A very welcome bit of news in the midst of much gloom – for those with a partita iva, the Italian government is offering a one-off payment of €600. This is with reference to March – it isn’t clear if it will be repeated but we will keep you posted. If you are already our client, we shall already have contacted you about this. If you are not currently our client, and are interested in claiming the €600, please contact us so that we can arrange this for you.

Under a new draft tourism law, steps are being taken to ensure that individuals who rent more than 3 houses are considered to be carrying on a business activity. This means that income from the activity will not qualify for the favourable “cedolare secca” treatment and that the individuals carrying on these rentals will need to register for IVA (take out a partita iva) and INPS. The thinking behind the proposed move is to regulate better the tourist rental sector, particularly in view of the number of activities which are believed to be carried on through sites such as Airbnb, but which in reality are businesses. The draft law also provides for Comuni to regulate tourist rentals by issuing licences to regulate the maximum number of rental properties available and the maximum duration of temporary rentals so as to be able to manage better the flow of tourists to Italy’s historic centres. We will need to see what happens to the draft proposals.

A note of interest to all residents in Italy – as of the start of the year payment for many items which are deductible costs in your tax return need to be made by traceable methods of payment. This means by debit or credit card, bank transfer or cheque. The items are: specialist health appointments; mortgage payments; agency costs on purchase of first home; veterinary costs; funeral costs; general school and University costs sports costs for children from 5 to 18 years of age; insurance costs; costs of care for those with particular needs; donations to schools; travel passes on local transport. The following items may still be paid for in cash: medicines; medical equipment; Health services provided by public hospitals or those working under agreement with the SSN