Selling Italian Property: Non-Resident Capital Gains in 2026
The short answer: A non-resident selling a privately held Italian home within five years of purchase can owe Italian tax on the gain. Beyond five years, the ordinary rule excludes it, but building land and certain Superbonus properties require separate checks. Eligible sellers can request 26% substitute tax at the notarial sale.
The mistake is to ask only, “How much tax does a foreign seller pay?” Residence abroad does not settle the answer. First establish whether Italy taxes this particular gain; then calculate it; only then compare ordinary taxation with the notary option.
This guide concerns individuals selling privately held property, not property-trading businesses or company-owned buildings. It uses the TUIR provisions applicable in 2026. The main case is an ordinary holiday home, not building land or a property caught by the separate Superbonus disposal rule.
When Italy taxes a non-resident's sale
Article 23(1)(f) TUIR treats miscellaneous income arising from assets situated in Italy as Italian-source income. Article 67 then determines whether a private property sale produces a taxable plusvalenza, or capital gain. Living abroad does not itself switch that rule off.
For an ordinary purchased home, article 67(1)(b) covers a sale for consideration where the property was purchased or constructed no more than five years earlier. There must also be a positive gain calculated under article 68: receiving a substantial sale price is not the same thing as making a taxable profit.
If more than five years have elapsed, that ordinary holding-period rule no longer captures the sale. However, “after five years, every Italian property sale is tax-free” is incorrect. The statute separately addresses building land and certain properties affected by Superbonus works.
Start with the purchase deed and proposed sale deed, rather than the date you moved abroad or first advertised the property. If you need to reconstruct the acquisition paperwork, our Italian property registration guide explains the registration context. Ask the notary to confirm the relevant acquisition or construction date before relying on a borderline anniversary.
The main-home exception is about actual use
Article 67(1)(b) excludes urban residential units used as the seller's or their family members' main home for most of the period between acquisition or construction and sale. That is the statutory test, not simply whether someone describes the property as their “first home.”
A non-resident should not assume that occasional holidays establish main-home use. Equally, the text includes qualifying use by family members: it does not say that every owner living abroad automatically fails the exception. Prepare a factual history of occupation and have the evidence assessed.
| Private-sale situation | Starting point for Italian capital gains |
|---|
| Purchased holiday home sold within five years | A positive gain is ordinarily taxable unless an exclusion applies |
| Ordinary home sold after more than five years | Outside the ordinary five-year rule, subject to separate categories below |
| Inherited ordinary home | Excluded from the ordinary rule for inherited property |
| Gifted home | Use the donor's acquisition date for the five-year clock |
| Home meeting the statutory main-home use test | Excluded under article 67(1)(b) |
| Building land | Five years is not a general escape from taxation |
| Property affected by qualifying Superbonus works | Check article 67(1)(b-bis), not just the purchase date |
Inherited and gifted property are not equivalent
Property received through inheritance
Article 67(1)(b) expressly excludes property acquired through succession. For an inherited ordinary home, the exclusion is not conditional on the heir keeping it for another five years. A quick sale is therefore not automatically a taxable ordinary property gain.
Keep this separate from taxes and formalities arising on inheritance itself. Our inheritance tax guide for foreigners addresses that earlier stage. An inheritance exclusion from this capital-gains rule does not establish that the entire succession and sale are free of every tax or expense.
Do not extend the ordinary-home conclusion to inherited building land. Article 67 treats gains on land capable of development separately and without the ordinary holding-period protection.
Property received as a gift
A gift is different. Under article 67(1)(b), the five-year period runs from the donor's acquisition date, not the date on which the recipient received the gift. Obtain the donor's purchase documents; the gift deed alone may not answer the holding-period question.
The donor's cost also matters. Article 68(1), in its 2026 text, uses the purchase price or construction cost borne by the donor, increased by gift tax and subsequent qualifying costs relating to the property. Do not automatically substitute the valuation written into the gift deed for that historic cost.
A practical gift-sale file therefore has two timelines: when the donor acquired the property, and which qualifying costs were subsequently incurred. Missing the first can misclassify the sale; missing the second can overstate the gain.
How to calculate the taxable gain
Article 68(1) gives the basic formula: consideration received, less purchase price or construction cost, increased by other costs inherent to the property.
Gain = sale consideration − (purchase or construction cost + qualifying property-related costs).
The Agenzia delle Entrate's notary communication instructions identify acquisition taxes, the acquisition notary's fee, expenditure increasing the property's value, and other qualifying costs. Those categories explain why the taxable gain can be lower than sale price minus purchase price alone.
Build the calculation from documents, not estimates. Gather the purchase deed, acquisition tax records, notary invoice and invoices supporting qualifying capital improvements. Put each item in a schedule showing the amount, date, supporting document and why it relates to the property. Have uncertain expenditure reviewed rather than labelling every payment “renovation.”
Capital expenditure belongs in the calculation only insofar as it qualifies as a property-related, value-increasing cost. The existence of an invoice is evidence of expenditure, not an automatic answer to its tax treatment. For works connected with Superbonus, article 68 contains additional restrictions, so this ordinary calculation cannot simply be copied across.
Likewise, do not calculate the gain as whatever cash remains after your mortgage is repaid. Article 68 compares consideration with the tax cost of the property; a loan redemption changes your cash proceeds, not that statutory formula.
For co-owners, the Agency's instructions require consideration and costs to be stated by reference to the ownership share or right sold. Check each seller's position rather than treating one household as one taxpayer.
The 26% notary option versus ordinary IRPEF
For an eligible taxable private sale, the Agenzia delle Entrate confirms that the seller may ask the notary, at the time of the sale, to apply a 26% substitute tax instead of income tax on the gain. Discuss the choice before signing so the calculation and funding are ready; the election belongs at the notarial sale, not in an informal decision months afterwards.
Without that election, the ordinary route brings the taxable gain into the income-tax calculation. Article 11 TUIR provides these 2026 national IRPEF brackets:
| Taxable income band | National marginal rate |
|---|
| Up to €28,000 | 23% |
| Above €28,000 and up to €50,000 | 33% |
| Above €50,000 | 43% |
These are marginal bands, not one rate applied indiscriminately to the whole gain. The relevant comparison considers the seller's other income taxable in Italy, available deductions and credits, and any applicable local surcharges. Our Italian income-tax rates guide gives the wider framework.
The 26% option is therefore not always cheaper. A relatively small gain with little other Italian taxable income may compare differently from a large gain added to income already in higher bands. Ask for both calculations and a residence-country review before choosing.
What the notary actually collects and reports
This is not an automatic withholding of 26% of the selling price from every foreign owner. The Agency's instructions say that, following the seller's express request, the notary applies the substitute tax to the gain, receives the funds from the seller, pays the tax and communicates the disposal data to the Agenzia delle Entrate.
The communication identifies the seller and property, the information used to determine the gain, and the substitute tax. The seller signs the calculation section and remains responsible for the data provided. Using a notary does not make unsupported cost figures reliable.
Request a copy of the signed communication and evidence of the tax payment. The Agency's instructions explain that the seller's signed copy also acknowledges the funds supplied to the notary. Keep that record with the deed, especially if your overseas adviser needs to examine foreign-tax relief.
Worked example: the same gain, two holding periods
Assume a non-resident individual owns an entire ordinary holiday apartment, sells outside a business, and has no main-home exclusion. It is neither building land nor a property subject to the Superbonus disposal rule. All consideration is received at the sale, and every cost below is documented and qualifies.
| Item | Amount |
|---|
| Purchase price | €200,000 |
| Qualifying acquisition taxes and notary costs | €12,000 |
| Qualifying capital improvements | €28,000 |
| Total tax cost | €240,000 |
| Sale consideration | €300,000 |
| Gain | €60,000 |
Scenario A — within five years: purchase on 1 June 2022, sale on 1 June 2026. The holding period is four years. The calculation is €300,000 − (€200,000 + €12,000 + €28,000) = €60,000. If the seller elects the substitute tax, €60,000 × 26% = €15,600.
For comparison only, suppose the €60,000 gain is the seller's only Italian taxable income and ignore deductions, credits and local surcharges. National gross IRPEF is €28,000 × 23% + €22,000 × 33% + €10,000 × 43% = €6,440 + €7,260 + €4,300 = €18,000. On those assumptions, substitute tax is €2,400 lower. This is not a final personal tax quote.
Scenario B — beyond five years: change only the purchase date to 1 June 2020, retaining the 1 June 2026 sale and identical amounts. The holding period is six years. The economic gain remains €60,000, but the ordinary five-year rule does not tax it: Italian tax on that gain under this rule is €0. No substitute-tax election is needed for an excluded gain.
The comparison isolates the holding period. It does not establish exemption in the seller's country of residence or eliminate unrelated property obligations.
Your double-tax treaty still needs checking
An Italian exclusion and an overseas exemption are different questions. Identify your treaty residence, then check the applicable convention's immovable-property capital-gains provision and its relief-from-double-taxation article.
For a concrete example, article 13(1) of the UK–Italy convention permits the state where the immovable property is situated to tax the gain. It therefore preserves Italy's taxing right over an Italian property sale by a UK treaty resident; it does not say that only the UK may tax it.
Article 24(2) provides UK credit relief for qualifying Italian tax on the same profits or income, subject to the stated UK-law conditions. That is not a promise that every seller receives an unlimited credit or that the notary automatically settles their UK position.
For another residence country, check that country's actual treaty and domestic rules instead of copying the UK result. Before electing substitute tax, ask the overseas adviser whether that payment qualifies for relief, what proof is required, and how the gain is calculated locally. If Italy imposes no tax under the five-year rule, do not assume that Italy supplies a credit for tax never paid.
Paying without an Italian bank account
First separate the routes. With the substitute-tax election, fund the notary's payment arrangement using the instructions agreed with the notary. Do not independently send the same tax again as an ordinary IRPEF balance.
Under ordinary taxation, the gain feeds into the return calculation and the resulting income-tax payment. Have the adviser specify the amount, tax code, reference year and applicable deadline. This guide does not assume a future return's row numbers or publish an unverified filing calendar.
For non-residents without an account at a bank conventioned with the Agency, its official procedure allows eligible taxes to be paid from abroad by euro transfer. The published coordinates table identifies 4001 as IRPEF balance and gives the corresponding beneficiary coordinates. Consult the live row before paying; do not reuse a rental-tax or municipal-tax destination.
The transfer reference must identify your codice fiscale, tax code and reference year or month/year, plus instalment and voluntary-regularisation details where applicable. Retain the bank's execution evidence and the instructions used.
Alternatively, an Entratel-enabled intermediary may offer the Agency's own-account F24 payment service. Confirm that the engagement includes actual payment, not merely transmitting your F24 against an unusable account. The Agency says an electronic payment counts only when the amount is actually debited.
Our F24 guide for taxpayers without an Italian bank account explains these routes in detail. Agree the payment method while preparing the sale, not after the money has been transferred abroad.
Frequently asked questions
Is every sale after five years exempt?
No. The ordinary holding-period rule excludes qualifying sales after more than five years, but building land is different. Article 67(1)(b-bis) also covers certain Superbonus properties where qualifying works ended no more than ten years before sale, with its own exclusions. Have those categories checked first.
Must an heir wait five years before selling a home?
Not for the ordinary inherited-home exclusion in article 67(1)(b). Inherited building land requires separate analysis, and inheritance taxes, sale expenses and overseas tax remain distinct questions.
Does a gift restart the clock or reset the purchase price?
For this rule, the clock runs from the donor's acquisition. Article 68 uses the donor's purchase or construction cost, with the statutory additions for gift tax and subsequent qualifying costs, not an automatic market-value reset.
Does the notary always deduct 26% from my proceeds?
No. The option requires the seller's request and applies to an eligible taxable gain, not gross proceeds. Agree the computation and funding with the notary before completion.
Can I settle ordinary IRPEF from abroad?
Eligible non-residents can use the Agency's tax-specific euro-transfer procedure. An authorised intermediary's own-account F24 service is another possible route. Confirm the tax, payment instructions and successful execution rather than assuming that an F24 document proves payment.
Official references
Sources checked for this guide on 16 September 2026:
Planning a sale while living abroad? Contact our team to review the holding period, cost evidence, tax-election comparison and payment route before you sign.
General information, not personalised tax or legal advice. A sale's treatment depends on the property, acquisition history, actual use, works carried out and the seller's cross-border tax position.
Giovanni Emmi|September 16, 2026
