Notary public conducts the necessary verifications for the transaction through Notartel
Agency: Notartel
The notary public obtains all the needed due diligence certificates required for the transaction and verifying the identity of the parties. The notary will conduct the following verifications through Notartel, a web platform which enables the notary to directly access the databases of the Land Registry, the Cadastre, and the Commercial Registry:
- Title and mortgage search (ispezione ipotecaria) , in the Land Registry’s database, stating who the owner is and any rights that third parties have on the property (if any);
- Cadastral search (visura catastale) , from the Cadastre, stating the physical characteristics of the property.
The notary then proceeds to:
- Verify the title ownership chain for a period of at least twenty years up to the last deed dated before the twenty years period (continuità delle trascrizioni), to ensure the full ownership of the seller; (certificates of the property dated 20 years back or more may not be available through the online service as they are still to be loaded);
- Verification that the property is registered both in the Land Registry and in the Cadaster in the same way;
- Receive from the parties the following documents:
- Acts which authorized the construction of the property
- Seller’s declaration of conformity between the property and its description in the Cadaster, with the the cadastral identification number, plus reference to the building plans (planimetria) filed at the Cadastre together with the declaration, made by the owner, of the conformity of the existing building to the cadastral data and building plans filed at the Cadastre (the so called conformità catastale). In the event of failure to comply with these requirements, the deed will be null and void
- Seller’s declaration that the property corresponds to the Municipality’s building records and that no unauthorized building operations were undertaken on the property
- The so called “Certificato di agibilità”, a certificate which guarantees that the property has the legal characteristics necessary to satisfy the contractual object.
Time and cost: Less than one day (online), included in procedure 3
Notary verifies the powers of relevant signatories via the Company Registry
Agency: Company Registry (“Registro imprese” online)
Using the Companies Registry’s web-based platform, the notary will search the company, check whether it appears as active, and obtain certificates stating that the parties have the needed powers to complete a property transfer on behalf of their companies.
Through the Companies’ Registry, it is possible to access information related to companies, including its by-laws, BoD, powers granted to the directors (delega organica) or PoAs granted for particular purposes (procuratori ad acta) which have been registered in the Companies Registry. Such information provided by the Companies Registry is of public trust (pubblica fede), and it is the notary that certifies the power of the parties after checking the corporate information provided by the Companies Registry. The notary will receive the documentation attesting the powers of the parties in relation to the transfer of the property in those cases where the directors and/or attorneys are vested with powers for special purposes, and whose scope is therefore narrowly identified. Please note that in such case the powers mentioned above usually are not registered within the Companies Registry.
Time and cost: Less than one day (online), included in procedure 3
Notary drafts and executes the deed of sale
Agency: Notary
Once the notary or his/her staff made all verifications, it proceeds to draft the deed of sale that usually is circulated with the parties for their comments. Once a final version is agreed upon, the parties sign, and the notary stipulates the deed. During stipulation, the parties pay the official fees, and the buyer pays the notary charges.
Time and cost: 11 days, EUR 64,239.76
- EUR 5000 (Notary’s fees without VAT)
- EUR 230 (Imposta di Bollo)
- EUR 200 registration tax (Imposta di Registro)
- 3% of property value (Imposta Ipotecaria)
- 1% of property value (Imposta Catastale)
- EUR 35 (Tassa Ipotecaria)
- EUR 55 (Diritti Catastali per Voltura)
Registration of the deed at the Land Registry and Cadastral Office
Agency: Land Registry and Cadastral Office
The notary files the deed of sale and the transcription note online using the “Modello Unico Informatico (MUI)”. The transcription note can be submitted only electronically, while the attached deed can be submitted either electronically or in paper, but the majority do so electronically. The transcription note is a summary of the deed and once is submitted, the notary receives a receipt. A registrar checks the notes submitted, and if they are correct, the change of ownership will be publicly available in the registry the same day (if submitted in the morning) or the next day (if submitted in the afternoon). The cadastral records will automatically be updated as well.
It is mandatory for the notary to file the documents within 30 days of the signature of the contract. Otherwise, the notary will be fined. With a single electronic transmission digitally signed by a notary, the following information is sent:
- the data concerning the payment of taxes (debited from bank account),
- The offices of destination, i.e. Tax Agency for tax registration, Land Agency for the Land Registry and Cadastral office (jointly),
- The certified copy of the deed with its attachments. Taxes are credited directly to the central Revenue Office, and the various offices retain the competence to verify the correctness of the payment. The notary gets online receipts of the different Procedures and payments made.
In the case of a warehouse used for commercial purposes, sold by a company that is not in the construction business the cadastral tax is equal to 1% of the sale price, according to the law 248 of 2006, and the transcription tax is equal to 3% of the sale price. Italian VAT law applicable to commercial properties states that the sale of a commercial property is generally VAT exempt, unless (i) in the cases mandatorily provided for by the Italian tax law (ii) if the seller has elected for the VAT regime. In any case, the transfer of a commercial property where both the seller and the purchaser are Italian companies is subject to a fixed registration tax rate. The Land registry and cadastre are 2 different databases but managed by the same government agency since 2008-2009. 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”). It means that an individual or an entity may sell property only if the relative deed of purchase has been registered beforehand in the Land Registry.
Time and cost: 4 days, included in procedure 3
