Foreign Investments in Italian real Estate

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Italy’s New Look-Through Rule Hits Trust’s Share Sale

In Ruling No. 175/2025, the Italian Revenue Agency confirmed that the “immovable-property-rich” look-through rule under Article 23(1-bis) TUIR—introduced in the 2023 budget law—applies in full force to indirect share sales. A non-resident discretionary trust sold shares of a Swiss company whose only asset was an Italian residential property held for over five years. The Agency rejected the taxpayer’s attempt to apply the five-year capital gain exemption for direct property sales, holding that the gain was taxable in Italy at 26%.

The decision aligns with OECD Model Article 13(4) and the Italy–U.S. treaty’s property-rich share rule, confirming Italy’s right to tax such gains regardless of holding period. For planners, the message is clear: exemptions for direct real estate sales don’t carry over to indirect disposals, and treaty coordination will be key to managing double taxation risks.…

With some years now on record after the enactment of Italy’s tax rules on special tax regime for high net worth individuals, we attach and article (Italy’s Special Tax Regime for High Net Worth Individuals, Three Years In) recently published on the topic.

The distinctive features of the Italian special tax regime are…

By way of thirteen decisions issued in June and July (numbers 15451, 15453, 15455, 15456 of June 7, 2019, numbers 16699, 16700, 16701, 16702, 16703, 16704, 16705 of June 21, 2019, no. 19167 of July 17, 2019 and no. 19319 of July 18, 2019), the Italian Supreme Court ruled that the Italian gift tax does…

In 2017, Italy introduced a special tax regime intended to attract Italian and foreign nationals who have been resident outside of Italy for at least nine of the previous ten years, to transfer their tax residence to Italy and pay a fixed amount of €100,000 in lieu of the Italian regular income tax on their…

Italian taxation of foreign investments in Italian real estate is complex.

Transfer taxes charged upon the acquisition of the real estate (alternatively, registration tax or VAT) vary depending on the nature and tax status of the buyer (foreign private individual, foreign company purchasing and owning the real estate directly, or foreign individual or corporate investor…