Selling before buying: the prima casa two-year rule

Three different clocks

Three time limits are easy to confuse. The Agenzia delle Entrate (the tax agency) treats them separately:

Each clock starts from a different event, so write down the three dates when you sign.

Buying first, selling after

Note II-bis of the tariff (para. 4-bis) allows the 2% rate even if you do not meet the “no other relief home” condition, provided the earlier home is sold within two years of the new deed. The new deed must contain a commitment to sell. Failing to sell loses the relief on the new purchase: you pay the ordinary taxes, interest and a 30% surcharge.

Two details from the Agenzia matter for foreign owners. First, a home you already own in the same municipality, bought without the relief, blocks the relief on the new home even if you commit to sell it; it must be sold before you buy. A home bought without the relief in another municipality does not block it, and need not be sold. Second, the extension applies equally when the new home arrives by gift or inheritance.

If you realise you cannot sell in time, the Agenzia describes a request to the office that registered the deed, to be made within two years of the new purchase, declaring that you cannot sell and asking for the tax to be recalculated with interest. If you omitted the commitment in the deed, a reduction of the surcharge is possible by way of the ravvedimento operoso procedure.

Selling first, buying after: the tax credit

Whoever sells a home bought with the relief and, within one year, buys another which qualifies for the relief, has a tax credit equal to the registration tax or VAT paid on the first purchase. The credit cannot exceed the tax due on the second purchase. The Agenzia lists four ways to use it: deduct it from the registration tax on the new deed (the deed must say so and give the details of the first purchase), deduct it from registration, mortgage, cadastral, succession and gift taxes on deeds filed afterwards, deduct it from personal income tax (IRPEF) in the next return, or offset it through the F24 payment form (tax code 6602). The part exceeding the tax due on the second purchase is not refunded.

Calculation using the Agenzia’s own sample figures: a home bought with prima casa at €200,000 carried registration tax of 2% = €4,000 (the Agenzia’s example). If a year later you buy another qualifying home at €300,000, the new registration tax is 2% = €6,000. The credit is the €4,000 paid, so €2,000 remains to pay. If the second home cost €150,000, its registration tax would be 2% = €3,000, and the credit usable against that deed would stop at €3,000. These are calculations, not tax advice.

The Agenzia adds that the credit also applies when the new home is bought before the old one is sold, as in circular 12/E of 8 April 2016, and that the longer two-year period does not prevent it, provided the old home is sold within two years (ruling 197/2025).

The credit is not available if:

• the relief was lost on the earlier purchase;
• the earlier home was bought at the ordinary rate;
• the new home does not qualify; or
• the home sold was replaced not by a purchase for consideration but, for instance, by a gift.

The five-year trap

If you sell or give away a relief home before five years, the relief is lost, and the tax saved comes back with interest and a 30% surcharge, unless within one year you buy another home to use as your main residence. The Agenzia stresses that a preliminary contract alone does not count, because it does not transfer the property. The relief is also kept if, within the year, you buy a home abroad (only where administrative cooperation tools allow the use as a habitual residence to be checked), or build on land you buy or already own, as long as the building reaches a stage of walls and roof.

If you decide not to re-buy, tell the registering office before the year ends: the Agenzia says the tax can then be recalculated with interest but no penalty.

What varies locally

The two-year, one-year and five-year rules are national. What depends on the place is the municipality test: the old and new homes are compared by municipality, and the residence condition is also by municipality. See prima casa tax benefits.

Which professional to consult

The notary writes the commitment to sell into the new deed and records the credit. A real estate agent can advise on timing a sale, and an accountant can handle the credit in your return.