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How to Calculate IMU Tax in Italy: Formula, Rates and Deadlines

The IMU formula from the law, step by step: cadastral income, multiplier, your municipality's rate, months owned, and how to pay the June and December instalments.

· 8 min read

To calculate IMU tax in Italy, you need five numbers: the cadastral income of the property, the multiplier for its cadastral category, the rate your municipality has set for this year, your ownership share, and the months you owned it. The formula is: cadastral income × 1.05 × multiplier × rate × share × months ÷ 12. You pay the result in two instalments, by 16 June and by 16 December.

IMU (imposta municipale propria) is the yearly municipal tax on property in Italy. Below, each step comes from the text of the law and from the Italian Department of Finance, with two worked examples, the reason the June payment is often not half of the year, and what changes if you live outside Italy.

This is general information about Italian rules, not tax advice. The rules below come from the original 2019 text of the law. Later laws and ministry decrees can change details. The rate table your municipality publishes is the authority, so check your case with its tax office (ufficio tributi), a CAF or an accountant.

Who pays IMU and who does not

IMU is due on the ownership of property: buildings, building land (aree fabbricabili) and agricultural land. Under Law 160/2019, article 1, paragraph 740, your main home is not taxed, unless it is in cadastral category A/1, A/8 or A/9 (luxury homes, villas, castles).

The law defines the main home in paragraph 741 as the property where you and your family both live habitually and have your registered residence (residenza anagrafica). The exemption also covers up to one garage, cellar or shed for each of the categories C/2, C/6 and C/7.

So a holiday home owned by someone living abroad is taxed as an "other building" (altro fabbricato). That is the usual case for foreign owners and for Italians registered abroad.

Step 1: find the cadastral income and the category

The cadastral income (rendita catastale) is a value fixed by the Italian land registry, not the market price or the rent. It appears, with the category, on the cadastral record (visura catastale). According to the Agenzia delle Entrate guide, owners can consult it free of charge at the agency's provincial offices and at local cadastral desks. It is often in the purchase deed too.

Use the cadastral income in force on 1 January of the tax year, without any increase: the formula adds it in the next step.

Step 2: calculate the taxable value

Paragraph 745 sets the taxable value of a building: cadastral income, increased by 5 per cent, multiplied by a coefficient that depends on the category.

| Cadastral category | Multiplier | |---|---| | Group A (homes) except A/10, and C/2, C/6, C/7 | 160 | | Group B, and C/3, C/4, C/5 | 140 | | A/10 (offices) and D/5 (banks) | 80 | | Group D except D/5 | 65 | | C/1 (shops) | 55 |

Two other cases follow different rules. For agricultural land, paragraph 746 uses the dominical income (reddito dominicale) increased by 25 per cent and multiplied by 135. For building land, the taxable value is the market value on 1 January.

Step 3: find your municipality's rate

Each municipality sets its own rates every year, within limits set by the law:

  • Other buildings, including second homes: base 0.86 per cent (8.6 per mille). The municipality can raise it to 1.06 per cent or lower it to zero (paragraph 754). Municipalities that applied the old TASI surcharge can go up to 1.14 per cent (paragraph 755).
  • Luxury main homes (A/1, A/8, A/9): base 0.5 per cent, with a deduction of €200 per year, in proportion to the months (paragraphs 748 and 749).
  • Agricultural land: base 0.76 per cent (paragraph 752).
  • Group D buildings (production use): base 0.86 per cent, of which 0.76 per cent goes to the State (paragraph 753).

To find the real rate, use the Department of Finance search page "Regolamenti e aliquote: ricerca", which lists the rate tables and regulations of each municipality by year. The page states the key rule: rates count for a year only if they are published there by 28 October of that year; otherwise the previous year's rates apply.

Step 4: apply your share, the months and any reduction

Paragraph 761 says the tax is due in proportion to your ownership share and to the months you owned the property. A month counts in full if you owned it for more than half of its days, and the day of the sale counts for the buyer. Two owners in equal parts each pay on 50 per cent, with their own payment.

The most common reductions are:

  • Half the taxable value for listed historic buildings, and for buildings declared unfit for use and not used (paragraph 747).
  • Half the taxable value for a home lent free to a parent or child who lives in it, if the loan is registered and the owner has only one home in Italy and lives in the same municipality (paragraph 747). The reduction does not apply to categories A/1, A/8 and A/9. Owners living abroad normally do not qualify.
  • The tax reduced to 75 per cent for homes let at an agreed rent (canone concordato) under Law 431/1998 (paragraph 760).

A worked example

A second home in category A/3, cadastral income €600, in a municipality with a rate of 1.06 per cent. You own all of it for the whole year.

  1. Cadastral income increased by 5 per cent: €600 × 1.05 = €630.
  2. Taxable value: €630 × 160 = €100,800.
  3. Yearly IMU: €100,800 × 1.06 ÷ 100 = €1,068.48.
  4. If the rate was the same last year: €534.24 in June and €534.24 in December.

Now the same home, bought on 10 March. You owned it for 22 days of March, more than half the month, so March counts: 10 months. The yearly tax is €1,068.48 × 10 ÷ 12 = €890.40.

Why the June payment is often not half

Paragraph 762 says the first instalment equals the tax for the first six months, using the rate of the previous year. The December instalment then settles the whole year, using the rates published by 28 October.

The Department of Finance confirmed this in its FAQ of 8 June 2021: for a property bought on 1 June, the June payment covers one month, not half of the tax for seven months. In the example above, bought on 10 March:

  1. June: March to June is 4 months, so €1,068.48 × 4 ÷ 12 = €356.16.
  2. December: €890.40 − €356.16 = €534.24.

The same thing happens when the municipality changes its rate. If last year's rate was 0.96 per cent, the June payment is €100,800 × 0.96 ÷ 100 ÷ 2 = €483.84, and the December payment is €1,068.48 − €483.84 = €584.64. Check the December figure after 28 October each year. The law also lets you pay the whole year in one payment by 16 June.

How to pay: the F24 form and tax codes

IMU is paid with the F24 form (or a dedicated postal slip). In the section "IMU ed altri tributi locali", the Agenzia delle Entrate example for code 3918 shows the fields to fill in: the cadastral code of the municipality (for example H501 for Rome), the tax code, the year, the number of properties, and a cross in "Acc." for the June payment or "Saldo" for December.

The most common tax codes are:

  • 3918: other buildings, including second homes (municipality).
  • 3912: luxury main home and its annexes (municipality).
  • 3914: agricultural land (municipality).
  • 3916: building land (municipality).
  • 3925: group D buildings, State share, and 3930: group D, municipal increase.

Paying from abroad

If you cannot use an F24 form from abroad, a Department of Finance notice of 31 May 2012 says to contact the municipality for its payment instructions and IBAN. That notice is the procedure from 2012, so ask the municipality for its current IBAN and instructions before you pay. The notice also gives a transfer to the Banca d'Italia for the State share, but today the law keeps a State share only for group D buildings (paragraph 753), so a normal second home pays the municipality only.

In the transfer reference, write your Italian tax code (codice fiscale) or, if you have none, the tax number of your country of residence, then "IMU", the municipality, the tax codes, the year and "Acconto" or "Saldo". Send a copy of the payment to the municipality.

A reduction for some pensioners abroad

Law 178/2020 (article 1, paragraph 48) introduced, from 2021, a reduction to half of IMU on one home in Italy, not rented or lent, owned by a person living abroad with a pension under an international agreement with Italy. The amount of this reduction has changed in some years, and I did not open a source for the current year, so confirm the current figure with your municipality. Resolution 5/DF of 11 June 2021 describes the conditions for 2021: you must live in the country that pays the pension, and the pension must combine contributions paid in Italy and abroad. A pension earned only abroad does not qualify, and the agreements with Mexico and the Republic of Korea are excluded. Ask your municipality to confirm the rule for your case and year.

A free calculator for the arithmetic

MoneIT: IMU calculator. This free calculator has no registration and its page is in Italian. You enter the property type and category, the cadastral income, the municipal rate in per mille, your share, the months and any 50 or 25 per cent reduction. It shows the taxable value, the yearly IMU, the two instalments and the amount for each F24 tax code. It proposes base rates, so replace them with your municipality's. The page says it is educational. It shows the two instalments as half each, so in the cases above, adjust the June amount yourself.

Checklist

  1. Get the cadastral record (visura) and note the cadastral income and category.
  2. Decide the type: main home (exempt unless A/1, A/8, A/9), other building, land or building land.
  3. Taxable value: cadastral income × 1.05 × multiplier.
  4. Find this year's rate on the Department of Finance search page.
  5. Apply your share, the months owned and any reduction.
  6. June: first six months at last year's rate. December: the rest, at the rate published by 28 October.
  7. Pay with F24 and the right tax code, or by transfer from abroad with the full reference, and keep the receipt.

Frequently asked questions

How do you calculate IMU in Italy?

Take the cadastral income (rendita catastale), add 5 per cent, and multiply by the coefficient for the cadastral category (160 for most homes). That is the taxable value. Multiply it by the rate your municipality has set, then by your ownership share and by the months you owned the property divided by 12.

Do I pay IMU on my holiday home in Italy if I live abroad?

Usually yes. The main-home exemption in Law 160/2019 needs both your registered residence and your habitual home in that property, so a holiday home owned by someone living abroad pays IMU as an other building, normally with tax code 3918.

Is the June IMU payment always half of the yearly amount?

No. The law says the first instalment is the tax for the first six months, using the previous year's rate. If you bought during the year, or the municipality changed its rate, the June and December amounts are different. The December payment settles the difference.

Where do I find my municipality's IMU rate?

On the Department of Finance search page for IMU rates and regulations, by municipality and year. Rates count for a year only if they are published there by 28 October of that year; otherwise last year's rates apply.

How can I pay IMU from abroad without an Italian bank?

If you cannot use the F24 form, the Department of Finance says to contact the municipality for its payment instructions and IBAN, write your tax code, IMU, the municipality, the tax codes, the year and Acconto or Saldo in the transfer reference, and send a copy of the payment to the municipality.

Sources

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