Practical regulations
Managing the green bonus in a condominium
The green bonus is a tax deduction available for landscaping works on private outdoor areas and on the common areas of residential buildings, introduced by budget legislation and repeatedly extended since. It covers gardens, terraces, irrigation systems and green roofs, but not every routine gardening expense qualifies. For a condominium, the real challenge is not identifying what is deductible, but correctly handling the owners meeting resolution, allocating the cost among owners according to their ownership shares, and preparing the documentation each owner needs for their own tax return. This guide walks through the process step by step, from the resolution to the certification of expenses. Management platforms such as AmministraPro help the property manager track each intervention and produce the allocation documentation each owner requires.
Which works qualify for the green bonus
The benefit covers landscaping of outdoor areas: creating or redoing condominium gardens, irrigation systems, wells and fencing functional to the garden itself. It also includes green roofs and roof gardens, plus the design work connected to these interventions.
Ordinary annual maintenance of existing greenery, such as regular lawn mowing, routine pruning or replacing a few dried plants without a broader landscaping intervention, does not qualify. The distinction between an eligible extraordinary intervention and non-eligible ordinary maintenance must be assessed case by case and documented clearly in the resolution and invoices.
- Landscaping of shared outdoor areas: gardens, flower beds, green pathways
- Irrigation systems and wells functional to the garden
- Fencing, dividing walls and accessory works connected to the garden
- Green roofs and roof gardens
- Design and site supervision connected to the intervention
The meeting resolution: what it must contain
For works on common areas the deduction is granted to individual owners in proportion to their ownership share, provided they have actually paid their portion of the expense to the property manager within the relevant tax year. It is therefore essential that the meeting approve the work with the majority required for innovations or extraordinary maintenance depending on the nature of the intervention, under article 1136 of the Italian Civil Code, and that the minutes precisely describe the work, the cost estimate and the allocation criteria.
Generic minutes that merely mention garden works without detailing the nature of the intervention expose owners to challenge in case of a tax audit, since they do not allow a clear distinction between eligible expense and ordinary maintenance. It is better practice to attach the itemized estimate or the contractor's detailed quote to the minutes.
Allocating the deduction among owners
When granted, the deduction is calculated on the portion of expense allocated to each owner based on ownership millesimal shares or on the different allocation criterion set by the condominium bylaws for that specific expense category, for example a usage based criterion for a garden used unevenly by different owners. The property manager must provide each owner with a certification of the share of expense actually paid, a requirement essential for the deduction to be recognized on the individual's tax return.
It is good practice for the property manager to prepare, once the work is completed, a summary statement listing owners, their millesimal share, the amount due and the date of actual payment, simplifying each owner's tax return and reducing requests for clarification during the year.
Documentation to keep
Each owner must be able to demonstrate, in case of a tax audit, both the existence of the meeting resolution and the actual payment of their share. Typical documentation includes the meeting minutes, invoices addressed to the condominium with a clear description of the intervention, bank transfer receipts, and the property manager's certification of the millesimal allocation of expenses incurred.
Keeping these documents for the period required by tax audit rules is a responsibility shared by each owner and, for the condominium management side, by the property manager, who should maintain an organized archive for each eligible intervention.
Frequently asked questions
Does the green bonus apply to redoing a flower bed that already exists in the condominium?
Yes, if the work amounts to an actual landscaping intervention rather than routine periodic maintenance: completely redoing a flower bed with new planting, an irrigation system or accessory works falls within eligible interventions. Simple seasonal replanting of flowers or replacing a few isolated plants is excluded, as it qualifies as ordinary maintenance. The difference should be documented in the cost estimate and in the meeting resolution, stating the extraordinary nature of the work.
Who claims the deduction if the condominium pays the expense from the common fund?
The deduction is still granted to individual owners, not to the condominium as such, because the tax benefit operates on each owner's individual tax return. Each owner deducts their millesimal share of the expense provided they actually paid it to the property manager, whether drawn from an already established reserve fund or from a special contribution resolved for the occasion. The property manager must therefore track individual payments precisely, not just the overall condominium account balance.
Does the green bonus require a specific resolution, or is the one for extraordinary maintenance works enough?
There is no formal requirement to explicitly mention the tax bonus in the resolution, but it is strongly advisable that the minutes precisely describe the nature of the landscaping intervention, the cost estimate and the allocation criteria, so owners have the documentation needed for their tax return. A generic resolution that approves garden works without detail makes it harder for an individual owner to demonstrate the eligible nature of the expense during a tax audit.
How does the property manager track each owner's paid share for the green bonus?
The property manager must record, for each owner, the amount due based on ownership shares, the date and method of payment, and issue an individual certification once the work is complete, which the owner attaches to their tax documentation. Management software such as AmministraPro allows each resolved expense to be linked to the relevant millesimal table and automatically generates the per owner allocation statement, reducing manual work and the calculation errors typical of hand managed spreadsheets.
Can the green bonus be combined with other building related tax deductions on the same intervention?
As a general rule, building related tax incentives cannot be combined on the same expense: it is necessary to determine which deduction applies to which cost item, distinguishing, for example, accessory masonry works, if part of a broader renovation, from the actual landscaping intervention. It is advisable for the property manager, with the support of a tax professional, to break down cost items in the estimate and invoices to avoid incorrect overlaps between different incentives.
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