How much does registering a preliminary sale contract in Italy cost?

The fixed part is EUR 200 of registration tax plus EUR 16 of stamp duty for every 4 written sides and in any case every 100 lines, so a contract kept within four sides costs EUR 216. Proportional taxes are added to that base when the preliminary contract provides for money paid up front: 0.5% on a confirmatory deposit, 0.5% on price advances outside the scope of VAT, and 3% on any penitential deposit. Since almost every compromesso involves a deposit, the real cost is nearly always above EUR 216, and it grows with the sum handed over at signature.

Within 30 days of signature. The clock starts when the preliminary contract is signed, not on the date set for completion, and it is a common mistake to assume the final deed can be waited for. Registration can be requested using the RAP form, which the Italian Revenue Agency provides for registering certain private documents — currently loan-for-use agreements and preliminary sale contracts. Eligible parties may also file directly at a local office of the Agency instead of using the online channel.

Because a proportional tax applies to it, independently of the fixed tax due on the document itself. Where the contract provides for a confirmatory deposit, a rate of 0.5% applies to that amount, or the lower tax applicable to the final contract; the same rate applies to price advances outside the scope of VAT. The practical consequence is that the cost of registration depends not on the value of the house but on how much money changes hands before completion: two preliminary contracts on the same property, one with a minimal deposit and one with a large advance, cost different amounts.

In tax terms it makes a sixfold difference. A confirmatory deposit is taxed at 0.5%, a penitential deposit at 3%. On a sum of EUR 20,000 that means EUR 100 against EUR 600. The two also have very different legal effects if a party defaults or withdraws, so the choice should not be made on tax grounds alone: it should be made with whoever drafts the contract, checking that the wording states unambiguously which of the two was intended. An ambiguous clause is both a legal and a fiscal risk.

No, and they are two separate costs. Registration is the mandatory tax step within thirty days of signature, which is what this guide covers. Recording, or trascrizione, is the entry of the preliminary contract in the land registers; it requires a notarial deed and is optional. It protects the buyer against sales to third parties, mortgages or seizures arising between the compromesso and completion. It carries costs of its own, which are not included in the EUR 216 starting point. In sensitive transactions — where many months separate the preliminary contract from completion, for instance — it is a protection worth considering.

The tax is owed jointly and severally by the parties, so the Revenue Agency may claim it from either of them, but in practice the parties decide in the contract how to split it. It is best for the preliminary contract to say so explicitly, because a clear clause avoids arguments at exactly the point when the relationship needs to stay calm. Where the preliminary contract is drawn up by a notary or brokered by an agency, registration is normally handled by them: even then it is worth asking in writing whether the tax is included in what was agreed or will be charged separately.