Stamp and registration tax on condominium contracts

The condominium too, when it enters into contracts, may owe registration tax and stamp duty. The typical case is the lease of a jointly owned property, such as the caretaker's flat no longer in use, a common room let out or spaces used for third-party antennas and systems. In these relationships the condominium acts as landlord, and the manager must handle the registration of the contract and the related payments.

When the condominium is the landlord

The condominium may find itself a landlord in various situations, including:

• the lease of the caretaker's flat, when the caretaking service has ceased and the flat is rented out;
• the lease of a common room, for example a former storeroom or porter's lodge;
• making roof or façade space available for the installation of antennas, repeaters or third-party systems;
• the rental of common areas for particular uses resolved by the owners' meeting.

In all these cases the contract generates income for the condominium and connected tax duties. The decision to lease a common asset belongs to the owners' meeting, while managing the tax duties falls on the manager.

Registration tax on leases

The lease must be registered with the Revenue Agency. For leases of residential property, under the ordinary regime, registration tax is 2% of the annual rent, with a minimum of 67 euro. Registration must generally be carried out within 30 days of signing or of the start of the contract, if earlier.

The tax is paid at registration and, for multi-year contracts, in later years according to the rules provided, unless the option is taken for a single up-front payment. Missing the registration term exposes the parties to penalties. It is wise to distinguish the regime for residential buildings from that for instrumental (commercial) property, which follows partly different rules.

Stamp duty

Stamp duty also applies to the lease. In general, the reference amount is 16 euro for every four written sides, that is every 100 lines of text. The stamp must be affixed to each copy of the contract submitted for registration: if the contract is drawn up in two originals, one for the landlord and one for the tenant, the stamp must be paid on both copies.

Stamp duty is settled according to the rules provided, for example with a physical stamp or virtually within the electronic registration procedure. The count of sides and lines determines the number of stamps or the amount due.

Who pays, landlord or tenant

Registration tax on leases is owed jointly and severally by the parties to the contract, so by both landlord and tenant. In practice the parties often agree to split it 50 percent, but joint liability toward the tax authorities remains: the Agency can claim the whole amount from either party. When the condominium is landlord, the manager must therefore ensure the tax is actually paid, regardless of internal agreements on the split.

It is advisable to state clearly in the contract who physically handles registration and payment, to prevent the duty from being left pending in the belief that the other party will see to it.

The condominium's rental income

The rent received by the condominium for the lease of a common asset is income that is normally attributed to individual owners in proportion to their thousandths share, unless otherwise established. The manager must provide owners with the data needed to correctly declare their share of income. This aspect must be coordinated with the accounting management of the common revenue.

The correct attribution of income to owners requires linking the rent collected to the thousandths split and communicating it transparently in the financial statement.

Managing contracts and deadlines in an orderly way

The condominium's contracts entail a series of duties with precise deadlines: registration within 30 days, annual payments for multi-year contracts, renewals and extensions. Missing a deadline means penalties charged to the management. AmministraPro archives the condominium's contracts, tracks registration dates and payment deadlines, and links rents collected to the split among owners. See the features on /funzioni and the plans on /prezzi.