What is IMU?
IMU (Imposta Municipale Unica) is Italy's annual municipal property tax. It applies to virtually all real estate in Italy — land and buildings — and is paid to the municipality (comune) where the property is located. The main exception is your primary residence (prima casa), which is exempt if it's not classified as a luxury property.
For non-residents who own Italian property, IMU is unavoidable. Since your Italian property by definition cannot be your Italian primary residence when you don't live in Italy, you pay IMU on it every year.
Who Pays IMU
IMU is owed by the property owner (or the usufructuary if the property is held in usufruct). It applies to:
- Second homes and holiday properties — always subject to IMU
- Rental properties — subject to IMU regardless of whether they're occupied
- Commercial properties — offices, shops, warehouses
- Land — agricultural and building land (with different rates)
- Properties owned by non-residents — always subject to IMU since they can never be the Italian primary residence of someone who doesn't live in Italy
Exempt: The primary residence (prima casa) where the owner is registered and habitually lives, unless it's cadastrally classified as a luxury property (categories A1, A8, A9).
How IMU Is Calculated
The formula uses the rendita catastale — the property's assessed cadastral income, which is a fixed value registered in the land registry (catasto):
IMU = Rendita Catastale × 1.05 × 160 × Municipal Rate
Breaking that down:
- Rendita Catastale × 1.05: Revaluation factor applied since 1997
- × 160: The standard multiplier for residential properties (different multipliers apply for commercial properties, land, etc.)
- × Municipal Rate: Each comune sets its own rate, typically between 0.46% and 1.06% for standard residential properties
Example: A property with a rendita catastale of €600 would have a taxable base of €600 × 1.05 × 160 = €100,800. At a 1.06% municipal rate, IMU = €1,068.48 per year.
Payment Deadlines
IMU is paid in two installments:
- First installment (acconto): June 16 — 50% of the prior year's total
- Second installment (saldo): December 16 — the balance based on the current year's calculation (incorporating any rate changes the municipality announced)
Both are paid via Modello F24. Each municipality has its own codice tributo (tax code) that must be entered correctly. Your commercialista can calculate and prepare the F24 for you.
Finding Your Municipality's Rate
Municipalities must approve their IMU rates as part of their annual budget and publish them on the Ministry of Finance portal before the first payment deadline. Rates are also published on the municipality's website and on a national database maintained by the Ministry of Economy. If your municipality hasn't published new rates by the June deadline, you use the prior year's rates for the June payment and adjust in December.
IMU and Short-Term Rentals
If you rent your property on short-term platforms (Airbnb, etc.), you still owe IMU — rental income doesn't reduce or eliminate the property tax obligation. You owe both IMU and income tax on the rental earnings (either IRPEF or cedolare secca).