Ram's activity

If you're having building work done which requires a computometrico - then the prices will be the same, as they are set by the region in the prezzario - the price book, which is legally binding.  What you should be able to do is negotiate a bigger discount on the official prices, though I have to say, new build seems to be in the doldrums but everybody continues to restore and renovate, so if you have skilled workmen who are specialised in restoration you probably wont have much room for manouvre. 

Ok here we go - but not chronologically....  As a non resident you pay rubbish tax, but less than a resident - the comune thinks that you dont live in the house all year, so you pay less TARSU as you have less rubbish to collect, but instead you pay ICI.   Bank accounts: some banks will not let you open a nonresident account, but some banks will.  They cost noticeably more than a residents account and you cannot have some of the perks. Prima Casa:  If you are resident in Italy the law assumes you spend more than 183 days a year here and it is your taxable address for all your worlwide income. You cannot be fiscally resident in more than one country, unless you have a very clever accountant to whom you pay wods of dosh.   By being resident in Italy, you lose the NHS benefits, as to the UK you live here, and pay into the system here and not in the UK.  In your case, your house wont be finished, but you claimed prima casa on the purchase.  the difference in tax between your prima casa and seconda casa on a ruin which you have done up will be minimal, and it would be worth paying back the Tax office what you saved.  They will find you if you dont.   OTOH it may be that you geometra is suggesting youtake your residency for the tax benefits of the reconstruction that a prima casa would bring.  Obviously if you wont be paying income tax in Italy there is no tax benefit, but usually an Italian doesnt see it like this.  

In Sicily you would pay 1500 psm finished to a high standard over and above the cost of the land.  There is no reason why you cant finish one floor and get abitabilita, but you might have to split the house into a villa bifamiliare to do it, and make sure that the floor you finish has all the requisites for abitabilita. HOwever, should you decide to sell, it is common to sell a rustico tamponato in Sicily, and wouldnt present problems.     

If your house was built prior to 1967 there is no legal need for abitabilità but it remains an option.  Built after 1967 and you need it, at least technically.  Certainly for new houses you cannot sort out your life without it - ie, a new house without abitabilità is not finished, and therefore technically cannot have electricity, water and so on.  You dont need to renew it, once you've got it it's done - but you will need to wave it in front of the notaio when and if you sell, so keep it in a safe place. 

Italy has over 4.5 million immigrants. One million of these are from Romania - an increase of 750.000 in 5 years. Half a million Albanians, half a million Moroccans, 100,000 Chinese and so on.  France by contrast has fewer immigrants, mainly because of the curbs it has put in place since 2005.  Since 2005 the UK has had fewer than 30.000 asylum applications per year.  IN the last three months 28000 immigrants have arrived in Lampedusa.   Holland has 400,000 Turkish immigrants, not 3 million, the same number of Turks as Germans living there.   

Brian - I suggest you buy a history book - 'the rest of us'? You mean the UK presumably.  Italy has had huge immigration - from Croatia, Slovenia, Romania, Albania  - all the countries that had wars and problems in the last 50 years.   Italy has specifically asked, after the last time, that immigration (rightly) is a European issue - and has been roundly ignored.  Spain - at the beginning of the problem - said ' we will not leave Italy to deal with this by herself' - and then have remained very very quiet.  France said - at the beginning - that Europe would act concertedly.  It hasnt.    France is one of the most underpopulated European countries per inhabitant km/2  - if there is one European country that could easily take 20.000 people it is France, but Sarkozy is having a bit of campaign aginst the Muslims at the moment, becuase he is in deep political do-do.  End of story.  Moralilty plays no part in this, it is politics pure and simple - and the race card is a vote winner, because it is easy to inculcate a sense of xenophobia.  Fear of the unknown wins votes, but if you read your history books you will learn that the reality is very different. 

Im with Fillide, and if I had been on a train trying to get France yesterday I would issue a denuncia against the French government.  Their position is untenable - they want to bomb Libya but dont want any of the fall out, which includes refugees.  They wanted Ben Ali out of Tunisia, have a moral responsibility as it is an exFrench colony, but again dont want any of the fall out.  The total silence on N African refugees by the whole of Europe (with the exception of Romania) is shameful, and shows again a Europe that is runs on double standards.  As far as I am aware there are no UN refugee camps in ITaly.  There is the red cross at Ventimiglia - all the rest are protezione civile - There has been no UN resolution regarding refugees.

yes - the last major disruptions will be the week before. 

As far as I know the deadline has been shunted along for so long now that April 30 is the absolute deadline.  I dont think there will be a further proroga or a mode to stall the Agenzia dell'entrate - after all its easy money for the govt and they want all they can get at the moment.  Even at this late stage there is no reason why buildings could not be catasto'd by the end ofthe month if you have a geometra who gets his skates on.... Ill check on it though, I may well be completely wrong... 

The law requires that all non catastato buildings and fabbricati rurali are reaccatastato as enti urbani by 30 April.  If not there are sanctions and fines if they are done after this date.    The only way you can have a fabbricato rurale after this date is if you are a registered farmer - so if your husband is already a farmer or azienda agricola it would certainly be cheaper leaving them as such before your act - otherwise you will pay tax on the supposed rental value of an ente urbano.  If he is not yet a farmer, then you have no choice and they must be reaccatastato by the end of April.  The only way around this is to catasto the outbuildings as unita colabenti which would leave you free of ICI but might make more problems if you ever decide to make them habitable enti urbani....