A person who moves their tax residence to Italy can settle all income earned abroad with a single fixed payment each year: 300,000 euros, regardless of whether the foreign income amounts to two million or twenty. That fixed sum is Italy’s flat tax for new residents, known internationally as Italy’s non-dom regime. The 300,000-euro rate applies to anyone becoming resident from 2026; those who moved their residence between 10 August 2024 and the end of 2025 retain the previous 200,000 euros under a grandfathering arrangement.
The regime is a deliberate offer to internationally mobile wealth, and it suits a narrow group well. For most buyers acquiring a Tuscan property as a second home, it is not relevant, and saying so clearly is usually the most useful thing a conversation on the topic can do.
What the flat tax covers
The flat tax replaces ordinary Italian taxation of foreign income with a fixed annual payment. A new resident who opts in pays the set sum and owes nothing further on income arising abroad, whatever its size. Income earned inside Italy is taxed normally at the progressive rates. The arrangement lasts for up to fifteen years.
Two features matter beyond the headline number. Foreign assets held outside Italy fall outside the standard reporting obligation for Italian residents, so an overseas portfolio or a property abroad does not have to be declared on the Italian annual return as it otherwise would. And those same foreign assets sit outside Italian inheritance and gift tax. For someone with substantial wealth held outside Italy, that exemption can weigh as heavily as the income treatment itself; for older buyers with assets to pass on, it is often the deciding factor. The inheritance framework is covered separately in inheriting property in Italy.
Who qualifies
The regime is open to anyone moving their tax residence to Italy who has not been an Italian tax resident for at least nine of the previous ten years. Nationality is not the test: an Italian who has lived abroad for a decade qualifies on the same terms as a buyer from the United States or the United Kingdom. What matters is the genuine move of the centre of life and the clean ten-year history behind it.
A spouse or other close family member can join under the same regime for a smaller annual add-on payment rather than a second full charge, which changes the arithmetic for a couple or a family moving together.
| Item | Annual amount |
|---|---|
| Main applicant, resident from 2026 | 300,000 EUR |
| Main applicant, resident 10 Aug 2024 – 31 Dec 2025 | 200,000 EUR |
| Main applicant, resident before 10 Aug 2024 | 100,000 EUR |
| Each family member added (from 2026) | 50,000 EUR |
| Each family member added (pre-2026 arrivals) | 25,000 EUR |
The earlier rates remain relevant only to people already inside the regime. Anyone arriving now plans around 300,000 euros for the main applicant and 50,000 for each family member brought under the arrangement.
Who it actually suits
At 300,000 euros a year, the flat tax earns its keep only at very high foreign income, of the order of several million euros a year. Below that level, ordinary Italian taxation often costs less than the fixed sum. The decision turns on a direct comparison: the 300,000-euro charge against the Italian tax that the same foreign income would otherwise attract at progressive rates. The higher and more mobile the foreign income, the stronger the case.
The natural candidate is someone with a large investment portfolio, foreign business income or recurring capital gains abroad. Someone living on a pension or modest foreign rents will generally do better under the standard rules. The inheritance exemption can shift that balance for an older buyer with substantial assets, which is one reason the calculation belongs with a cross-border tax adviser before any decision is made, not with a rule of thumb.
Why the house and the visa are separate tracks
The flat tax is a tax election, not a right to live in Italy, and the two questions are decided independently. A European citizen can take up residence freely; a non-European needs a visa first, and the usual route for a financially independent newcomer is the elective residence visa, which rests on a passive income requirement and is granted before any move. Qualifying for one does not qualify a person for the other.
Buying property changes nothing on either track. Ownership of a house in Italy establishes neither tax residence nor residency rights, and the flat tax only becomes available once tax residence has been genuinely moved. Tax residence follows where a person actually lives and centres their life, not a title deed. This is one of the more common misunderstandings buyers arrive with, alongside others examined in mistakes foreign buyers make in Italy.
The buyers for whom all three align (the property, the visa, the tax structure) are typically doing one coordinated thing: moving their life and the bulk of their wealth to Italy. They put the tax structure in place before they sign. In mandates where this is the direction, I coordinate with the buyer’s cross-border tax adviser early, because the structure affects which property type and holding vehicle makes sense, and that is a decision for before the offer stage.
Frequently asked questions
How much is Italy’s flat tax for new residents?
It is a fixed 300,000 euros a year on all foreign income, for anyone becoming an Italian tax resident from 2026. People who arrived between 10 August 2024 and the end of 2025 pay 200,000 euros; residents from before August 2024 are inside the earlier 100,000-euro version, which is now closed to new entrants. The charge does not rise with the income: the fixed sum covers foreign income of two million or twenty equally. Income earned inside Italy is taxed at the ordinary rates regardless.
Who can use it?
Anyone moving their tax residence to Italy who has not been an Italian tax resident in at least nine of the previous ten years. Nationality does not matter, so an Italian returning after a long stretch abroad qualifies on the same terms as a buyer from abroad. A spouse or other close family member can join under the same regime for a smaller annual add-on rather than a second full payment. The treatment runs for up to fifteen years.
Does buying a house in Italy get me residency or the flat tax?
Owning property in Italy establishes neither residency nor tax residence and does not open the flat tax. Residency follows where a person genuinely lives; a visa follows its own application; and the flat tax is a separate election made when tax residence moves. A purchase satisfies none of them by itself, and many buyers hold a home in Tuscany without ever becoming Italian tax residents.
Is the flat tax the same as the elective residence visa?
They are distinct instruments on separate tracks. The visa is permission for a non-European to live in Italy, granted before the move and resting on a passive income condition. The flat tax is a tax election on foreign income, available once a person becomes an Italian tax resident. One concerns the right to live here; the other concerns how foreign income is taxed once you do. A person can meet the conditions for one and not the other. The elective residence visa guide covers the visa side in detail.
Is the flat tax worth it for me?
At foreign income of several million euros a year, the fixed charge generally undercuts ordinary Italian tax on the same income, and the case is clear. Below that level, the standard rules usually cost less. The exemption of foreign assets from Italian inheritance and gift tax can tip the decision for someone with significant wealth to pass on. Because the answer depends on the composition of income and assets, it is a question for a cross-border tax adviser, worked out before the move.
Andrej Avi is a real estate agent in Tuscany who works with international buyers acquiring villas, estates and country houses. Request buying support · Current properties
Further reading: Elective residence visa for Italy · Taxes when buying property in Italy
As of July 2026. General information, not legal or tax advice.
