Completion Time Frame: 10-15 days (simultaneous with Steps 2, 3, 4, and 5)
Completion Costs: EUR 25 (permits) + EUR 150 (fees for the surveyor to check the files with the Municipality)
Points to Note:
The notary obtains a copy of the Building Permit, Occupancy Permit and of application(s) for Building Amnesty, if any, from the Municipality. Otherwise, the seller might provide them. Should those documents not be available the seller requests copies from the Municipality. This can be done by an instructed surveyor normally appointed and paid by the seller. Note that it is not necessary to produce the Building Permit for buildings erected prior to the year 1967 and that should a copy of such a document not be available for buildings erected after that year it is sufficient that the seller mentions in the deed of conveyance the data of the relevant Building Permit, as long as the notary warns of the criminal sanctions which apply in case of false and reticent statements.

Step 2: Obtain necessary surveys from Land Registry

Completion Time Frame: 5-10 days (simultaneous with Steps 1, 3, 4, and 5)
Completion Costs: EUR 500 (cost of examination of Land Registrar files) + EUR 1,700 (notary fees)
Points to Note:
The notary public obtains a report from the Land Registry stating:
(i) the ownership situation of the property in the last twenty years, and
(ii) that the property is free from any encumbrances.
The notary needs to verify the Land Registrar files (usually by means of an instructed surveyor) and extract the relevant information, that are then included in the report and are certified as truthful by the notary, since the issuance of an actual certificate from the Land Registrar would require an extremely long time.

Step 3: Obtain necessary surveys from Cadastral Registry

Completion Time Frame: 5-10 days (simultaneous with Steps 1, 2, 4, and 5)
Completion Costs: EUR 25 (historical cadastral situation) + EUR 163 (cadastral maps)
Points to Note:
The notary public obtains from the Cadastral Office:
(i) historical cadastral situation and Cadastral Certificate (EUR 25, normally requested online)
(ii) Cadastral Maps of the premises (EUR 38 cost + EUR 50 fees for the plans of the premises) and of the land (EUR 25 cost plus EUR 50 fees for the general map including the land)
Since the cadastral data are available online it is possible to obtain a cadastral situation immediately, while the maps need to be requested to the Cadastral Offices.

Step 4: Notary verifies the powers of relevant signatories

Completion Time Frame: 1-2 days (simultaneous with Steps 1, 2, 3, and 5)
Completion Costs: EUR 25-50
Points to Note:
The notary public checks the Company Registry regarding the selling and purchasing companies and verifies the powers of the relevant signatories. Should it be required, according to the by-laws of the selling or purchasing company, that a resolution be adopted by the administrative body or by the shareholders’ meeting to authorize the transaction, an extract of the minutes of said resolution, certified by a notary public, shall be provided. The Chamber of Commerce’s certificate can be requested online.

Step 5: Authentication of seller’s documents

Completion Time Frame: 2-5 days (simultaneous with Steps 1, 2, 3, and 4)
Completion Costs: EUR 100
Points to Note:
The seller must provide the buyer with:
(i) an authenticated copy of the Seller’s purchase documents and
(ii) an authenticated copy of the Transcription Note
The documents are authenticated by a notary public, at a cost of about EUR 100. As of July 2006, all payments must be made with cheques or bank transfer, and the notary must indicate these details (check number, bank account, etc.) in the deed; in the same way in the final deed parties have to indicate all amounts paid to real estate agents. This increases slightly the time needed to complete this

Step.

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Step 6: A notary public drafts and executes the deed of sale

Completion Time Frame: 10 days
Completion Costs: Notary’s fees (as described below) are EUR 4194.9 + 20% VAT
Points to Note:
The notary public prepares and executes the deed of sale.
The National Notary Publics’ Order prepares each year a table of fees, sent to all the Notary Publics, in which there are certain thresholds. They can be calculated on the website:

http://www.notaicomolecco.it/jumpCh.asp?idChannel=98&idUser=0&idLang=IT&tariffa=1

The fees are subject to 20% VAT and sometimes an additional 4% tax, as well as any other stamps, archive or registration taxes.

Step 7: Registration of the deed on the Registration Office

Completion Time Frame: 2-7 days (simultaneous with Step
Completion Costs: EUR 168 registration tax
Points to Note:
The notary public files the deed of sale and the transcription note with the Registration Office.
The Registration office will deliver immediately a receipt with the date of registration, while the number of registration will be given only after 2-7 days. The notary then delivers a copy of the deed of sale and transcription note to the parties.
The Registration Office has the purpose of granting deeds a certified date (“data certa”) and collecting the relative taxes.
As the envisaged deed is subject to 24% VAT, upon registration in the Registration Office, only a fixed tax is due. Otherwise, a proportional Deed Registration Tax would be due (the ordinary rate is 10% of the consideration – which can become 3% in certain cases, e.g. when the first property is purchased by an individual). The “VAT Alternative Principle” states that either a property deed is subject to VAT (therefore having to pay the fixed registration tax) or to proportional Deed Registration Tax.

Step 8:Registration of the deed at the Land Registry and the Cadastral Office

Completion Time Frame: 1 day (simultaneous with Step 7)
Completion Costs: EUR 168 (transcription tax) + EUR 168 (cadastral tax)
Points to Note:
The notary public files the deed of sale and the transcription note with Land Registry. Once the copy of the deed has been deposited in the Registration Office (Step 7) one can collect it immediately. The copy will only bear the registration date (but not yet the number, which takes a little more time) but this is sufficient to deposit the deed in the Land Registry.
The Land Registry (unlike the Registration Office) delivers immediately a receipt with the date and registration numbers. The Land Registry has the purpose of rendering deeds enforceable towards all third parties. Until a deed has been registered in the Land Registry, it is only enforceable between the parties thereto. The Italian Land Registry system is based on the principle of continuity of the registrations (“continuità delle trascrizioni”). This means that an individual or an entity may sell a property only if the relative deed of purchase has been registered beforehand in the Land Registry. If any third party were to deposit and register a claim or a deed in the Land Registry after the registration of the deed of purchase but before the registration of the subsequent deed of sale, the current owner would not be able to validly sell the property until the cancellation of the said claim or deed, which for this reason is so defined as “prejudicial” (“pregiudizievole”).
Registration at the cadastral office takes place automatically after registering the deed at the Land Registry, which the notary public does.
The cadastral tax is fixed when the deed is subject to VAT; otherwise it is included in the proportional Deed Registration Tax.
The notary then delivers a copy of the deed of sale and transcription note to the parties.