# IMU payments on property in the UK



## sim0670

We have been living in Italy since 2008 and we have always paid any relevent taxes etc. But, this one really does take the biscuit...

We have 3 properties in UK that we rent. The rent produces very little profit after agents fees, mortage payments etc. We do a tax return in the UK every year and pay 0 tax after our tax allowance is removed. So therefore we assumed no problem. Our accountant in UK said you may have to pay some tax in Italy under the dual tax agreement, but as we pay 0 in UK we assumed we have nothing to pay here in Italy.

Our accountant in Italy did a tax return for us this year and managed to offset some overpayment of Italian tax to pay our first IMU payment. In the meantime we have had a visit from the Finance Police in the summer asking us about our rental properties in UK.It seems they have opened a branch in the UK to track Italians moving money to the UK to buy property to rent. Regarding tax they say they operate using the rules of the UK so hopefully no problem for us there. Fingers crossed. But, this is the sting in the tale. They said we are liable to pay IMU on all property owned in the UK. In actual fact the rule our accountant has read is a percentage of the value of the properties when they were purchased. The percentage is around 0.74 of the value. Our accountant is looking into it more because it does not seem fair, even the police were sympathetic to a point. Its like Italians paying Council Tax on their Italian property in the UK!

Has anyone else discovered this little gem yet or know any more info on this problem. We know other Brits who own property in the UK. We have informed them. The police said they are also looking at one other British family in our town but said they were more concerned with the Italians. We were just caught in the cross fire. Incidently the information the police had was all passed to them from the good old Inland Revenue. Thanks for that. There is no where to hide.


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## NickZ

It's not IMU you're paying. It's a wealth tax really.

IIRC under the latest revision of the rules what you pay is based on what the UK council rates the property at. If your accountant isn't aware of this you might need to find somebody you keeps up with the rules. The purchase price rule only applies to Non EU properties. 

You can deduct any council tax paid but since it's rented out who is paying the council tax?

BTW you're assumption that zero UK tax means zero tax in Italy is flawed. You need to add it into your Italian worldwide income.


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## sim0670

Hi Nick ,

Thanks for the reply,

I have spoken to many different sources regarding this situation with the IMU. It seems it is actually called IVIE tax for the properties owned abroad. According to some reports it is still unclear as to how the tax is calculated. One source has said that if the property is already taxed in the country then there will be nothing to pay. But, they have not confirmed if Council tax is confirmed as property tax. Some state that the the tax is calculated at 0.76 percent of purchase price regardless of being in or out of the EU. I have an american friend who has the same problem. They want to tax her in the same way. I can find very little information on this and our accountant has spoken to various sources. He has the latest information available from the Italian IR, but again still stating the 0.76 calculation in or out of the EU.
There is good report in 'the Florentine' all about IMU by a lawyer. He states some of the details are still unknown.

Point noted regarding the tax allowance in UK. 

Do you have any ideas or know anyone who can provide more info on this. 

The dolce vita is starting to wear thin.

Thanks 

Simon


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## NickZ

Honestly you shouldn't have to chase this down for your accountant.

http://www.agenziaentrate.gov.it/wp...ERES&CACHEID=3e3d10004bd500bbb110f7ad8102fe77

That's the circular. Print it out for your accountant . BUT he should know this stuff. If he can't find this for himself  That circular is from July I think. The initial law was last year. 

NOVITA` IN INGHILTERRA

That link is an Italian/UK lawyer. It covers it from the point of the UK property point of view.


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