New Rental Rules: IMU May Be Charged to Tenants

The IMU, Imposta Municipale Unica, or Single Municipal Tax, is the tax levied at the municipal level on all those who own property other than their first home, which replaced the old Ici, Irpef and other regional and municipal surcharges, and was established in 2011 by the Monti government through the Salva-Italia maneuver.

It is therefore a tax paid by the landlord which, except for capital properties, is not deductible from income. Perhaps not everyone knows that current regulations allow the tax to be put on the tenant of a lease if this has been agreed between the parties and specified in the lease.

In transactions between private parties, such an allocation to the tenant creates an advantage for landlords since it reduces the tax base and thus the tax.

Let's take an example.

Mr. Rossi has an apartment/office directly in his name that he decides to rent to Ms. Bianchi for € 100,000 in rent. The IMU on the property in question is € 10,000.

Under the usual approach to the contract, Mr. Rossi will pay income taxes on the rent amount of €100,000 without being able to take the €10,000 paid in IMU as a deduction from income.

If, on the other hand, the parties agreed that the IMU payment is put on Mrs. Bianchi, she would still pay €100,000 (90k in rent and 10k in IMU with no tax deductibility for either the former or the latter), but Mr. Rossi would pay tax on €90,000 thus achieving a small savings.

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