To encourage the purchase of a first home, various tax breaks have been introduced over the years, which allow a significant reduction in taxes on the purchase and sale.
The first home concessions have been confirmed for the whole of 2024 and in this article we will see in detail what they are, who can access them, how to request them and their application.
What are first home benefits?
For several years now, the Government has reconfirmed tax breaks for the purchase of a first home, a measure that aims to encourage sales and allows people to buy their main home benefiting from certain discounts.
In order to access the 2024 home bonus, the buyer must meet certain requirements and the building must have certain characteristics, so it is not always possible to obtain a tax reduction.
First of all, it must be specified that the first home benefits are confirmed until 31 December 2024 for all taxpayers, whereas the “first home bonus under 36” has been eliminated, which provided for total tax exemption for individuals under the age of 36 years and an ISEE income of €40,000.
The measure to incentivize the purchase of properties to be elected as a main residence is therefore reserved for all taxpayers, regardless of age or income and there are no longer specific categories of subjects who can benefit from further benefits. You can access the first home bonus under 36 only if you have signed a preliminary contract in 2023 and proceed with the purchase by 31 December 2024.
The requirements for accessing first home benefits
To understand if you can obtain the first home bonus it is necessary to specify the requirements that must be met to be granted the benefit.
First of all, you can request the first home bonus if the building falls into one of the cadastral categories strictly indicated by law and which are indicated with class A. The tax reduction is granted if the building falls into the class A/2 (civil property), A/3 (economic housing), but also if you purchase a public or rural housing building.
To know in detail the classification of properties and understand whether the first home falls into these cadastral categories, you can read the Revenue Agency's updated guide for 2024, downloadable in PDF version.
The first home bonus is instead excluding for all those homes that are considered elegant (class A/1), but also for villas and castles or homes that have a high historical-artistic value.
There tax reduction it also applies to so-called appurtenances, those rooms or things that are “durably” connected to the main building, for example warehouses, warehouses, sheds, garages, etc. To check whether the appliances purchased together with the main residence benefit from the bonus, it is necessary to check that in the cadastral survey they are indicated with the following abbreviations “C/2”, “C/6”, “C/7”.
In addition to the requirements that the property must meet to qualify for the first home bonus, the main home to be purchased must be located in a specific location. As specified by law, tax breaks are granted only if the first home is located in the municipality where the buyer has established his residence. The residency requirement is mandatory to access the first home bonus, but there are exemptions to allow the buyer to proceed with the purchase anyway.
Anyone who decides to buy a house and does not live in the municipality where the property is located has 18 months to transfer his residence, specifying this condition in the deed of sale. To make the regulation of the first home bonus less stringent, where the buyer carries out his work or study activity is also considered a residence.
A particular condition is reserved for Italian citizens who have emigrated abroad, who can still benefit from the first home bonus and purchase the property throughout the national territory, but must present specific documentation at the time of the purchase deed. Over the years, the first home bonus has been updated and expanded, in fact it is possible to obtain the benefits even if you already have a main home.
This exemption was only introduced in 2016, but it must still be specified that the owner of a first home must meet certain requirements to be able to request the bonus:
- if the buyer has already benefited from the first home bonus, he must sell his old home within one year;
- if you have not benefited from the first home benefits and want to proceed with a new purchase, the property must be located in a different municipality, otherwise you will have to sell it.
If both homes (both the old house and the new property to be purchased) are in the same municipality, you will not be able to access the bonus. As the Revenue Agency specifies in the guidelines, there is a specific case in which the buyer is entitled to a “tax credit” to buy back their first home.
To understand how it works, it is appropriate to give a practical example:
Mario buys a property with the first home bonus and after only a year sells it, he then decides to buy a new property which still falls within the requirements prescribed as a “first home”, in this specific case he will be entitled to a tax credit or on VAT or stamp duty.
The above case is not very frequent, given that almost all buyers who purchase a first home do not already own other properties, but it is still advisable to point out this possibility if you want to be sure not to lose the benefits.
How the bonus applies
As we highlighted previously, the first home bonus includes a tax reduction to be paid at the time of purchase, let's see in detail what they are.
All taxpayers who request the first home bonus can benefit from a reduction in registration tax or VAT, in the first case if the buyer buys a property from a private individual and in the second if the house is purchased by a company .
In addition to the reduction of the registration tax, by obtaining the first home bonus, there is acomplete exemption from paying stamp duty or paying registration taxmortgage taxes and “special land registry taxes”.
For buyers who purchase their first home by taking out a mortgage loan there is also a deduction equal to 19% on interest expense, provided that this expense does not exceed the set limit of €4,000. The calculation of the tax reduction varies if you purchase your first home from a private individual or from a company subject to VAT.
To understand the differences it is always advisable to do a practical example: if Caio buys from Sempronio, then the calculation of the taxes to be paid will be as follows: fixed mortgage and cadastral tax equal to €50, registration tax of 2% based on the sales price or cadastral income.
For purchases without a first home bonus, the registration tax is proportionally equal to 9%.
The second hypothesis instead concerns the purchase of a main residence, for example, by Caio from a companyin this specific case, VAT will have to be paid at 4%, while the registration, land registry and mortgage taxes are fixed, equal to €200.
To determine the amount of registration tax for the purchase of a main residence with a first home bonus, the price-value system, which only considers the cadastral income of the property to be purchased and does not take into account the amount agreed between the buyer and the seller. The value price system applies only to sales between private individuals and this calculation must be specifically requested at the time of signing the sales contract.
How to request the relief
If you meet the requirements to access the first home bonus, you must complete a specific form to submit to the bank or financial institution where you requested the mortgage. The “first home bonus” form it can be downloaded from the Consap website (Concessionaria Servizi Assicurativi Pubblici SpA) at the following link.
The declaration in lieu of certification and affidavit regarding the first home bonus must be completed in its entirety, entering your personal data and also that of the other buyers participating in the purchase of the main home. After completing the section relating to personal data, you must proceed with the declarations, for example you will need to specify whether you are the owner of other properties for residential use, while those acquired through inheritance due to death are excluded.
The second part of the form is instead reserved for the composition of the family unit, but it is a section that had to be completed before the abolition of the first home benefits under 36.
Among the other requirements that must be carried out to obtain the 2024 first home benefits is to declare at the time of signing the purchase and sale contract that you want to use the price-value system for the payment of the proportional registration tax. With this declaration, you can obtain further advantages, in fact there is a 30% discount on the payment of the fee for the notary who draws up the deed of sale, furthermore the assessment by the Revenue Agency is limited.
Loss of first home benefits
One of the requirements required by law to access the first home bonus concerns the residence in the municipality where the property is purchased, if the declaration is not made at the time of purchase that the transfer will be carried out or this is not carried out within 18 months, the “first home” tax benefits will be lost and the taxes will have to be paid. taxed as if it were a normal sale.
The loss of first home benefits also occurs when false declarations are submitted or the property does not have the cadastral characteristics required by law, for example it is an elegant or valuable property.
Among the other reasons that can lead to the loss of first home tax benefits, we find the failure to sell the old house within 12 months of purchase. It should be underlined that the tax breaks for the first home in 2024 will not be lost, even if the home is rented out after purchase.
