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INTERNATIONAL - UK: Legislation this summer on register of foreign property-owners

INTERNATIONAL - FRANCE: Wealth property tax has significant effects for non-residents

COMPRAVENDITA - NEW ZEALAND: Government tightens ban on foreigners' land purchases

INTERNATIONAL - HONG KONG: Multiple property stamp duty gap axed

VAT - Transfer of ownership of land in settlement of tax arrears

AUSTRALIA: New tax on foreign owners of unoccupied homes

INTERNATIONAL - Canadian notary must reimburse buyer stuck with non-resident seller's CGT bill

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

The civil law notary is at one and the same time a public official representing the State, and a professional expert in the juridical field. He/she is appointed by the Ministry of Justice and is assigned by the latter to a single Municipality, although, if required, he/she is empowered to carry out his/her functions throughout the territory of the District in which the place he/she is assigned to is located, coinciding approximately with that of the Province. Accordingly, although he/s

A sale or purchase proposal is a document the parties may sign before the conveyance proper. It consists, alternatively, of a manifestation of the owner's willingness to sell to a probable purchaser or a manifestation of a possible purchaser's willingness to buy from the owner: in both cases by acceptance of the proposal, believe it or not, the contract of sale is concluded and becomes binding for both parties. Furthermore, the purchase or sale proposal is usually irrevocable: the signato

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

The following are examples of what needs to be included in a proposal for sale or purchase and in a preliminary contract: - the precise description of the asset or assets; - the exact identification of the owner or owners and of the purchaser or purchasers; - the obligations of the vendor and of the purchaser; - the price of the sale and method of payment; - the conditions of the conveyance and relevant guarantees; - documentation of the history of the asset or assets; -

Notaries and real estates

Notaries and real estates

I piani di azionariato diffuso costituiscono una forma di retribuzione ed incentivazione dei dipendenti di una società. Attraverso i piani di azionariato diffuso i dipendenti acquistano il diritto - facoltà di sottoscrivere, gratuitamente o a titolo oneroso, le azioni della società stessa. I requisiti per l’esercizio del diritto di opzione sono: un prezzo determinato (c.d. exercise price), una certa data (expiration date) o scadenze prestabilite (exercise date). Prima della scadenza, il diritto

Un piano di stock options realizza una forma di rimunerazione ed incentivazione dei dipendenti di una società. Attraverso un piano di stock options i dipendenti della società in cui lavorano acquistano il diritto/facoltà di sottoscrivere, a titolo gratuito od oneroso, le azioni della società stessa. I requisiti per l’esercizio del diritto di opzione sono: un prezzo determinato (c.d. exercise price), una data certa (expiration date) o scadenze prestabilite (exercise date). Prima della scadenza, 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

Having broached subjects from the vendor's point of view as well, it is useful to recall that the burdensome INVIM (a tax originally levied on the vendor consequent upon his sale of a property) has been definitively abolished, to the great relief of the notary as well, given not only the complexity of calculating it but also (as always) the irksome role of tax collector that the law imposed on him. Nevertheless, it is helpful to emphasize that the vendor may still have to pay certain sums

If the property is classified with “heritage” status or if it is subject to particular artistic-scenic restrictions there must be, in certain circumstances, the authorization of the relevant authority for the sale and it is subject to pre-emption by the Monuments and Fine Arts Office; It may be that the asset is subject to certain formal claims (usually one or more mortgages) which mean it is not entirely “free”; the notary is able to check on the existence of such circumstances and advis

As from 1 January 2006, it has been possible to meet the taxation requirements on some real estate transfers at the land registry's valuation, regardless of the price agreed and shown in the contract. The rule that first introduced the price-value concept was Article 1, Paragraph 497 of Law no. 266 of 23 December 2005 (2006 Budget); there were two subsequent amendments: Article 35, Paragraph 21 of Legislative Decree no. 223 of 4 July 2006, converted with modifications into Law no. 248 of

Following marriage, unless an explicit declaration to the contrary is made at the time of the ceremony, spouses find themselves in a shared property arrangement, this being the automatic legal regime in force in our system since 20/9/1975. This means that any purchase made by a spouse during the marriage is subject to legal community (or, simply put, is common property) with the other. The law excludes (to take a few of the more important cases) only assets acquired by donation or inherit

The rules governing this matter are extremely complex and may be schematically simplified by looking at a subjective profile and an objective profile. As regards the former, there are two main types of tax linked to real estate conveyances: stamp duty (imposta di registro) (and the related mortgage and cadastral taxes) and VAT. Whether one tax or the other is applied depends mainly but not exclusively on the nature of the vendor. Stamp duty is applicable in all cases where the vendo

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

One of the essential elements in the negotiation of a home loan is the delay allowed for  repayment of the capital, i.e. the duration. In general terms, one may say that the longer the duration of a home loan the lower the amount of each repayment instalment, which gives the borrower more breathing space; all this, however, means paying overall a larger amount in  interest, precisely because the capital is repaid more slowly. The practice also is that a longer duration

The rule is applied when the purchaser explicitly requests it of the notary: even though the law seems to leave leeway as to the form and manner in which the request is submitted, it is certainly advisable for the request to be included in the body of the purchase agreement.

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

In general terms, our law permits the purchase of real estate by foreigners in the following different ways:1) non-resident foreigner: only if covered by an international treaty or there is a reciprocal arrangement whereby his country of origin allows an Italian to purchase a house;2) "resident" foreigner, his family members and stateless persons resident in Italy for less than three years: with a temporary residence permit for specific reasons or a long-term residence permit;3) citizen of the E

The purchase of a home is always an important step in our lives. Just as the sale of a property also carries significant overtones: from investment decisions, to the reordering of assets, to the need for generational change. Whether it be the purchase or the sale of a property, it is not something to be taken lightly. Indeed, these are extremely complex operations that are full of pitfalls and that cannot be undertaken without the advice of an expert. Are you aware of the rights and oblig

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

The new law that is discussed below, and in particular the duty to take out a surety bond, applies to all types of real estate negotiations and hence it applies to purchases, exchanges, divisions, allotments by cooperative companies …, also and in particular to all forms of agreement that are made before the purchase and actual delivery of the property, such as preliminary agreements, promises to sell, leasing contracts, unilateral promises, advance payments, …. (article 1, paragraph 1, lett

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

Home loans are generally guaranteed by a mortgage and so are the preserve, in our legal system, of the notary. The presence of the notarial profession has become more significant with the recent increase in the number of such contracts, a result of the lower cost of money (though this is still subject to fluctuations) and improvements in living standards that allow an ever greater number of citizens to aspire to the ownership of their home and often of a second home as well. Year after ye

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 person may not always be able to express his intentions directly: for example, because he is abroad or far from the place in which he is supposed to sign a particular deed or contract.In such cases, it is possible to use a power of attorney, i.e. a document giving another person the power to undertake a material or legal act in one's stead.For example, if a husband is abroad and a purchase contract for a house must be signed urgently, the husband – before he leaves or from abroad – may give hi

In general the purchase/sale is the contract having the purpose of transferring the ownership of a house or the transfer of some other right for the equivalent of a price;  more generically it could be said that the purchase/sale of real estate is the formal agreement by means of which one party, called the seller, transfers to another, called purchaser, the ownership of a given property against payment of the price agreed on. Our juridical system, in view of the extreme importance of rea

As may be observed above, the role of the notary is important in guaranteeing the statements the vendor usually makes at the time the sale takes place. In particular, the vendor is obliged to make known how the asset he is about to sell came into his hands. It may be that he purchased it for a consideration in the normal way, or that he has occupied it for a sufficient number of years to avert any danger of eviction. It may be, however, that the property was donated to the vendor or

In a property conveyance, right from what we have called the preparatory phase before the definitive contract, the notary plays a rather delicate and important role: determining whether in fact the vendor is free to sell the asset and whether the purchaser in his turn may legitimately acquire it. For example - to cite just a few of the more important aspects - the notary's tasks include certifying the personal identity of the parties (in other words that the vendor and hence the owner of

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

Sales must be subject to stamp duty (so sales subject to VAT are excluded) and the purchasers must be physical persons who are not acting in the interests of a commercial, artistic or professional business activity. So the price-value system also applies to sales made by companies, businesses or entities, so long as the purchasers are "physical persons" and the transaction is subject to stamp duty (not VAT). In other words, in addition to all sales where both parties are “private”, the price-val

Law no. 52 of 1996 introduced rules into the Italian legal system to protect the consumer in his contractual relations with professionals. In order to rationalize regulations which have been complicated by a long sequence of amendments, a Consumer Code was recently published (Legislative Decree no. 206 of 6 September 2005), which contains a thorough reworking of most of the consumer-protection rules. Article 3 of the Consumer Code defines a "consumer" as a physical individual who acts

A foreigner may set up a company in Italy, create an association, or undertake any other operation on the same conditions mentioned for the purchase of a house. With one caveat: reciprocity may exist only with regard to certain matters. If, for example, in a particular country an Italian may set up a company but not buy a house, a foreigner from that country (not officially resident in Italy) may set up a company in Italy but not buy a house.

A home loan is a contract whereby one party, called the lender (usually a bank), transfers a given sum of money to a second party known as the borrower, so that the latter may use it for a given time in exchange for paying the former an amount representing interest. To this outline of the essential structure and functions of the contract must be added that a home loan includes various clauses that are not always immediately comprehensible but are necessary for regulating all the relations

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

In general terms, the conveyance is the contract that transfers ownership of an asset or some other right in exchange for a consideration; more generically, one may say that a real estate conveyance is the formal agreement whereby one party, known as the vendor, transfers to another party, known as the purchaser, the ownership of a particular property in exchange for payment of the agreed price. Given the extreme importance of real property ownership, our legal system not only requires th

The Foreign Ministry's website makes clear that “in the list regarding the condition of reciprocity for the purchase of real estate, there is no mention of mortgages which, unless otherwise stipulated, need no further checks on the condition of reciprocity, such transactions being linked to the purchase operation”. Hence it is not necessary to check the existence of reciprocity regarding the stipulation of mortgages in the absence of an express indication to the contrary.

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

The Decree does not apply in general to all real estate transactions but only to those negotiations of buildings where the seller (called “builder”) sells a building that he or others have built (Article 1, paragraph 1, letter b). Hence the law applies not only to purchases from a builder (an individual or a firm), but also to the person or firm that sells a building built by a third party. According to the Decree a “purchaser” is an individual who purchases a building or who, even though

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

Another important innovation is that the builder, or seller of buildings being constructed, is obliged to take out an insurance policy which will protect the purchaser for at least ten years from any damages deriving from the total or partial collapse of the building or from serious construction flaws (Article 4).

When does one need a notary? The areas covered by Italian notaries are mainly:a) the purchase of a house or other real property;b) the formalization of a mortgage contract with a Bank;c) the preparation of powers of attorney so as to be represented by a third party;d) changes to property arrangements between spouses;e) applications to a court for authorizations regarding minor children;f) donation of assets;g) setting up of and changes to companies, and all relevant legal documents;h) acceptance

These must be residential properties and related accessories (garages, cellars, etc). As the taxation department itself confirmed (Telefisco 2006), the benefits extend to accessories without limit as to number and even if purchased separately from the principal asset, so long as their intended use as accessories is specified in the purchase contract. The system also applies to purchases of housing and accessories that are ineligible for the benefits foreseen for “primary residences”. So a

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

If a married person wishes to sell a property, it is necessary to check whether or not the consent of the other spouse is needed; If a minor or a person not of sound mind is the owner of an asset, a judge's authorization is needed for the sale as well as the intervention of that person's tutor or parent or legal representative; the same thing applies for a purchase by such persons; If an inherited asset is the common property of several heirs, before selling his share an heir must firs

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

Consortiums are formed between entrepreneurs who decide to set up a common enterprise for regulating and carrying different phases of their respective businesses. The consortiums too are of a mutual character, since the consortium’s activity is carried out in the interest of its member enterprises. “Regulating” given steps of the members’ enterprises is a typical function of internal consortiums, and may be non-competitive in nature, while the “carrying out” of given steps in the respecti

Once upon a time it was enough to say that a foreigner was someone who was not an Italian citizen. This definition – to be clear – is still valid. Except that Article 17 of the EC Treaty institutes a citizenship of the European Union which is attributed to anyone who is a citizen of a Member State. Belonging to the European Union brings with it various consequences, some of which are very important, like the prohibition on

Carrying out an economic activity jointly in the form of a company is aimed at making a profit (objective profit) subsequently to be shared among the shareholders (subjective profit).  The companies that pursue this aim are called profit-making companies (partnerships and companies with share capital).There are however other types of companies (cooperatives) which by law pursue a mutual aim that is different from profit-making.Their typical aim is to provide the members with direct advantage

The relationship between a partner and the company ends automatically when the partner dies. Within six months from his death, the surviving partners have the duty of returning the share held by the dead partner to his heirs. The surviving partners are not obliged to accept that the heirs of the deceased member should succeed him by taking his place in the company.The surviving partners have two options they can choose from. They may either decide:- to wind up the company in advance;- to car