The dedicated bank transfer for building bonuses in a condominium: how to fill it in

The bonifico parlante, literally the speaking bank transfer, is the mandatory payment method to access building bonuses on works carried out in the common parts of a condominium. It is called this because it speaks, meaning it contains within it all the data that allow the Italian Revenue Agency to trace the expense to the beneficiary of the deduction and to the incentivised work. Filling it in incorrectly can cost the right to the deduction: this is why the administrator must know exactly which fields to complete.

Why the transfer must be a dedicated one

Tax incentives on building works, such as the deduction for renovation of the building stock or the one for energy upgrading, require the payment to be traceable and uniquely attributable. An ordinary transfer is not enough: a dedicated form is required, from a bank or from the post office, which banks and Poste prepare precisely for building bonuses and on which they apply a withholding as an advance payment.

The mandatory data

A dedicated bank transfer is valid only if it contains all the required elements. Their absence or an error can compromise the deduction, except for the possibility of remedies such as a substitutive declaration by the contractor.

• The description of the payment with the legal reference of the incentive requested.
• The tax code of the beneficiary of the deduction.
• The tax code or VAT number of the payee, that is the company carrying out the works.
• The number and date of the invoice, when they can be indicated.

The case of the common parts

When the work concerns the common parts of the building, the beneficiary of the deduction is the condominium as a whole. The dedicated bank transfer must therefore state the tax code of the condominium and, as the detail of the administrator making the payment, the tax code of the administrator. This makes it possible to link the common expense to the condominium and, at a later stage, to allocate the deduction among the individual owners according to the thousandths.

The correct description

The description must refer to the rule governing the incentive. For works to renovate the building stock the reference is article 16 bis of the consolidated income tax act, while for energy upgrading the specific rules on the eco bonus apply. The pre filled forms of banks and Poste often already propose the correct description based on the type of bonus chosen, but it is best to check it before confirming the payment.

The bank's withholding

On the dedicated bank transfer the bank or Poste apply a withholding as an advance on the tax due by the company receiving the payment. This withholding, long set at 8 per cent, was raised to 11 per cent from 1 March 2024. It is not a cost for the condominium: the amount is withheld from the sum credited to the company and paid to the tax authorities, and the company recovers it as an advance in its own tax return. The administrator must nevertheless take it into account in agreements with the supplier, who will receive the amount net of the withholding.

How the deduction is split among owners

Since in works on the common parts the beneficiary is the condominium, the deduction must then be divided among the individual owners. The ordinary criterion is that of the ownership thousandths, unless different criteria apply to the allocation of the expense. Each owner claims in their own tax return the share of expense charged to them, provided the expense was actually paid and properly borne by the condominium through the dedicated bank transfer. The administrator issues each owner a certification with the total amount of the works and the share attributed, so that everyone can document their right to the deduction. A correctly completed transfer is therefore the basis not only of the condominium's incentive, but also of the individual owners' one.

The mistakes to avoid

The most frequent mistakes are using an ordinary transfer instead of the dedicated one, omitting the tax code of the condominium or of the administrator, a description that does not refer to the correct rule and payment to a payee different from the one that issued the invoice. In some cases an error can be corrected, for example by repeating the transfer or obtaining from the company a declaration confirming it has included the amount in its income, but the safest route is to fill in the form correctly from the start.

Transfers and deductions with management software

Condominium management software stores the registry and tax details of the condominium and of the suppliers, links each payment to its invoice and to the incentivised work and tracks the allocation of the deduction among owners. This reduces the risk of filling in a dedicated bank transfer incorrectly and makes it easier to report the expenses that give the right to building bonuses.

AmministraPro manages the tax registry of the condominium, the recording of supplier invoices and the thousandth allocation of expenses eligible for deduction, so the data for the dedicated bank transfer are always consistent and at hand. You can see how it works on the features page or compare the plans in the pricing section.