Practical guide
Communicating deductible expenses to residents
Every year the property manager must put residents in a position to claim tax deductions for expenses paid by the building, for example renovation works, energy efficiency upgrades, or system compliance interventions. Approving the financial statement at the general meeting is not enough: a dedicated certification is needed, showing for each unit the deductible share calculated according to ownership shares or the different allocation criteria set out in the building regulation. The communication must reach residents in time for their tax return and must be backed by documents proving its accuracy, namely invoices, traceable bank transfers, and meeting resolutions. Handling this step in an orderly way avoids repeated individual requests and reduces the risk of disputes in case of a tax authority check.
What the certification must contain
The certification of deductible expenses is a document distinct from the annual financial statement, even though it derives from it. It must clearly state the property or properties involved in the works, the type of expense incurred, the reference year, the total amount paid by the building, and the ownership share allocated to each unit. When the works qualify for a specific tax incentive, for example building renovation or energy efficiency upgrades, it is advisable to also specify which type of deduction applies, so residents can enter the correct figure in their tax return without having to reconstruct it themselves.
It is good practice to attach to the certification a summary of the payments made by the building, including the transfer references, because deductibility is linked to the actual payment and not simply to the spending resolution. If the building has spread the works over several years, the certification must clearly indicate the share attributable to each year.
Allocating the deduction among residents
As a general rule, the deduction belongs to residents according to their ownership shares, following the cost allocation criteria set out in the building regulation and, for common parts, article 1123 of the Italian Civil Code. When the general meeting has approved an allocation different from the standard ownership shares, for example for works affecting only certain staircases or certain buildings within a larger complex, the certification must reflect exactly the criterion approved in the resolution, not a figure recalculated independently by the manager.
- That the ownership share used is the currently valid one and not a table superseded by an update
- That any adjustments or reversals relating to previous years do not alter the calculation of the current year's deduction
- That a resident who sold the unit during the year still receives the certification for the share attributable up to the date of the sale
Timing of the communication and tax filing
The certification should be prepared and sent well in advance of the tax return filing deadline, so that the resident or their tax advisor has time to enter the figure correctly and, if necessary, ask the manager for clarification before the deadline. Sending it late, close to the deadline, exposes the building to a concentrated wave of requests and increases the risk of errors in transmitting the data.
It is advisable to schedule the communication right after the annual financial statement is approved at the meeting, when the expense figures are already final and no longer subject to change, and to keep a record of the date and channel used to send it to each resident.
Documents to keep and make available
In addition to the certification, the property manager must keep and be able to produce, if requested by a resident or during a check, the documentation proving the expense: supplier invoices, bank or postal transfers with the payment reference required for incentivized works, meeting resolutions authorizing the expense, and, for building works, the relevant technical and administrative documentation. Keeping the building's archive in good order, including in digital form, makes it much easier to retrieve these documents year after year.
On this front, a management platform such as AmministraPro helps the property manager link each expense to its ownership share allocation, generate the certification for each resident directly from the data already in the approved financial statement, and keep the document archive always accessible, reducing manual work in the period leading up to the tax return deadline.
Frequently asked questions
Is the certification of deductible expenses a legal requirement?
There is no rule imposing a single mandatory certification format, but the property manager has a duty to provide residents with the data they need to correctly exercise their right to a tax deduction, since the manager administers common expenses on behalf of the individual owners. In practice, without a clear certification a resident cannot correctly declare their share, so preparing it is part of properly managing the building.
What happens if a resident asks for the certification after it has already been sent to everyone else?
The manager must still provide it, since it falls among the documents a resident is entitled to obtain in connection with the building's administration. It is advisable to keep an organized archive of certifications already prepared, so they can be reissued quickly without having to redo the calculations from scratch.
How is the deduction handled when a unit is sold during the year?
The deduction relating to expenses incurred and paid by the building before the sale generally belongs to whoever owned the unit at the time the expense was incurred, unless the parties agreed otherwise in the sale deed. The manager must therefore prepare the certification based on actual ownership during the reference period, not simply the current registered owner of the unit.
Can the ownership share shown in the certification differ from the one used for ordinary cost allocation?
Yes, if the general meeting approved a specific allocation criterion for that particular intervention, for example because it concerns only one building or staircase within a larger complex, or because the building regulation sets out different tables for certain categories of expense. In these cases the certification must follow the criterion actually resolved by the meeting, not the general ownership table used for ordinary expenses.
Can property management software help prepare these certifications?
Yes. A platform such as AmministraPro links each expense to the ownership share allocation already set up for the building, allows the certification to be generated for each resident directly from the approved financial statement data, and keeps the archive of invoices and transfers organized, reducing manual work and the time needed to send certifications to residents ahead of the tax filing deadline.
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