Penny's activity

Just to be clear (because I am starting to bore myself now :-) ) I was referring to rural only in the context of IMU as that s what the post was about.

Not the case I'm afraid RAM. For example a category A, C02, C06,C07 can all still be rural buildings. There was a notification in relation to IMU by the Agenzie delle Entrate that said it is not the category of the building that governs whether it is rural any longer but the use of it. Previously you had to declare a building D10 or A6 for it to class as rural. The category A has to be the home of the farmer or dependent farm employees. The rest have to be used for agricoltural activities e.g. storing your tractor or produce. In fact it is only rural farm buildings 'fabbricati ad uso strumentale' in a mountain or partial mountain zone that don't pay IMU. I believe that individual comuni can choose to excempt the rural buildings if they choose but certainly none here have done so.

Ram - not all rural buildings can be registered as D10. It depends on the rules locally. Here it is only for agriturismi. Ours for example had to be a C category. I have yet to see a comune that does not charge IMU on agricultural land and round here it is charged at the higher rate (if you're lucky .9% otherwise .106%). Even if IMU is tax deductable a 300%+ rise still means you are substantially worse off!

The biggest issue with IMU is for businesses. For example there are hotels here whose bills have gone up from 3.000 a year to 10.000 Plus IMU now has to be paid on farming land and rural buildings although there are some exemptions. I agree that the comuni need to be funded but whackng businesses that are struggling to survive seems rather counter productive to me.

Hmmm - I had a quote which I accepted from ConTe last year as they let you insure the driver which makes it cheaper. BUT they do not cover you straight away and from reviews I read on Italian websites they take an age to send any paperwork to you and if I remember correctly only gurantee to do it within 2 weeks. In my case that left me without cover. I cancelled and they refunded eventually. I can't imagine what you were insuring with Direct Line for €3000!! I haven't noticed my premium has gone up this year with Direct Line. Seems around the same as every year. Just had a quote for insuring a brand new Panda 4x4 full cover except accidental damage if not involved in a collision and it was €1100. This includestravel to and from work and leisure use. Remember that maximum no claims bonus is class 1 and the lowest is 20 when doing your quotes. Confused the hell out of me at first.

The florist on the roundabout in Comunanza is excellent. Really open to ideas. They get deliveries of cut flowers from Holland and Liguria so you can have everything you want  - just depends on price.

I totally agree Fillide. Well said.

YOu can also insulate internally using insulating plaster-board which does not take as much space as building in internal cavity wall. Other than that I totally agree with Sebastiano & Diana.

There is now also a reactivated requirement for the banks to report to the tax man the opening balance, closing balance and the sum of movements in and out of your account. Preumably to see if they match up to your tax return. 2011 is being done now. They will focus on those most likely to move money abroad. I assume this means those with lots of it or foreigners.

We noticed a big change in the way animals are cared for when moving from Marche to Liguria. Here, no-one calls their kids away from our big dog. We often have parents ask if he is OK and can their kids pet him. Many people have big dogs as pets and I see them walking them. OK - we could do with a bit more poopy scooping but the difference in how they are regarded is quite marked. I am sure the further inland we go it will change.