TARI explained: Italy's waste tax for homeowners

Who pays and when the tax arises

The Finance Department states that the trigger for TARI is owning or holding, on any basis, premises or operational uncovered areas capable of producing urban waste. The tax came in from 2014 under law 147/2013 and took the place of earlier waste charges. It remains in force alongside IMU, while the third levy that once sat with them (TASI) was abolished from 2020.

The test is the potential to produce waste, not actual use. The Finance Department notes that the Court of Cassation has repeatedly held that a home left empty by its occupant’s own choice is still taxable. According to the established case law the Department describes, the presence of furniture or of a single utility connection is enough for a simple presumption of use, which the taxpayer can rebut. To be excluded the premises must have both no furniture and no utilities, or be objectively unusable. A municipality may add other indicators in its regulation if they genuinely show the property is used. Common areas of a condominium, as defined in article 1117 of the civil code, are outside the tax unless held or possessed exclusively by one person (see condominium rules).

Who is liable: the occupant, i.e. the person who uses the premises. If a property is held for six months or less, the tax stays with the owner or the holder of a right such as usufruct. Where several people use the same premises, they are jointly liable for the single debt.

How a home’s bill is built

The tariff is stated per calendar year and split between households and non-households. For a household:

1. Fixed part = surface of the home plus the surface of its pertinences, such as a garage or cellar, multiplied by a unit rate that depends on the number of occupants.
2. Variable part = a flat amount that depends on the number of occupants, which is not multiplied by square metres. It is added to the fixed part.

The Finance Department stresses that pertinences are taxed by adding their surface to the home’s surface, not by a separate bill. The unit rates come from a standard method (DPR 158/1999), and since 2020 the cost-recovery plan follows the method of the regulator for energy, networks and the environment (ARERA). The council approves tariffs on the basis of the plan prepared by the waste operator, so that the whole cost of the service is covered.

There is no calculation I can give without your municipality’s unit rates; a formula is all the national pages give.

Reductions and exemptions

The law imposes a few reductions: a cut in the variable part for qualifying special waste sent for recycling by businesses, TARI due at most at 20% where the service is not provided or is seriously breached, and at most 40% where no collection is carried out in the area (the municipality may scale it by distance to the nearest collection point).

Municipalities can, by regulation, grant reductions or exemptions for situations the law lists as lower waste producers. Four are relevant to homeowners:

• homes with a single occupant;
• homes and premises used seasonally;
• homes occupied by people who live or stay abroad more than six months a year;
• rural homes used as dwellings, and households that compost at home.

Because these are optional, whether you receive one depends on the town. Municipalities can also set other reductions for reasons of social policy, paid for from the general budget. If you own a seasonal or second home, ask the municipality whether it applies one of these and what it requires you to prove.

Deadlines and tariffs

Municipalities set the due dates, normally at least two instalments at six-month intervals, and at least one instalment must fall after 30 November so that the balance reflects tariff decisions published by 28 October. Tariff and regulation decisions are effective if approved by 30 April of the year (the rule from 2022, unless a state decree moves the budget deadline) and published on the Finance Department’s website by 28 October.

To find your municipality’s tariff, use the Finance Department’s search by municipality, which also covers TARI acts. These are legal documents, not a table, so allow time to read them; the town hall’s tax office can confirm your figures. The national page I read does not describe the declaration needed to open an account when you take title, so ask the town’s tax office.

When you buy or sell

Ask the seller for the latest TARI bills and the account details, and agree who pays for the year of transfer. For the calendar of costs of a purchase see total cost of buying. For the other recurring tax see IMU.

Which professional to consult

The municipality’s tax office, or an accountant, for your reductions and returns. A surveyor can confirm the surface recorded for your property if you think it is wrong.