holiday home that they will enjoy for at least five years are undoubtedly the winners in the Italian property market. New tax laws now favour this sector of the market.
Purchase costs in Italy used to be as high as 15-17 percent, but new rulings mean that this figure can decrease to approximately 4 - 5 percent.
Furthermore, after five years, even holiday home owners, are exempt from capital gains tax in Italy. Capital gains tax stood at 12 percent but under new rulings this has been raised to 20 percent.
This coupled with inheritance tax only on high value properties and still significantly lower than that of UK death duties, is also a big factor to mature individuals looking to invest in the country.
Sarah Ferrara, managing director of Garda Homes, said: “To gain some perspective of just how beneficial the new tax laws are, if we take the featured two bedroom apartment in Caneto, near the popular Lake Garda town of Salò, as an example, we see that under the old rules taxes on this property would have been £16,500.
“However, under the new rulings this figure drops dramatically to around just £2,250; the savings are evident for all to see.
“The new tax laws will undoubtedly bring a resurgence of buyers back to Italian shores which will further strengthen this market which has performed well over the last decade.”