Risultati ricerca

ESTATE DISPUTES: Some important judgments from last month

Currency repatriation requirements were extended on 14 April to cover loans issued by Russian residents to foreign borrowers, reducing the opportunities for businesses to shift funds abroad through non-repayable loans.

Trustees cannot simply brush aside beneficiaries' request for information

INTERNATIONAL - SPAIN: Foreign nationals can sue government over inheritance tax discrimination, following Supreme Court ruling

INTERNATIONAL - ISRAEL: Tax authority launches new voluntary disclosure programme

INTERNATIONAL - FRANCE: Distribution tax refunds to be financed by new 'exceptional' corporation tax

INTERNATIONAL - JERSEY: Apple says relocation of Irish subsidiary does not reduce its tax liabilities

SWISS BANKING: Sweden and the Netherlands demand names of Swiss Banks clients

INTERNATIONAL - MATRIMONIAL: Russian woman reportedly claims GBP11.6 billion from ex-husband

AUSTRALIA: New tax on foreign owners of unoccupied homes

INTERNATIONAL - INDIA: Highest court rules that three days per year is enough to create permanent establishment

INTERNATIONAL - UK: Doubts cast on non-dom reforms' commencement date

SOCIETA' - Corporate Governance

When a property conveyance takes place, the Italian tax laws stipulate the payment of certain taxes and charges which generally must be paid, at the time the notarial contract is stipulated, to the notary himself who thus undertakes the “irksome” task of tax collector. Such taxes are mostly payable by the purchaser. At the time of purchase, the system taxes the “wealth” indirectly manifested by the purchaser which consists of the price paid for the purchase of the property (so-called i

It often happens that, after a prospective property has been inspected and chosen, substantial agreement is reached with the other party even if this is not yet formalized in written form. It is advisable to contact a notary at this early stage before signing the preliminary contract (the so-called “compromesso”). In the preliminary contract, both signatories undertake to stipulate the definitive sale contract by a certain date and on given conditions. The preliminary agreement (even i

Notaries provide the community with a complex service, they carry out a public function of the State within the framework of an independent profession. The notarial deed not only regulates transactions between parties, but it provides added value in at least three respects: - a contract signed before a notary is unchallengable and hence it avoids expensive and time-consuming litigation procedures; - it is enforceable and hence it can be used to recover credits and it constitutes pri

The vendor has the right to receive the full amount of the agreed price from the purchaser at the time the sale contract is settled. Frequently the vendor has already received an advance payment on that price, generally as a deposit: in that case he will have the right to receive the difference to make up the full agreed price. The vendor has the option to allow the purchaser a deferral of payment, with or without interest. It is up to the discretion of the vendor (based on the trust h

The law (articles 2 and 3) provides that when entering a preliminary agreement, or any agreement or contract for which the purchaser takes on obligations and pays money in advance but does not immediately purchase the property in the building under construction, the seller must issue a bank or insurance surety bond that guarantees the entire amount paid and to be paid before the final conveyance deed (which coincides with the deed drawn up by a notary public). The surety bond is the very

The purchaser's main obligation is obviously to pay the agreed price to the vendor at the time the sale contract is completed. Where an advance payment has been made as a deposit, the difference must be paid to make up the full agreed price. It is legitimate for the purchaser to request a deferment of payment, but it is not his right to insist upon it, it being left to the discretion of the vendor whether or not to grant this: the purchaser's obligation to pay the price in full derives fr

Italian law attempts to facilitate and encourage people to buy their own primary home (their so-called “primary residence” ["prima casa"]) through various reductions in taxes for the purchaser. Specifically, at the time of purchase, the purchaser pays 3% (stamp duty) if he buys from a private person or 4% (VAT) if he buys from a company (except for a few odd cases), plus a fixed charge for registering the transfer and mortgage (presently a total of Euro 336.00).A foreigner, too, may take advanta

A property conveyance gives rise to a series of rights and obligations for both parties. For a number of the rights of one of the contracting parties, there are corresponding and equal obligations of the other party, so that the vendor and the purchaser find themselves involved in an interactive web of expectations to be met and duties to be performed. While some of these rights/obligations, such as the payment/receipt of the purchase price and the delivery/receipt of the property, are

In "land credit" contracts, the borrower has the legally-assured option of early repayment of the home loan; but generally, even in ordinary contracts, that possibility is foreseen. The borrower may decide, therefore, at a certain point in the repayment plan, to close out the contract and repay the remaining capital, on which obviously he will no longer pay interest. Given this loss of earnings, the bank could, if the contract so stipulates, demand compensation (a penalty). According to a

After long years of waiting, the decree-law that introduces greater protection for the purchasers of houses that are in the process of being built has finally been published in the Official Gazette (6 July 2005, n° 155).  The measures introduced under this new law will have a major impact: indeed, according to estimates made by trade associations, since 1995 more than 200,000 Italian families have been involved in thousands of bankruptcies of construction firms. Decree Law n° 122 of 20 Ju

A conveyance differs substantially from an exchange, a donation or a division. In an exchange, there is the reciprocal transfer of certain properties from one owner to another: basically, this means one property is exchanged for another but the exchange may also be accompanied by the passing of a sum of money as a balance if there is a difference in value between the properties exchanged. In a donation, there is always, as in the conveyance, the transfer of real estate, but there is no

The sale contract includes the personal data of both the vendor and the purchaser, including their fiscal codes, the description of the property to be transferred with an indication of its location, its nature and its boundaries, as well as its identification at the land titles office and a number of obligatory pieces of information regarding town planning and building regulations. The vendor must declare whether the property was built before 1 September 1967; if the building took place a

The law completes the range of measures introduced to protect the purchaser by extending to the purchaser the right to parcel out the loan and the mortgage on the building being built, and the prohibition on selling before the division of the loan into quotas, or before discharge of the mortgage or foreclosure where these are not taken over by the new purchaser (Articles 7 and 8). The purchaser of a house to be used as his/her home has the right of pre-emption in case of an auction (Art.

First of all, the purchaser has the right to have the vendor consign the property at the time of the notarised conveyance, upon payment of the purchase price, in its known state, with any agreed accessories, free of persons and things. It is legitimate for the purchaser to request consignment of the asset before the definitive transfer: however it is not his right to insist upon it, it being left to the d

Home loan contracts with a bank for a duration exceeding 18 months enjoy significant reductions in terms of indirect taxes: the contract does not attract stamp duty or registration duty or the mortgage registration tax, but only a “substitute tax” of 0.25% on the amount of the home loan which is debited directly by the bank and paid over to state revenue (N.B.: for mortgage contracts for the purchase, construction or restructuring of a second or subsequent home, from 1 August 2004 the tax th

In order to grant a home loan, the bank requires a guarantee: by definition, the most common of these is the mortgage. A mortgage gives the bank the right to be repaid from the proceeds of any forced sale of the asset offered as collateral, with priority over other creditors. A mortgage has better legal standing if it is a first mortgage, i.e. if there are no higher-priority mortgages: a "land credit" guarantee generally requires a first mortgage. A mortgage is established over the

As has been seen above, in order to determine the type of tax and the amount and means of payment of the sums due for duties on the purchase of a so-called primary residence, one must first of all take into account the nature of the vendor. When the vendor is the company that built (or renovated) the property and four years have not elapsed since completion, the conveyance is subject to VAT that the purchaser must pay directly to the company and not to the notary, along with the payment o

When a borrower's default becomes absolute (in the sense that there is not only a delay in payment but a true "missed payment" of significant economic importance to the contract), the bank decides to cancel the contract and immediately demand repayment of the amounts due; hence the borrower cannot take advantage of the deferred payments contained in the redemption plan.At this point, the cancellation amount is calculated (capital plus accrued interest, late-payment interest and any other exp

In the first place, the vendor is obliged to consign to the purchaser the property sold in the state in which it is with vacant possession, free of persons and things, at the time the contract of sale is notarised, i.e. at the same time as the balance of the price is paid. The vendor has the option, however, of allowing the future purchaser to occupy the property even before the actual change of ownership, it being understood that because he is still the owner of the asset he remains resp

In early 2003 the Italian legislator issued a law decree (n° 6 of 17 January 2003) which thoroughly reformed companies limited by shares.  The declared aim was to simplify, where appropriate, and enrich, wherever possible, the rules governing such companies, with a view to increasing their competitiveness on both domestic and international markets.Many changes were made and the following results have been achieved:  a better, though still not complete, co-ordination between the rules governi

From the historic and regulatory point of view, the joint-stock company is the prototype of the company with share capital whose body of rules apply to the limited partnerships with share capital (s.a.p.a.), with which it is compatible, and in some respects they are very close to the rules that govern the limited liability company, which however makes little reference to the rules on joint-stock companies, which consequently do not directly apply. The joint-stock company (s.p.a.) differs fro

The share capital is a numerical entity that expresses the value of the contributions in monetary terms, as indicated by the valuation expressed in the Memorandum of Association.A share capital of 100 means that the partners have committed to contributing (underwritten capital) and/or have contributed (fully paid-up capital) money or other entities which at the time of the signing of the partnership deed, were attributed that given monetary value.The share capital remains unchanged throughou