Penny's activity

I did a bit of looking and they had a showroom in New York and seemed to make a lot of one-off pieces for exhibitions. I can't find any trace of them in Vicenza though. Maybe their factory here was called something else. It seems they specialised in Gothic revival chairs so it wouldn't be any older than 1860's I'd have thought. There is a mention of Anti brothers here: http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/home_and_garden/2009/12/06/kovel06_ART_12-06-09_H3_U7FSD9I.html

Ahhhh - that is a bit clearer. I didn't know you could 'back claim'. I know for the reduced rate of IVA the geometra had to give you a certificate to present to the vendor / builder / installer when you buy the goods or pay for the services and get the fattura. We have just finished a financial year and most comapnies will not now be able to change a fattura they have given you. For the allowance of renovations against your tax returns over the next 10 years, if you won't be paying tax here for a period then you won't benefit. Now I see why he recommended an accountant. This is the page from the tax office: http://www.agenziaentrate.gov.it/wps/content/Nsilib/Nsi/Home/CosaDeviFare/Richiedere/Agevolazioni/Detrazione+riqualificazione+energetica+55/scheda+informativa+riqualificazione+55/ There will doubtless be a different scheme in place when you come to do the other house as this one expires this year. If it were me I would just get on and claim. The maximums are the maximums and once you have reached it that is it.

I know you have to export it and return the number plates. I don't know where you are but if it's in Marche then Nicola at Fioravanti & Pavoni near the roundabout in Comunanza is very helpful and can do it for you. No doubt you will have to pay.....

Hi, I think it helps to be clear on the terminology. There are some purchase tax discounts associated with you claiming the property will be your main residence when you buy it and claiming residency in the same comune within 18 months of the purchase. This is referred to by most people as the Prima Casa  agevolazione. Then there are other benefits (cheaper IMU, cheaper electricity) for your main residence. Any other residential property (unless it is considered an annexe and the rules for this vary with each comune) with always be a seconda casa (ie a second home as opposed to your main one). Your main residence will be the one you actually live in. The very fact of moving out of one property and into the other will change where your main residence is. There is nothing to be registered at the cadastral office or comune. You need only change your residency and inform the utility companies and taxman etc. In my case I actually pay more IMU and TARSU for the annexe than I do for the house (regardless of deductions). This is because the rendita of the house is less than that of the annexe. It used to be more complicated as you could have your residency at one property and your husband could have his at another and both claim a deduction for ICI. The new IMU has done away with all this. In your case I am pretty sure you can't register the little house as a category A and then swap it to a C. So I can't see how that would work. I am guessing the gemetra is suggesting this as you can then have a certificate of habitation for the little house. Is he proposing the annexe will also have a category A when all the work is done? In my comune you could not do that. An annexe can only be a category C. I don't see what advice you need from a commercialista though. It is too late to change your prima cas (that was part of your atto when you bought the property) and otherwise your main home is the one you live in and have residency in so that is easily changed. Not sure if that helped but your geometra is a little confusing.

We love wandering around Santo Spirito (on the other side of the river) where there are lots of artisan's botteghe (workshops). I remember going into one where a guy was carving the most beautiful, intricate wooden frames whilst listening to his opera loudly. We were chatting to him and he led us out the back of his workshop where he had a beautiful garden, picked a camelia and put it behind my ear. It was one of those amazing Italian moments. I also recommend getting out of the city, up to Bellosguardo for the most amazing views of the Florentine rooftops. If you're feeling cheeky make some excuse to get a look round Hotel Torre del Bellosguardo We had our honeymoon there and it is amazing. Galileo used to observe the stars from the tower and the views over Florence are stunning.

No idea on price but most builders yards sell it. Try Pontemaglio or Mattioli in servigliano

Flip - renting your house out is regarded by the tax man as an activity (if not a business, depending on your circumstances). As Sebastiano says the days of 'winging it' are definitely coming to an end. Everyone has to do a tax return and you can pay people in a variety of ways not just the voucher but also as a 'lavoratore autonomo occasionale' whereby the worker just puts the income under the 'other income' section of their tax return so long as they earn less than 5k from it and you pay no contributions at all. If they have a low income then they won't pay tax on it anyway. I have just had the situation where a crazy guest (don't ask - long story) is threatening to sue me so my housekeepers must be on the books because if the crazy woman did decide to sue over €25 as she claims she will, then the fines are very big if I am found to have unregistered workers. The housekeepers will get fined too. If we have to pay more, then so be it. It's still cheaper than a fine from the taxman!

Actually I was looking as mine want to do it 'properly' and we were trying to figure out the best way to do it without incurring huge overheads. With the new redditometro I think most people will finder it harder to stay in the black.......

that'll  be the one!

IKEA sell inexpensive smoke alarms here in Italy and I ordered a CO2 alarm from Amazon.co.uk with no problems. As AndyT says they are DIY jobs.