First home bonus, can those who have already used it get it a second time? The Supreme Court has recently expressed itself on the issue with a recent and interesting ordinance we read on laleggeprtutti.it. The tax relief on the purchase of the first home – better known as the first home bonus – is up to those who buy a property in the municipality where they reside and where they do not own other homes. Furthermore, he must not be the owner of another property for which, previously, he has already benefited from the same tax advantage. This suggests that buying a second home cannot discount the bonus again. However, this is not always the case.
In fact, according to the jurisprudential interpretation, it is possible to obtain the first home bonus a second time when the taxpayer is forced to change residence because the previous one has become objectively unsuitable for use. The typical example is that of a house that is now unusable following an earthquake or because it was subject to a renovation order from the Municipality. Consider also the case of a couple who, having had children, are no longer able to live in the previous home because it is too small for the changed needs of the family unit.
The Supreme Court recalled that in terms of first home facilities ‘the suitability’ of the pre-owned home must be evaluated both from an objective point of view (effective uninhabitability), and from a subjective point of view (inadequate building for size or quality characteristics), in meaning that the benefit is also applied in the hypothesis of availability of an accommodation that is not concretely suitable, due to overall dimensions and characteristics, to satisfy the housing needs of the interested party.
First home bonus for apartment extension
A second hypothesis in which you can take advantage of the first home bonus a second time occurs when you buy an apartment adjacent to the first in order to expand it. To better understand this, we will make a practical example. Let’s assume that a person, wanting to expand their apartment, decides to buy the next one, located on the same landing. Once the purchase has been made, the owner knocks down the partition walls, connecting the two rooms. Then he proceeds to the stacking of the two properties as one. It was asked whether, in such a case, the taxpayer who has already obtained the first home bonus for the purchase of the previous apartment can extend the same concession also on the purchase of the second, despite the two being in the same municipality.
The answer provided by the Supreme Court is affirmative. Therefore, the owner of an apartment who buys the adjacent accommodation can take advantage of the tax advantage on the purchase of the first home if he proves that he has enlarged the main house because it has become unsuitable for use. In essence, the taxpayer must demonstrate the effective unification of the two real estate units aimed at creating a single accommodation. Accommodation, however, which does not have to be luxurious, the latter condition in order to be able to take advantage of the discount. The property stacked in categories A / 1, A / 8 or A / 9 is luxurious, regardless of the square meters of width.
As already clarified by the Supreme Court, the benefits for the purchase of the first home can be recognized even when more than one real estate units are purchased at the same time as long as two conditions are met:
– the destination, by the purchaser, of these units, as a whole, to constitute a single residential unit.
– the qualification as non-luxury accommodation of the “unified” property.
The facilitation, however, presupposes that, within three years of registration, an “effective follow-up to the commitment assumed by the taxpayers, at the time of the deed, to proceed with the unification of the premises” must be given. In fact, the construction of a single housing unit must be effective and must be the subject of proof by the taxpayer.
This principle was then extended, by the Revenue Agency itself, to subsequent purchase deeds if, in fact, characterized by the unification of neighboring real estate units.
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