Taxation

A loan agreement with a bank for a period exceeding 18 months may be subject to tax reductions in respect of indirect taxes. Let’s see how:

• In the case of loans taken out for the purchase, construction or renovation of a dwelling qualifying as a “first home”, one can take advantage of a reduced substitute tax of 0.25% on the mortgage amount, instead of paying the normal stamp duty, registration and mortgage taxes. In addition, the first home loan makes the borrower’s interest and loan costs income-tax-deductible, within certain limits and under certain conditions specified by the law.
• In the case of loans taken out for the purchase, construction or renovation of a dwelling not considered a “first home”, the contract carries a substitute tax of 2% on the amount of the mortgage.

In both cases, the bank acts as a withholding agent for the government and then pays the money directly to the Treasury.

The Taxation Office, following the decisive intervention of the National Council of Notaries – in order to protect the rights of citizens – has clearly stated that the presence in loan agreements of medium and long-term duration of provisions that expressly permit early termination with repayment of the debt even before the minimum period established by law (eighteen months) does not determine the incompatibility of such contracts with the favourable taxation treatment above.