Modicasa

19/05/2026

From the beginning of June the APE changes to bring it into line with the European directives. It returns to being straight A to G classes, and the A1 A2 A3 A4 classes will disappear. It means that what is currently a Class D may become a Class E or F in the future, just because of the way the APE will be calculated in the future. HOwver, if you have an APE that is current, you don’t need to do anything – it remains valid for the 10 years it was issued for, but it’s likely that the class will change when it’s renewed even if no work has been done in the interim.

07/05/2026

The Sicilian High Court has annulled some of the measures in the new tourist laws from last year. They acknowledge that staying in a B&B cannot be compared to a hotel, and therefore have annulled the following impositions:
1. A 32 inch tv in every toom
2. Fireproof mattresses
3. Cable and satellite tv in common areas
4. A limit of 4 beds in a room
5. A bathroom for every four beds if there isn’t a private bathroom
6. Bathrooms for separate sexes
7. A defibrillator to be present
8. At least 50% of the reception staff must speak English.
The rest of the rules stay in effect, in particular that which regulates the use of “luxury, boutique, resort and country” in the names of structures.

04/05/2026

Houses for 1 euro and flat tax

It is important to remember that if you take a ‘forfeit’ scheme – such as the 7% flat tax on pensions choosing to live in a comune of less than 30.000 inhabitants, or you opt for an income tax preferential rate of 5 or 15%, depending on your circumstances, you cannot take advantage of any other incentives.
When paying normal tax rates in Italy you are eligible to claim back a huge array of expenses, from specs to medicines, to a fridge, some furniture, books, school costs, etc etc. That can come to thousands of euros a year – especially if doing up a house you opt for 50% energy incentives, 50% white good incentives, 55% foto voltaics incentives and so on. However, if you are in a preferential scheme you can claim back nothing. Zero. Nought. It’s worth doing your calculations very carefully before opting into a flat tax scheme.
There are instagrammers who tell you how much money you can save on your restoration – but you only save if you are a tax payer in Italy, as the incentives are deductions on your tax bill – nobody is going to thrust an envelope full of cash into your sweaty palm because you are opting for a class A fridge.
So, you may buy a house for 1 euro, and be a 7% pensioner in a village in central Sicily, but your restoration will not be eligible for tax breaks. Using a uninhabitable ruin for 1 euro as an address to get your visa is also a no-no – as the property must be your residence, and if it has no roof or water it’s unlikely you’ll get away with it.

30/04/2026

There has been an update to the 7% pensioners flat tax scheme from April.
The list of comunes eligible for this scheme has been amplified – now you can opt for a comune of up to 30.000 inhabitants (as at the ISTAT count on the 1 January in the year preceding opting in) – in the south of Italy or in the defined seismic areas of mid-Italy – Lazio, Le Marche and Umbria.
The rules remain largely the same: if you are from a non-Schengen country you will still need a visa to opt in.
The other rules are:
1. You have not been tax resident in Italy for the five years leading up to the opt in.
2. Your pension is a government or private pension from your home country which is not taxed in that country. A Double tax agreement needs to be in place
3. Workplace benefits with drawdowns are generally not eligible for the incentive, as are some pensions which are exclusively taxed in your home country.

The benefits are:
The incentive lasts for 10 years from the date of opt in – that is your first tax year in Italy. (simply put the first year in which you spend more than 183 days in Italy) If you don’t opt in during that year, you will lose the whole incentive.
You will be exempt from normal Italian tax rates on income earned in Italy
You will be exempt from dividends and income from investments from non-Italian companies
You will be exempt from having to fill in the RW section of your tax return for foreign holdings
You will be exempt from IVIE and IVAFE on foreign assets (such as a house in your home country)

The disadvantages are:
You have no further deductions – for medicines, state incentives, restoration, solar panels etc etc etc
Any other Italian income (such as rental) or salary is taxed at normal rates.
Any dividends or investment income on Italian assets is taxed at normal rates
You cannot claim tax credits on tax paid in other countries.
At the end of 10 years you automatically switch to normal Italian tax bands
If you move within 10 years to a non qualifying comune, you lose the incentive
Not all pensions can be taxed in Italy, so you may not qualify for the Italian incentive.

03/04/2026

Available from Amazon or www.buyinginitaly.com or www.buyinginsicily.com

28/05/2025

The Court of Appeal decided yesterday that it is still ok for home owners who rent their property to have remote client check in - ie .keyboxes. This overturns Salvini's decree from last November. However, it remains to be seen if he will remodulate the law.

25/01/2025

Coming soon, the 14th edition of the best selling guide.

28/12/2024

Under a tightening of the existing laws: if you are part of a home exchange scheme, you now have to also be registered on alloggiati web, have someone to welcome your exchangees in person and take their ID, and register them on the police website within 24 hours.

05/12/2024

If you want to not pay the canone RAI for 2025, you can now send the forms by PEC, but you will need a digital signature.
See here:

Richiedi subito l'esenzione del Canone RAI per l'interno anno 2023 direttamente online dal tuo pc, tablet o smartphone inviando la Raccomandata Senza Busta richiesta dall'Agenzia delle Entrate!

05/12/2024

The government has issued an order to all the Prefects of Italy to outlaw keyboxes on airbnbs and the like. The official reason is for counter terrorism – the owner/manager must check id documents in person, and therefore must be present to hand over the keys. This comes after cities like Florence had wildcat action against key boxes as a protest against the amount of property dedicated to tourism and not to residents.
Regions in Italy vary as to the requirements for B&Bs – some regions insist you must live in the same building, others in the same town – and the decision to eradicate the keybox is going to create a fair amount of hassle.
The order was actionable immediately – so if you have a keybox you need to sort it out now.

29/11/2024

Iblea Acque - To send the correct meter reading to Iblea Acque requires that you are registered on the sportello utente and use the K Reader app on your phone. For non Italians this is impossible as you do not have a SPID or a CIE. I have spoken to Iblea Acque this morning and they will accept meter readings by email. however it is best to preface your email with something like: Non sono italiano né residente e non avendo diritto a uno SPID o a una CIE non posso utilizzare l'app. Pertanto vi sarei grato se accettaste questa email per la lettura del mio contatore.
You will need to attach a photo of your meter showing the reading and the matricola (make and number of the meter) and cite your user number on the email.